Into the Greenwood

What sort of film would you have made when you were 15? That's the question we ask as we watch what is likely to be the most obscure Robin Hood film we've encountered to date. Ari Papke joins Richard Hopkins-Lutz and Thaddeus Papke in the Greenwood as we cross our fingers and hope to be charmed by this low budget passion project from the 90s. For more from Into the Greenwood: www.instagr...

Medieval literature expert, Dr. Mark Truesdale, joins us in the Greenwood to discuss how early Robin Hood literature fits within the scope of the popular 'King and Commoner' tales that were being told around the same time period. We discuss the medieval tales and how they've resonated in our modern Robin Hood adaptations. For more on Mark's work studying this topic: The King an...

Introducing the first "Side Targets" episode of Into the Greenwood! This is the series where Thaddeus and Rick take a look at a randomly selected film or series that provides some sort of modern spin on Robin Hood or is just outside what one might consider a standard adaptation. Our first selection is the family-friendly 2024 Sky original 'Robin and the Hoods', a film that made...

Writer and composer Amber Lipman of the theatre troupe, The Edinbards, enters the Greenwood to discuss 'Nottingham: The Musical', a brand new theatrical production that reaches into the past to incorporate medieval songs and build a narrative around the plot points of the earliest Robin Hood ballads. You can learn more about 'Nottingham: The Musical' and The Edinbards by follow...

Two Robin Hood parodies helmed by Mel Brooks enter... one podcast episode leaves... Theo Papke returns to the Greenwood to join Richard Hopkins-Lutz and Thaddeus Papke in a discussion covering both 1975's 'When Things Were Rotten' and 1993's 'Robin Hood: Men in Tights'. It's an episode jam-packed with dated references, recycled gags, and a whole lot of laughter....

Fan favorite guest AJ returns to the Greenwood to join Thaddeus and Rick for their first viewing of the film that inspired their beloved Men in Tights. How does this blockbuster from the early '90s hold up? Does Alan Rickman's take on the Sheriff of Nottingham really deserve the amount of praise it gets? How will Kevin Costner fare on our ranked list of Robin Hoods? Will Rick manage to e...

George Bickers of Three Sails Studios joins us in the Greenwood to discuss the self-described "love letter to his working class rage" that is the new ttrpg Gallows Corner.  Along the way we also discuss the company's first game, the award-winning Mappa Mundi, and their underlying connective philosophy relating to how the purposeful manufacturing of space can let us create the worlds...

Robin Hood enthusiasts and scholars from around the world gather to express their thoughts following the conclusion of the first season of the MGM+ Robin Hood show. Listen in to hear what we loved, what let us down, and how we feel about the prospect of a second season! WARNING: Contains Spoilers! Support the show

We're back with our final installment in our 70th anniversary celebration of The Adventures of Robin Hood television show!  This time we go back to the beginning of the show to see how the iconic characters of Little John and Friar Tuck get introduced! Quarterstaff battles and cunning machinations abound in these ballad-based episodes! Join us as we delve into S.1 E.3 'Dead or Alive&apos...

There’s nothing in the lively and pop-music infused Robin Hood pantomime performances or in 'The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood' by Howard Pyle that speaks of winter time or the Christmas holiday, but in his book ‘Christmastime Texts and the Popularity of the Robin Hood Tradition’, professor Alex Kaufman lays out the history behind how that book and Robin Hood pantomime performances came...

While on this podcast we often use Robin Hood as a lens for learning more about folklore or the medieval past, it is is the enduring applicability of how we have come to understand the figure that keeps him relevant. To that end, I reached out to a friend of mine after hearing about the beatings and abuse he'd received at the hands of law enforcement officers for simply exercising his right o...

We're back with another installment in our 70th anniversary celebration of The Adventures of Robin Hood television show! This time we take a look at one of the final episodes of series as we fulfill special guest Ben Curley's request to see a sword fighting centric episode. Get ready to have your buckles swashed as we dive into S.4 E.21 'The Edge and the Point'! Support the sho...

A few Robin Hood nerds from around the world share their initial reactions to the first two episodes of the new MGM+ Robin Hood series. Come listen to both the expressions of heartfelt enjoyment and the misgivings! WARNING: Contains Spoilers Support the show

We swap out the sheltering tranquility of the greenwood for the primal dangers of the wildwood as Tim Hall, author of the Blind Bowman Trilogy joins me for a discussion about blending the legends of Robin Hood with elements of dark fantasy and horror. For more about the Tim's novels: https://tkhallauthor.com/ For the Books of the Wode: https://forestpathbooks.com/by-author/j-tullos-hennig/ Fo...

In celebration of All Hallow's Eve, Mike Nichols returns to the Greenwood as we review S.1 E.36 "The Thorkil Ghost", which basically takes the form of a medieval Scooby Doo mystery, but... you know... with some actual murders... Support the show

Special guest Chris Schweizer joins us in the Greenwood for the Robin Hood film that can't NOT get compared to the Kevin Costner-led juggernaut that came out the same year. Does this Patrick Bergin and Uma Thurman-led film deserve its cult-like status amongst Robin Hood aficionados or should it linger in obscurity? Join us as we unpack this film and its attempts to thread the needle between a...

In celebration of International Archaeology Day, Dr. Emily Holt joins me in the Greenwood as we watch S3.E24 "Roman Gold", in which Robin Hood spends some time using a trowel and brush rather than bow and arrow! Support the show

Emily Rich and I watch S.1 E.5 'Maid Marian', S.1 E.27 'Trial by Battle' and S.3 E.36 'Women's War' as part of Into the Greenwood's celebration of the 70th anniversary of 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' starring Richard Greene and featuring both Bernadette O'Farrell and Patricia Driscoll as Maid Marian. Support the show

"Robin Hood and other Social Bandits in Folk and Popular Culture" was the theme of the International Association for Robin Hood Studies 15th biennial conference that was held in June of 2025 at Jagiellonian University in Poland. One of the conference presenters and organizers, Dr Anna Czarnowus, joined us in the Greenwood to discuss the conference and the importance of studying the pheno...

I rope in Rick and Owain for this massive mistake of a Splitting Arrows review! 'Robin Hood no Daiboken' (AKA "The Robin Hood Anime") was a Japanese-Italian animated production that ran for 52 episodes in the early 1990s. At some point, an attempt was made to edit a swath of episodes from across the entire series into "Robin Hood: The Movie". It bad. We try to make th...

Mike Nichols and I watch S.2 E.36 'The Frightened Tailor' and S.3 E.30 'The Youthful Menace' as part of Into the Greenwood's celebration of the 70th anniversary of 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' starring Richard Greene.  Support the show

The upcoming release of the new Robin Hood-themed tabletop roleplaying game, The Hooded Man, provides me the opportunity to indulge in some discussion about ttrpgs, a topic that I've been closely connected to for many years. Graham Rose, writer of The Hooded Man, joins me to discuss his game, his sources of inspiration, what he wanted to convey about what it would be like to simulate about be...

We're encroaching upon the 1990s with 'Maid Marian and her Merry Men'. This comedic take, created by Tony Robinson and starring Kate Lonergan, is much beloved by those who grew up with the show. Paul Cornish joins us to see if it lives up to his childhood recollections! This also marks the first screen adaptation in which Marian gets the spotlight! For more from Into the Greenwood:...

Katie and Rob, who embody Maid Marian and Robin Hood with the medieval performance troop known, appropriately enough, as the Sherwood Outlaws, join me in the Greenwood for an energetic discussion about how they embody those legendary characters as they performance with the other Sherwood Outlaws across the UK and abroad. Stick around until the end for a quick bonus segment from Rob James of the RS...

This marks our third and final episode looking at the landmark series from the 1980s. For this episode our discussion was especially focused on the Herne's Son two-parter that introduced Jason Connery into the show and also Adam Bell, the ninth episode of the third series and one that has special personal significance for our guest Jenny Kane (aka Jennifer Ash).  As a writer for the officiall...