BBC considers Robin Hood remake
The swashbuckling adventures of Robin Hood could be set for the Dr Who treatment on BBC1 with a new Saturday evening drama series, it was announced today.
New BBC1 controller Peter Fincham said he would like to see more family dramas on the flagship channel on Saturday evening in future.
His comments came following the success of the revival of the much-loved sci-fi tales of the time-travelling Doctor and his assistant in Dr Who.
Speaking at BBC1’s autumn launch today, Mr Fincham, who has been in the job for only eight weeks, said: “Dr Who is a really important show for us and a really good achievement.
“I do think we can see ourselves doing more family drama at 7pm on Saturday night.
“Robin Hood is another iconic family brand that once in a generation it’s great to look at.
“That’s an example of the kind of thing we will see,” he added.
Mr Fincham said the channel had to take risks to be successful.
He said Dr Who had been a risky venture saying: “There really was nothing safe about Dr Who whatsoever.
“When you are reviving an old show like that there are banana skins strewn all the way down the runway.
“But the reward when it came was great.”
He said: “The future of BBC1 rests on being bold and going for high quality.
“Playing safe won’t be an option. That will lead to a steadily declining share.”
Jane Tranter, Controller of Drama Commissioning, said the new Robin Hood was in its very early stages as an idea but would transmit in several episodes.
She said: “It’s in its really early development. It’s not a foregone conclusion or a dead cert and we’re going to see.
“Like Dr Who, we would try and reinvent it with a degree of modernity.”
