''Sherwood'' is a British television crime drama serial, created and written by James Graham. It stars
David Morrissey
David Mark Joseph Morrissey (born 21 June 1964) is an English actor and filmmaker. Described by the British Film Institute as "one of the most versatile English actors of his generation", he is noted for the meticulous preparation and research h ...
and is inspired by real life murders in
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...
, England in 2004. The six episode first series began airing on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
on 13 June 2022. It has been renewed for a second series.
Plot
Set in a Nottinghamshire mining village, two shocking killings shatter an already fractured community with a dark past. Divisions from the miners' strike (1984–85) have persisted. The story is loosely based on the murder of trade unionist Keith Frogson in 2004, and begins with the murder of a former union activist, Gary Jackson (
Alun Armstrong
Alan Armstrong, known professionally as Alun Armstrong, is an English actor. He grew up in County Durham in North East England, and first became interested in acting through Shakespeare productions at his grammar school. Since his career began ...
). Jackson's interest in former police covert activities within the community leads the police to suspect a connection with the miners' strike.
Cast
*
Alun Armstrong
Alan Armstrong, known professionally as Alun Armstrong, is an English actor. He grew up in County Durham in North East England, and first became interested in acting through Shakespeare productions at his grammar school. Since his career began ...
as Gary Jackson
*
David Morrissey
David Mark Joseph Morrissey (born 21 June 1964) is an English actor and filmmaker. Described by the British Film Institute as "one of the most versatile English actors of his generation", he is noted for the meticulous preparation and research h ...
as DCS Ian St Clair
** George Howard as young Ian
*
Lesley Manville
Lesley Ann Manville (born 12 March 1956) is an English actress known for her frequent collaborations with Mike Leigh, appearing in the films '' Grown-Ups'' (1980), '' High Hopes'' (1988), '' Secrets & Lies'' (1996), ''Topsy-Turvy'' (1999), ''A ...
as Julie Jackson
** Poppy Gilbert as young Julie Jackson
*
Robert Glenister
Robert Lewis Glenister (born 11 March 1960 in Watford, Hertfordshire) is an English actor. The son of the television director John Glenister and the older brother of actor Philip Glenister, his roles include con man Ash "Three Socks" Morgan in ...
as DI Kevin Salisbury
** Tom Glenister as young Kevin
*
Kevin Doyle
Kevin Edward Doyle (born 18 September 1983) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a forward.
He played for Wexford F.C. (formerly Wexford Youths), St Patrick's Athletic, and Cork City in his homeland before he moved to Eng ...
as Fred Rowley
*
Claire Rushbrook
Claire Louise Rushbrook (born 25 August 1971) is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Roxanne in '' Secrets & Lies.''
Early life
Claire Louise Rushbrook was born on 25 August 1971 in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. She attended Fearnh ...
as Cathy Rowley
*
Lorraine Ashbourne
Lorraine Ashbourne (born 10 April 1961) is an English actress.
Career
Ashbourne has appeared on British series and television films, including: '' The Street'', ''True Dare Kiss'', '' Thin Ice'', ''In a Land of Plenty'', ''Boon'', '' Playing th ...
as Daphne Sparrow
*Terence Maynard as DS Cleaver
*
Perry Fitzpatrick
Perry Fitzpatrick is an English actor. He is known for his roles as DS Chris Lomax in the BBC series '' Line of Duty'', Flip in '' This Is England '86'' and ''This Is England '90'', and Hot & Cold in '' Drifters''.
Early life
Fitzpatrick atte ...
as Rory Sparrow
*
Andrea Lowe
Andrea Lowe (born 1 May 1975 in Arnold, Nottinghamshire) is an English actress.
Career
She started her theatre career at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre in the play '' The Birthday Party'' by Harold Pinter.Philip Jackson as Mickey Sparrow
* Clare Holman as Helen St Clair
*Adam Hugill as Scott Rowley
*
Pip Torrens
Philip D'Oyly "Pip" Torrens (born 2 June 1960) is an English actor.
Known for playing urbane, authoritative figures, Torrens portrayed courtier Tommy Lascelles in the Netflix drama ''The Crown'', aristocrat Lord Massen in the HBO series ''Th ...
as Commissioner Charles Dawes
*
Adeel Akhtar
Adeel Akhtar (born 18 September 1980) is a British actor. In 2017, he won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor for his role in ''Murdered by My Father''. He was also nominated for a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor for his role o ...
as Andy Fisher
*
Bally Gill Bally Gill (born 28 July 1992) is a British actor. He won the 2018 Ian Charleson Award
The Ian Charleson Awards are theatrical awards that reward the best classical stage performances in Britain by actors under age 30. The awards are named in me ...
as Neel Fisher
*
Joanne Froggatt
Joanne Froggatt (born 23 August 1980) is a British actress. From 2010 to 2015, she portrayed Anna Bates in the ITV period drama series ''Downton Abbey''. For this role, she received three Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a ...
as Sarah Vincent
*
Nadine Marshall
Nadine Panchita Marshall (born 30 September 1972) is an English television, stage, and radio actress.
Education and career
She studied at Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama and is best known for her performance as Sally in the British te ...
as Jenny Harris
*
Don Gilet
Don Gilét (born 17 January 1967) is an English actor, best known for his roles in BBC productions ''Babyfather'', ''EastEnders'' and ''55 Degrees North''.
Personal life
He was brought up in Caldmore, Walsall, with two older sisters. He att ...
as Jacob Harris
*
Sunetra Sarker
Sunetra Sarker (born 25 June 1973) is an English actress and presenter, known for her roles as Nisha Batra in '' Brookside'', Anji Mittel in ''No Angels'', Zoe Hanna in '' Casualty'' and Kaneez Paracha in ''Ackley Bridge''. In 2014, she took p ...
as Sheriff of Nottingham
*
Ace Bhatti
Ahsen Rafiq "Ace" Bhatti (born 13 September 1969) is a British actor who trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He has appeared in numerous television series, including ''Cardiac Arrest'', '' Holding On'', '' NCS: Manhunt'', '' ...
as Vinay Chakarbati
*
Lindsay Duncan
Lindsay Vere Duncan (born 7 November 1950) is a Scottish actress. On stage, she has won two Olivier Awards (for ''Les Liaisons Dangereuses'' and ''Private Lives'') and a Tony Award (for ''Private Lives''). She has starred in several plays by Ha ...
as Jennifer Hale
*
Jonathan Harden
Jonathan Harden (born 1979) is an Irish actor and director.
Early life
Harden was born in Belfast in 1979, the son of an Irish father and American mother.
Career
Harden's most notable credits include the roles of Sean Rawlins in the crime drama ...
as Reverend Wells
*
Christopher Fairbank
Christopher Fairbank (born 4 October 1953) is an English film, stage and television actor. Career
In 2010, he appeared as a detective in ''Five Daughters
''Five Daughters'' is a British television drama miniseries starring Ian Hart, Sar ...
as Bill Raggett
*
Stephen Tompkinson
Stephen Phillip Tompkinson (born 15 October 1965) is an English actor, known for his television roles as Marcus in ''Chancer '' (1990), Damien Day in '' Drop the Dead Donkey'' (1990–1998), Father Peter Clifford in '' Ballykissangel'' (1996– ...
as Warnock
*
Mark Addy
Mark Ian Addy (born 14 January 1964) is an English actor. His roles in British television include Detective Constable Gary Boyle in the sitcom '' The Thin Blue Line'' (1995–1996) and Hercules in the fantasy drama series ''Atlantis'' (2013–2 ...
as Ron St. Clair
*
Mark Frost
Mark Frost (born November 25, 1953) is an American novelist, screenwriter, film-and-television producer and director. He is the co-creator of the mystery television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991; 2017) and was a writer and executive story ...
Neil Ashton
Neil John Ashton (born 15 January 1985) is an English manager and former footballer who is currently manager of Cefn Albion. Typically played as left-back, he occasionally acted as a midfielder.
Career
Tranmere Rovers
Neil Ashton started his ...
as Carl
*
Safia Oakley-Green
Safia Grace Oakley-Green (born June 2001) is an English actress. She won a British Independent Film Award for her performance in the horror film ''Out of Darkness'' (2022). She was named a 2023 ''Screen International'' Star of Tomorrow.
Early li ...
as Cinderella Jackson
Episodes
Reception
The series received critical acclaim. On review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, it holds an approval rating of 100% based on 16 reviews, with an average score of 8.9/10. The website's critical consensus reads "A gripping mystery that draws immense power from its sterling cast and the specificity of its location, ''Sherwood'' is such a rich series that it makes the competition look all the poorer."
''The Telegraph'' gave it five stars and declared it "the best BBC drama of the year so far".
Lucy Mangan
Lucy Katherine Mangan''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007'' (born 1974) is a British journalist and author. She is a columnist, features writer and TV critic for ''The Guardian''. A major part of her writing is related t ...
of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' also gave the finale five out of five stars, remarking that the series "didn’t falter in its intricate plotting, attention to detail or its perfect evocation of place". Nick Hilton of ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'' gave it four stars, calling Graham's writing "sympathetic, vibrant storytelling".
The first episode was watched 4,855,000 times on iPlayer alone during 2022, making it the 9th most viewed individual programme on the platform that year.