Robert Hoffman. [2004]

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INTRODUCTION: THE SLEEVE NOTES

That haunting theme tune and enchanting musical score was part of a 13 part black and white dramatization syndicated in the U.S.A. in 1964 and first screened in Britain in 1965. For many years it has been etched in the consciousness of thousands of people who have fond memories of the series.

Caught in a tropical storm at sea whilst travelling between Brazil and Africa, a young Englishman, Robinson Crusoe, is shipwrecked on an uncharted island off the coast of South America from which there seems little hope of rescue.

This 13 part black and white dramatisation of Daniel Defoe's famous novel was made by Franco-London Films, syndicated in America 1964 and first screened in Britain in 1965.
Filmed mostly on location in the Canary Islands, the series painted a classic picture of heroism and survival over disaster and helplessness, from the delight of lighting his first fire to the eventual defence of the island from mutineers.

The series was also punctuated with flashback sequences of Crusoe's earlier life; his childhood in York, his unhappy apprenticeship to a lawyer and, finally, his running away to sea.
Unlike most other versions, the series showed many of his early adventures and his subsequent capture by and escape from slave traders.

The haunting theme tune and enchanting musical score were the work of Robert Mellin and Gian-Piero Reverberi, two highly respected musians who were very active in European popular music, and these have become forever etched into the consciousness of thousands of people with fond memories of the series.