Note on production:
The production of Robbery Under Arms was unusually complicated. In light of the expenses involved in the production, a film (two and a half hours) and a mini-series (six one-hour episodes) were filmed simultaneously.
Some sources suggest that the film was a cut-down version of the mini-series (as, for example, with the Escape from Jupiter television series, which was cut down to film length for video release).
Other sources suggest that two completely different scripts were prepared, one for the mini-series and one for the film.
Director Donald Crombie specified that it was something of a combination of both: according to Crombie, the film was created by cutting down segments of the miniseries and 'putting in the least amount of story. [We then edged] material back in until we were absolutely sure that it was the best story [we could tell] in the shortest time' (ctd. Sheila Johnston and Neil Roddick Cinema Papers May 1985, p. 58).
The production also used two directors, but both are credited on both film and mini-series.
Mini-series and film have been treated as separate works, but have a complicated relationship to one another.
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