Ria Zmitrowicz (The Power) is to join the cast of BBC drama Sherwood as a “young, queer and female” Sheriff of Nottingham to help modernise the idea of the role.
The TV series, set in a Nottinghamshire mining village, is inspired by real events where show creator James Graham grew up, and also stars David Morrissey and Lesley Manville.
James Graham said: “Whenever I tell people we still have a Sheriff of Nottingham they don’t believe it.
“I feel like mythology and folklore was a big part of the first series, the stories that we carry forward through generations or even just the associations that we make to certain titles are so important in general.
“Obviously the first series had outlaws hiding out in Sherwood Forest and people drew that line to Robin Hood, and the Sheriff is a character people mostly know from that
“In our series we have a young, queer female Sheriff of Nottingham. I just thought that felt modern and important to include that representation, and to make that character and that title fully drawn.”
Season two of Sherwood will see the Sheriff fighting against a proposed new coal mine that is set to bring new jobs, but is an “unwelcome” reminder of community issues.
Season two of Sherwood will premiere on BBC One and BBC iPlay on Sunday at 9pm.
