The series ended on Saturday evening, when the eponymous character -- played by actor Jonas Armstrong -- was killed by a poisoned sword, but not before he defeated his arch enemy the Sheriff of Nottingham -- played by Keith Allen.
For a show that averaged 5.5m viewers in its first and about 4.5m in its third and final series, the final episode ended with a whimper -- only attracting 1.7m viewers.
This was not least because the climatic episode was relegated to BBC Two to make way for Andy Murray playing at Wimbledon.
The demise of 'Robin Hood', which some critics likened to a forest-bound reworking of 'Hollyoaks' with bows and arrows, is yet another sign that the honeymoon is over for expensive family-oriented sci-fi and swords and sorcery-themed drama, which kicked off four years ago with BBC One's successful revival of 'Doctor Who'.
'Robin Hood''s axing follows a growing pressure on broadcasters to cut back budgets, with ITV announcing in March that it would reduce the number of dramas as one measure to slash its programming budget by £135m.
Casualties include the broadcaster's ITV1 drama 'Primeval', which gave viewers time-travelling scientists fighting dinosaurs, and vampire drama 'Demons'.
The BBC has also cut the number of episodes of its 'Doctor Who' spin-off drama 'Torchwood' from 13 to five, which led the programme's star, actor John Barrowman, to publicly express his anger and frustration at the cuts.
Torchwood' started life as a BBC Three series before jumping to BBC Two. The third series comprises five hour-long episodes. But last month the
Barrowman said: "I feel like we're being punished. We moved to BBC2 as the ratings were so good and then to BBC One -- and then we were cut.
"Other shows move and don't get cut, so why are we?"
However, the BBC has made some notably successful family-aimed dramas, including its tea-time swords and sorcery series 'Merlin', which has attracted audiences of 6m.
It is also one of the few British shows that have successfully jumped across the Atlantic -- last month its debut on NBC attracted 5m viewers.
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