Editing Doctor Syn (section)

===Films===
Three film adaptations have been made of Dr. Syn's exploits.

====''Doctor Syn'' (1937)====
The first, ''[[Doctor Syn (film)|Doctor Syn]]'' (1937), starred the actor [[George Arliss]] in the title role and was his last film.

====''Captain Clegg'' (1962)====
''[[Captain Clegg (film)|Captain Clegg]]'' (1962), (known as ''Night Creatures'' when released in the United States), was produced by [[Hammer Film Productions]] with actor [[Peter Cushing]] in the lead role, directed by [[Peter Graham Scott]]. In the screenplay by [[Anthony Hinds]], the main character's name was changed from "Doctor Syn" to "Parson Blyss" to avoid copyrights problems with Disney's forthcoming version, and ''Captain Clegg'''s screenplay follows the novel ''Doctor Syn'' and the screenplay of the 1937 film closely with the exception of a tightening of the plot. In the Arliss film ''Doctor Syn'', Syn escapes to sea with Mipps and the rest of the Dymchurch smugglers, whereas ''Captain Clegg'' ends more faithfully to the novel, with Parson Blyss being killed by the mulatto (who is then killed by Mipps) and then being carried to and buried in Captain Clegg's empty grave by Mipps. ''Captain Clegg'' was released in the United Kingdom  / Great Britain on DVD and Blu-ray in 2014; ''Night Creatures'' was never released on videotape in the United States, but is included in the 2014 two-disc DVD collection ''The Hammer Horror Series''. In North America, the film was released on 6 September 2005 along with seven other Hammer horror films on the 4-DVD set ''The Hammer Horror Series'' , part of MCA-Universal's "Franchise Collection". This set was re-released on Blu-ray 13 September 2016. A Blu-ray was released in the UK on 23 June 2014 by Final Cut Entertainment. In 2021, Powerhouse Films re-released the film on Blu-Ray, along with ''[[The Shadow of the Cat]]'', ''[[The Phantom of the Opera (1962 film)|The Phantom of the Opera]]'', and ''[[Nightmare (1964 film)|Nightmare]]'', as part of ''Hammer Volume Six: Night Shadows'' boxset.<ref>{{Citation|title=Hammer Volume Six: Night Shadows Blu-ray Release Date June 21, 2021|url=https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Hammer-Volume-Six-Night-Shadows-Blu-ray/288092/|access-date=2021-08-09}}</ref>

====''The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh'' (1963)====
''The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh'' (1963) was produced for the ''[[Walt Disney anthology television series#Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color|Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color]]'' weekly TV series on Sunday evenings on the [[National Broadcasting Company]] ([[NBC|NBC-TV network]]). It was shot on location in [[Kent]], England  (United Kingdom / Great Britain) and was directed by [[James Neilson (director)|James Neilson]]. It stars British actor [[Patrick McGoohan]] in the title role of the meek, mild, intellectual country priest / vicar of "Doctor Syn", with [[George Cole (actor)|George Cole]] as Mipps and Australian actor [[Sean Scully (actor)|Sean Scully]],  as young John Banks, the younger son of nearby country estate nobleman, Squire Thomas Banks ([[Michael Hordern]]). 

In the 18th century, the local [[Church of England]] / [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] parish of [[St Clement's Church, Old Romney|St Clement's Church]] in [[Old Romney]] in Kent doubled as priest / [[vicar]] plus an additional secret life and career. Dr Syn's fictional Dymchurch parish church in the production, and the Disney studio funded the additional repair of the building to use it as a filming location.<ref>{{cite web|author=Kent Film Office|url= http://kentfilmoffice.co.uk/1964/04/dr-syn-the-scarecrow-of-romney-marsh-1964/|title=Kent Film Office Dr Syn: The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh Film Focus}}</ref>

Part One dealt with the arrival of General Pugh ([[Geoffrey Keen]]), who had been ordered by the British government's War Office in London, to smash the smuggling ring along that part of the marshy coast of the [[North Sea]] and [[English Channel]], of [[Kent]] and [[Sussex]] in southeastern England, and prevent the Scarecrow from rescuing a Dymchurch man captured by a [[Royal Navy]] press gang (drafting / shanghaiing unlucky merchant ships seamen out on the town as forced recruits/sailors on British warships in port), as bait to trap the infamous smuggler gang leader Scarecrow. Part Two of the series depicted The Scarecrow dealing with the traitorous Joe Ransley ([[Patrick Wymark]]. Part Three showed how the Scarecrow rescued Harry Banks ([[David Buck]]) and American colonialist  Simon Bates ([[Tony Britton]]) from [[British Army]] General Pugh's ([[Geoffrey Keen]]), clutches in Dover Castle.

While originally conceived and edited for American television (and announced in an advertisement by the NBC network in the Tuesday, 9 July 1963, issue of the noted entertainment industry newspaper ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'', published in Los Angeles, California), ''The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh'' was re-edited for first, a 1963  British theatrical release several months before the American prime-time television debut. Retitled as ''Dr Syn, Alias the Scarecrow'', the British theatrical version was released on a [[double bill]] with the animated  ''[[The Sword in the Stone (1963 film)|The Sword in the Stone]]'' a children's historical film about legendary young [[King Arthur]]. They both ran during the December 1963 Christmas season (advertised in the January 1964 issue of ''[[Photoplay]]'' magazine). This version was shown in continental Europe as well, plus also later in Latin America of [[Central America|Central]] and South America's television networks through three years later in 1966.

In the following decade of the 1970s, the ''Scarecrow of Romney Marsh'' production was re-edited again for its first American theatrical release by the Disney studios, on double bills with both the four-decade old classic of 1937 of the color animated ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)|Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs]]'' old feature film and also ''[[Treasure Island (1950 film)|Treasure Island]]'' (1950, starring [[Robert Newton]], of author [[Robert Louis Stevenson]]'s classic sea-faring treasure hunt saga to a distant island, in the [[Treasure Island|original novel]] published 1883). Both involving British ships and seamen.

The [[VHS]] format of [[video cassette tape]] release of the 1980s, sharing the removal of the Scarecrow's laugh from Terry Gilkyson's memorable title theme song, was expanded to include the story material from all three original broadcast NBC television episodes, while retaining the feature film structure and credits; it was available for a relatively short amount of time. Shortly after the theatrical run in the United States, it was re-edited once more for a two-part presentation and rebroadcast on Disney's television series a decade later in the 1970s, simply omitting the middle episode. The original three-part series was first shown as part of ''Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color'' on three successive Sunday evenings on  9, 16 and 23 February 1964. Twenty years later, it was included in another broadcast late 1980s ''Wonderful World of Disney'' syndication rerun package, and cablecast in 1990s on the cable television [[Disney Channel]]. This version generally followed the storyline of ''The Further Adventures of Dr. Syn'' and made it clear that the good Doctor Syn did not die or stage his own death: at the film's end, he is seen having a cup of tea with the local Squire, (still totally unaware of his true identity and political opinions!!) who admits to now owing a debt of gratitude to the criminal smuggler, outlaw and rebel "Scarecrow".

On 11 November 2008 [[The Walt Disney Company]] released a limited pressing of 39,500 copies of ''The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh'' on the DVD format of video disc for the first time, in a collector's metal tin case. This was a part of the newly issued ''[[Walt Disney Treasures: Wave Eight|Disney Treasures]]'' collection and was now titled ''Dr. Syn: The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh''. This release sold out in only three weeks. The DVD was made available again for the members of the Disney Movie Club on 17 February 2009. This two-disc set includes the American television version and the original British theatrical release version ''Dr Syn, Alias the Scarecrow'' in a widescreen format. It also includes the original televised introductions by famed artist / cartoonist and studio founder/owner [[Walt Disney]] himself, as was then traditional for the regular Sunday night program of 1963–1964 (in which he erroneously states that Dr. Syn was an actual historical figure, although English smuggling rings along the coasts were a historical fact in those earlier centuries) and also contains a documentary feature on Disney's interest in filming the historical fiction story. 

In October 2019, the recently established Disney Movie Club released it on the superior [[Blu-ray]] format, this time entitling it as  ''The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh''. Its single disc of advanced technology contains all three episodes originally broadcast on television in 1964. It also includes Walt Disney's taped introductions, but unfortunately, none of the supplemental features that appeared on the earlier 2009 released copy.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Scarecrow-of-Romney-Marsh-Blu-ray/254360/ | title = Blu-Ray.com}}</ref>

====Other adaptations====
Made in 1974, ''[[Carry On Dick]]'', of the [[Carry On (film series)|''Carry On'' series of films]], followed the same premise of a country vicar ([[Sid James]]) who is secretly an outlaw, in this case the [[highwayman]] [[Dick Turpin]].