FIGHTING for recognition is a task Tony Rotherham is all too used to.

Although he's widely recognised as Nottingham's Robin Hood, having regularly appeared at council events and the now-defunct Tales of Robin Hood, Tony has yet to receive the title officially.

Likewise, his work as a combat artist tends to go unrecognised by all barring those in the film industry.

However, his expertise on both counts has paid off in spades since it's allowed him to play a sword-wielding role in the battle scenes for the new Robin Hood epic Nottingham, starring Russell Crowe.

Tony has been taking part in the filming of Ridley Scott's movie at locations in Wales and Farnham in Surrey.

Speaking to the Post during a short break from filming, Tony could exclusively reveal the cast who were working alongside him on location.

They include former Full Monty star Mark Addy, as Friar Tuck, Oscar Isaac as Prince John, William Hurt as William Marshall, and Welsh actor Robert Pugh as Baldwin.

They appear alongside confirmed stars such as Cate Blanchett as Marian, CSI actor Kevin Durand as Little John, ER star Scott Grimes as Will Scarlet, Alan Doyle as Alan A Dayle and Eileen Atkins as Eleanor of Aquitane.

Rumours of a clash between Russell Crowe and director Ridley Scott are without substance, according to Tony.

"They're always laughing together. Russell might be a bit of a tearaway at times but everyone's allowed to do that. He's a really nice guy," he says.

But Tony could not confirm rumours that Matthew Macfadyen will be playing the Sheriff of Nottingham.

Even so, he says: "It's a huge cast. It's unbelievable. But it's being directed by Ridley Scott so you knew it was going to be amazing."

The plot of the film sees King Richard die early on, thus removing any hope of his eventual return restoring order, as has been the case in many of the other Robin Hood adaptations.

Instead, Robin is forced to face the twin threats of King John and his knights – including the villainous Gisborne-like character Godfrey, played by Mark Strong – and the invading French forces.

The result is lots of battle scenes, which is where Tony comes in.

"I do one scene in which I lose my sword so I batter this Frenchman with my shield," says Tony. "I'm hoping they don't cut that out!"

Tony and his fellow actors are affiliated to Combat International, a European-wide organisation that represents various combat groups.

It was through their involvement with these groups that the performers were invited to take part in the film.

"We're not stunt men," he explains. "Nobody's going to set fire to me or push me off a building! But, put a sword in my hand, and I know what to do."

Tony became a combat performer in 1981. He has studied martial arts since the age of 18, and joined a sword school which teaches students how to use medieval weapons.

He and his fellow combat performers – including four others from Nottingham – are paid more than run-of-the-mill extras on account of their expertise.

Most of them have previous experience of working on film and TV sets. In Tony's case, this includes spells on the highly-acclaimed Robin of Sherwood series and the Patrick Bergin Robin Hood film.

"Extras aren't trained," he says. "They get maybe an hour's training at swinging their swords around. We've been fighting for years. We know each other's moves. We have various routines we can slip in and use. It's very fast-flowing. We use aluminium swords and if you hit somebody, you could kill them, so you need to know what you're doing.

"We filmed one battle scene on the coast and there were three horses running loose. The film-makers trust us to get out of the way, whereas an extra might have got trampled."

Other weapons are made of rubber or plastic and the chain mail is plastic.

The actors are about to wrap up three weeks of filming in Surrey, then it's back to Pinewood for further shooting.

In Surrey, the performers have been attacking a "French castle" with a battering ram and explosives.

According to St Ann's-born Darren Mitchell, 37, these scenes ranked among some of Crowe's favourites to date.

"Working with Russell has been really good fun," says Darren, a community protection officer on annual leave from Nottingham City Council.

"There have been a couple of times when I've been fighting shoulder to shoulder with him. Because we're combat performers, we're getting to work right alongside the principal cast."