Big Gay Longcat's Big Gay Longblog: Robin... The Hooded Manny

Robin of Sherwood, season one

Robin Hood and the Sorcerer (Part 1)

Eight years after the legendary outlaw met his end (and two years after a certain band of space outlaws were gunned down) on BBC1, HTV launched their take on the legend of Robin Hood.

I may be watching this on a modern DVD but even taking that into account you can immediately see that this is a much higher quality product than the BBC was producing in the '70s - no more studio sets on videotape, this is 100% filmed and 100% on location.

Like its BBC predecessor, this begins with a pre-titles sequence showing the young Robin and his father, though with quite different circumstances - this Robin is no noblemanny. But very much unlike the BBC series, as soon as the story properly starts it's in a hurry to get to the good bits - it wastes no time in introducing Guy of Gisburne, who arrests Robin and his foster-brother Much for poaching, taking them back to Nottingham Castle where they are imprisoned along with several other potential Merry Mannys, not least of whom is Will Scarlet, already a convicted killer of Normans.

They stage an escape, but get separated in the process and each gets to show a little bit of their individual characters as they escape in different ways (Much being established as the useless one already). Robin hides in a part of the castle where he has his first meeting with Lady Marion. This Marion may not have the classical beauty of Diane Keen, but she makes up for this by having immediate chemistry with Praed's Robin, something The Legend of Robin Hood never quite got right... although that might have been because it was far more interested in setting up the homoerotic subtext between Robin and King Richard, lol.

The supernatural element is present from the start, though kept reasonably low-key for now, with both the evil sorcerer (of the episode title) Baron Simon de Belleme and the good mystic Herne being met by us viewers. The most overt display of magic in this first episode is that Belleme has seemingly mind-controlled Little John into being his loyal henchmanny - he sends him to kill Robin but after the traditional fight over a river (really well done and with some decent stunts - which I reckon were done by the actors themselves, not stuntmannys) Robin frees him from the Baron's spell by rubbing the mark of the pentagram off his chest. I'm not sure how Robin knew to do this, but on the other hand it's not hard to guess that wiping away such a blatantly evil-looking mark was probably a good idea.

Sir Guy murders Much's father (and Robin's foster-father) when he refuses to tell him where they are, thus establishing their mutual hatred as being personal. The role that the Sheriff of Nottingham and Sir Guy play in this is very similar to their respective roles in The Legend of Robin Hood, with the Sheriff as the brains and Guy as the muscle. Where we get a little bit of difference is that instead of a succession of corrupt priests across the series, these are all replaced by the Sheriff's brother Hugo, an evil abbot who thinks of nothing but acquiring land - especially that belonging to Marion's family.

The Merry Mannys ambush Sir Guy and his soldiers, rescuing Marion from them and sending Guy back as the last survivor to tell the Sheriff about "Robin in the Hood" and how Sherwood belongs to him. It ends with ~~Avon~~ Will Scarlet saying that they should have just killed him. This means that as well as introducing almost all of the main, regular characters in this episode, it has still found time for enough plot to get to the same stage of the story that The Legend of Robin Hood got to after almost three full parts.

There's a superb cast here from the very beginning - Michael Praed stepping out of the early-80s zeitgeist looking like a New Romantic, Ray Winstone ready to fuck up Normans as Will Scarlet, John Abineri (who was of course in The Legend of Robin Hood as Marion's uncle) suitably mysterious as Herne, Robert "fish and a chip emporium" Addie is instantly loathsome and easily hateable as Sir Guy, Philip "Inspector Japp" Jackson as the abbot Hugo. Clive Mantle spends most of the episode as a mute slave to the evil Baron so we don't see much of the 'real' Little John, but he certainly looks the part and the fight scene proves he has the physicality.

The real tough act to follow from The Legend of Robin Hood was, of course, Paul Darrow's turn as the Sheriff of Nottingham. Much as I love him, I have to admit that this series has his Sheriff beaten, because they found an actor capable of being even more hammy than him - Nickolas "I can't believe it's not Tim Curry" Grace. We don't see him go fully over the top in this initial episode, but I know for a fact that later on in the series he will go stratospheric at times.

Last but not least is the guest-star - Baron de Belleme is played by (to give him his full name) The Superb Anthony Valentine. To be honest he doesn't do a huge amount in this part, but that's because it's just setting him up to be the main antagonist of part two...

Robin Hood and the Sorcerer (Part 2)

This episode contains the classic Robin Hood tale of the archery contest where Robin splits the arrow, though here it is skilfully intertwined into the main plot with the satanist sorcerer Baron de Belleme, since in this case there are three ace archers rather than the usual two: in addition to the disguised Robin (where did he get such a realistic fake beard in the 12th century?) and the Sheriff's manny, the Baron enters his mind-controlled assassin Nasir, who is the one whose arrow Robin has to split in order to win.

Thus we are introduced to the one of the missing regulars we didn't properly meet in part one. Nasir is a new introduction to the legend, and in this we see he is almost Robin's equal with both bow and sword (and may be his superior in the latter because he is a dual-wielding badass). After Robin wins the contest his identity is revealed and there is a big fight, which includes some of stunt arranger (and former Doctor Who) Terry Walsh's trademark falling-off-high-places-after-being-shot stunts.

After this the Baron's plot really kicks in as he wants to sacrifice Marion to the (or possibly a) devil (token protests against this by the abbot are soon overcome when Belleme says he doesn't want her lands). The Sheriff is happy to go along with this when the Baron says that Robin is bound to attempt a rescue so this is a good opportunity to trap and kill him.

The last significant regular to be introduced is Friar Tuck, who was present in part one but only really in the background. He tries to rescue Marion but after Belleme's mannys capture her anyway all he can do is warn the Merry Mannys, and after that he is basically one of the gang.

The scenes in the Baron's gothic-style castle as Robin attempts to rescue Marion in the nick of time are superbly atmospheric, and the Baron's comeuppance suitably satisfying. And all credit to The Superb Anthony Valentine for making this potentially camp role into a sinister and threatening antagonist.

This is followed by Robin's fight with Nasir, which is pretty good although we don't really see that actual moment when Nasir is freed from the Baron's service the way we did with Little John - this might be due to it being a last minute change of plan to have Nasir survive and become a main character instead of just a one-off henchmanny, but either way I think this turn could have been shown to the audience better.

There's a third climax to the episode as there's then a big fight between Guy of Gisburne's soldiers and the Merry Mannys. Some of the Merry Mannys are killed in this fight, including a couple of named characters who we might have expected to become regulars - a rare subversion of the law of conservation of narrative details.

A significant divergence between this version of the Robin Hood legend and many others comes at the end of the episode as Robin and Marion marry in a pagan ceremony, with Herne officiating. So no need to refer to her as 'Maid' Marion for this series, mew.

This is a great two-part introduction to the series and really sets out its stall from the start, letting you know there will be all the usual tropes of Robin Hood, but also quite a bit more besides those to help set this version apart from the rest. Combine that with the high production values and it is no surprise that this is a well-remembered series.

Another significant factor in making the series as memorable as it undoubtedly is is the music by Clannad, which is so distinctive that this doesn't sound anything like any other version of Robin Hood. To me it feels inseperable from the series, with the haunting sounds going with the mystical atmosphere of the forest setting like a head in a hood.

The Witch of Elsdon

This episode, while it has its good points, is a big step down in quality from the opening two-parter. It begins with the abbot conducting a witchcraft trial, which is anachronistic by over 300 years. I have to conclude that Robin of Sherwood is set in an alternative reality, in which the existence of genuine supernatural forces has influenced the legal system of England and caused such laws to be introduced much earlier than in our history.

The problem with the episode is that its fundamental storyline is based on a major cliché - Sheriff forces somebody to help him catch Robin Hood if they don't want their relative executed, but the Merry Mannys turn the tables on him and manage to free both the manny W-wording for the Sheriff as well as their relative. I'm not going to criticise it for the lack of any familiar faces in the guest cast, but neither can it earn any bonus points from these when there aren't any.

Where it has points in its favour are found in some of the details - we see a lot more of the story from the Sheriff's point of view which allows him some character development (which is good coming this early in the series since he had to take something of a back seat to Simon de Belleme in episodes one and two), and there's also a bigger role for Marion when it is her actions that save the Merry Mannys from the Sheriff's trap.

Then there's a couple of well-executed set piece scenes - the first of these wrong-foots the audience into thinking the Merry Mannys are at Guy of Gisburne's mercy when in actual fact it is they who are about to ambush Gisburne, and the second sees the first swordfight between Robin and the Sheriff. Most of these enjoyable little touches (save the Sheriff's increased screentime) come towards the end of the episode, so it is the first half of the episode that weighs it down.

Guy of Gisburne gets defeated and humiliated by having his clothes stolen again, giving him an even worse success rate than Space Commander Travis (who is clearly his direct counterpart in Blakes 7) at this stage of their respective careers.

Seven Poor Knights From Acre

This is a superb episode with some well-choreographed, tense and dynamic fight scenes. The introduction of a third faction - the seven Knights Templar of the title - who are enemies of Robin without being allies of the Sheriff, makes for a great setup. The Sheriff thinks he can manipulate one group to wipe out the other, while Robin is just happy to see off the knights and restore the status quo by the end credits.

This makes for a packed episode and the knights, while there are only seven of them, constantly feel like way more of a credible threat to the Merry Mannys than Guy of Gisburne and any number of Nottingham soldiers because of the early encounter where they show how dangerous they can be as disciplined, veteran fighting mannys. These scenes also sometimes portray the knights like they are POV monsters, with us seeing through their letterbox helmets, and this somehow makes them even more threatening.

We also get an appearance by Simon "Hindle" Rouse as the thief Siward (no relation) who sets the plot in motion and is then instrumental in its resolution. He only has one eye, and after the Sheriff captures him he threatens to put out his other one. Somebody should tell him that... you know...

This is just a generally all-round great episode and truly a highlight of the season.

Alan A Dale

Nickolas Grace had obviously been taking lessons from Paul Darrow's Sheriff of Notingham since in this episode he totally steals the show. He is such an obnoxious, bullying baddy to everyone in this, including Guy of Gisburne, that he almost manages to make you feel sory for poor, put-upon Sir Guy, save for the fact that we learn early on that Guy has recently had a whole village whipped for the crime of helping to hide Little John.

The main plot is that the Sheriff is about to get married - for the dowry money, obviously, he has no interest in women for any other reason, mew. Alan A Dale (clang!) is in love with the bride-to-be and teams up with the Merry Mannys to try and liberate both her and the dowry. Here we see the episode's main weak point as Alan, despite being the title character, is useless and whiny and incapable of accomplishing anything without help from Robin and co. We see no indication as to why the lady should love him back, save only that he is less of a baddy than the Sheriff.

The Merry Mannys' plan involves ambushing the Sheriff, Guy and the Nottingham soldiers with two hives of bees, which they shoot the top off to unleash the bees upon the bad guys. Unfortunately, the SFX used for the bees is only marginally more convincing than what was used in Delta and the Bannermannys, and is a real low point of the episode.

The Sheriff actually comes out ahead at the end of the tale, since although the bride successfully runs off with Alan, he successfully holds on to the dowry money while at the same time convincing his would-be father-in-law that Robin Hood stole it, so as far as he is concerned he got all of the advantages and none of the downsides to the marriage. This helps give the villains of the series a little bit of their credibility back, since it means that they have not lost to the Merry Mannys in every episode.

The series takes influence from The Legend of Robin Hood with homoerotic undertones in several scenes - firstly when we see the Sheriff in his bath, from which he berates Sir Guy about his incompetence and then demands Guy towel him off, then later when Robin and Sir Guy have a fight on a muddy riverbank that soon descends into slow-motion mudwrestling, and then finally at the end the Sheriff has another bath, this time with Guy actually in there with him, lol!

This is a bit of a step down in quality from the superb preceding episode, but there's still a lot to enjoy here, mainly thanks to Nickolas Grace finally being allowed to take it up a notch or two. But if you think he's over the top now, just wait until the later seasons, when we will see what he's really capable of...

The King's Fool

When King Richard turns up, played by John "Macro" Rhys-Davies, and pardons Robin and the Merry Mannys, you could be forgiven for thinking this'll be the end of the series. After all, at six 50-minute parts we've had an equivalent amount of screen time to The Legend of Robin Hood, so why not?

Of course this isn't the end of the series, only the end of the first season. King Richard turns out to be a wrong'un, which would have surprised me more if I hadn't seen Maid Marian and Her Merry Mannys long before I ever saw this episode - that series, while made afterwards (1989), also ended its first season with the 'twist' of King Richard being villainous and his return to England not being the solution to the Merry Mannys' problems.

Will Scarlet is at his most Avonish in this episode, since he is the first to sense that the king's pardon is a trap and so stays behind while the rest of them go to Nottingham. Nasir, Little John and Martin* also leave before the trap is sprung, so that only Marion, Tuck and Much are with Robin when Guy of Gisburne comes in to try and kill them.

This leads into a pretty good fight scene as our heroes have to escape from a fire as well as fight off Gisburne and his soldiers, and it ends with Gisburne and Marion shooting each other with crossbows. Sir Guy is last seen collapsing (and a bit on fire), so we might have presumed him killed if they had ended the series here.

With the Merry Mannys disbanded and Marion injured, the episode, and season, ends in a distinctly mythic way, with Robin taking Marion to the stone circle "Rhiannon's Wheel" where, unbeknownst to him, the Sheriff killed his father in the pre-titles sequence to the first episode. Herne appears and saves Marion (or possibly gives Robin the power to save her, or it could be he tells Robin that the power to save her was in him all along) and then the Merry Mannys reunite with Robin and Marion in time for the end credits.

This was actually the first time Herne appeared in the series since The Witch of Elsdon, so we had basically had the two episodes before this one with nothing supernatural in them at all, meaning the series didn't fell it had to include some magical or mystical element every time. Possibly that was for the best, but I can't help feel that John Abineri's mysterious Herne is an integral part of the show's success and distinctiveness as an adaptation of the Robin Hood mythos.

While the opening two-parter is superb, and Seven Poor Knights From Acre is the standout single episode of the season, I think the whole comes to be greater than the sum of its parts. The quality of the casting and the high production values shines through each instalment so that, while some episodes are weaker than others, none are truly bad and all of them are enjoyable.