Robin Of Sherwood - Series 1.

Robin Of Sherwood was an 80s fantasy series that ran for three seasons from 1984 to 1986. It was a retelling of the Robin Hood legend, retooled with a grittier, earthier approach, and also adding a dose of fantasy to the mix. At the time, it was a pretty radical departure from the usual ways the story had been told, and it actually added some elements to the usual story that were picked up by later adaptations, proving to be an influential addition to the legend. So how does it hold up now? Here goes…

The first season comprised of only 7 episodes, the first being the two part pilot, Robin Hood & The Sorcerer, which tells the story of how the gang gets together, with a few twists on the legend. The main one is the increased emphasis on fantasy elements. As well as fighting the Sheriff’s men, and stealing from the rich, Robin now has to contend with various dark forces that threaten England, and must use not only his wits and skills to survive, but also mystical forces. The most notable example is Herne the Hunter. He appears sometimes as a spirit, representing nature and the forces of good, sometimes as a mortal man. Robin is now ‘Herne’s Son’, given the magical sword Albion, and charged with fighting for the forces of light.

Robin meets Herne after he escapes from Sherwood dungeon, where he was imprisoned with his foster brother, Much, for killing one of the king’s deer. We are shown that the Sheriff of Nottingham and his lackey, Guy of Gisburne, keep the area under an oppressive rule. It is in the dungeon that they meet Will Scarlet, a violent fellow prisoner who escapes with them.

After meeting Herne, Robin finds out that the forces of darkness, represented by Baron de Belleme, an evil sorcerer, are in league with the Sheriff, and he is tasked with stopping them.
The bare bones of the story are the same, but familiar Robin Hood tropes are there, but framed and presented in new ways. Robin still fights Little John with a quarterstaff, but now John is bewitched by de Belleme, and wishes to kill Robin on his orders. We still get the archery contest, but now it is for a silver arrow - a mystical artifact sought by Herne. We may have seen the basics before, but never in this manner.

The cast is also superb. As Robin, Michael Praed is a bit wooden, and he and Judi Trott’s Marian are sort of a bland couple, but they convincingly sell their romance. In this version, Marian now lives with the outlaws in Sherwood, and is a valued member of the team, not usually falling prey to the damsel in distress syndrome. (The pilot aside).

The two stand-outs of the Merry Men are easily Will Scarlet and Nasir. Will Scarlet is played by a young Ray Winstone and is a violent, barely restrained thug, essentially always on the edge of violence, and relishing the frequent tussles with the Sheriff’s men. Nasir is the show’s big addition to the legend - a Saracen member of the team - an idea which has been repeated in most of the adaptations that followed.

He’s introduced as de Belleme’s henchman, and was originally meant as a one-shot character, but the producers loved Mark Ryan’s portrayal of the character and kept him on. It’s easy to see why - Ryan is effortlessly charismatic and compelling, all portrayed through his facial expressions and body language, as Nasir is a mostly mute character. In fact, in the whole first season, he only gets one line, and it isn’t in English. With that, we still get a total understanding of the character, which is impressive.

Much, Tuck, and Little John are much as they’ve ever been, but still well-played. Apparently the cast became very close during the course of filming, and still get together to this day. You can tell in the episodes themselves - the Merry Men have great chemistry and seem to genuinely be friends.

On the villain’s side, the two main adversaries for the series are the Sheriff of Nottingham (Nickolas Grace) and Guy of Gisburne (Robert Addie). These two are great fun. Grace chews up the scenery with gusto, constantly grandstanding, curling his lip, camping up a scene, or spitting out his lines with enough venom to kill an elephant. Strangely, despite the scenery chewing that goes on, he never seems out of place or comic relief. His interplay with Gisburne is always good - the two openly despise each other and spend much of their time bickering, putting each other down, and just generally playing off each other. Gisburne is more of a petulant child, constantly annoyed by Robin’s constant escapes and seeking to put one over on his boss, but too dim to do much about it. The two are strangely likable, though we never forget how evil they both can be.
Related to that, as mentioned above, the series is a gritty affair, with death never far away. Robin and the Merry Men don’t shy away from killing the guards, and various one-time members of the Merry Men die with alarming frequency, showing the dangers of the outlaw lifestyle. Because of this, and despite the vein of humor running through the show, an air of melancholy hangs over everything. Robin and the forces of good might be winning the individual battles, but the war never seems close to being won.

A good example of this is the final episode of the season, The King’s Fool. King Richard returns from the crusades, and promptly pardons all the outlaws. Hooray, they think, and spend quite some time hanging around Nottingham, annoying the Sheriff and basking in their new found freedom. However, it soon transpires that Richard is a nut, and wants to recruit everyone for his latest venture of folly in Normandy, and he’s uninterested in solving the problems in England, happy to let things go on as they are, and concentrate on his wars. The Merry Men split up, angered by Robin’s refusal to see the truth, and only at the end does he come to his senses. They get back together, but it’s clear that Richard’s return will change nothing, as they hoped it would. The end is certainly not in sight.

Cheery stuff, eh?

Mood is an important element of the show, certainly. The series is shot all on film, completely on location in real castles. The grime and squalor of the middle ages is never shied away from, and all of the locations have an authentic ’lived-in’ air to them. It also uses frequent slow motion, filters, and mood lighting to give an dream-like air to the series. The sound design is also notable, mixing treating the dialogue at times, sudden silences, and Clannad’s moody music to great effect.

Some flaws do present themselves. The dreamy tone of the episodes stretches to the pace, which is deliberate, even ponderous at times. But that’s a small niggle when the rest of the show is this good.

The series was released by Acorn Media in Region 1. The first box set contains seasons 1 + 2, and the second contains season 3. The series looks as good as it can, considering it was shot on cheap film 20+ years ago. The box also includes some retrospective documentaries, commentaries and other assorted goodies, and comes highly recommended. I’ll get to season 2 later, but the first season gets a solid thumbs-up.