ORBzine - Robin Hood (2006) TV Review
[Season 1 !Season 2 !Season 3 ]
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 1, Episode 1]
Can You Tolerate This?
Shown 7th October 2006 [Saturday]
Robin and Much the Miller's son walk back from the Crusades. On their way they meet a farmer who's aged about 30 years old, and his daughter [a Page 3 girl] who's the same age! This leads on to a stylish fight, reminiscent of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon !
Finally they get back to Nottingham, and discover that Keith Allen is the new Sheriff. He and his sidekick Gisborne are perpetrating cruel and unusual punishments on local crooks.
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 1, Episode 2]
The Sheriff Got Your Tongue?
Shown 14th October 2006 [Saturday]
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 1, Episode 3]
Who Shot The Sheriff?
Shown 21th October 2006 [Saturday]
The taxman is shot by a vigilante called the Nightwatchman. Naturally, Robin is blamed. The sheriff and Gisborne compete to get Robin!
Gisborne uses hunting dogs. The Sheriff realises that Robin isn't the real killer. He also uses his Moorish master-at-arms to perform a plot so heinous that it took De Carnac to do it in Season 3 of Robin of Sherwood !
We discover what Marion does in her spare time. It takes the Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves character one step further. Also, we meet a vital supporting character - her favourite sergeant!
The dialogue's very proper, without contractions - basically it sounds very fake and contrived. Which pretty much sums up the entire show.
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 1, Episode 4]
Parent Hood
Shown 28th October 2006 [Saturday]
Robin and his friends steal Gisbourne's horses. Unfortunately they're outsmarted, and one of them gets captured. The Sheriff gives is prisoner a choice ...
Much discovers an abandoned baby. Even more unlikely, the parents actually play an important part in the main plot.
Marian is still working within the system. But when the Sheriff tries to starve an entire village to death, she openly defies him.
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 1, Episode 5]
Turk Flu
Shown 4th November 2006 [Saturday]
The Nightwatchman is still smuggling food to the starving peasants. Gisbourne is closing in on the masked hero.
The sheriff’s importing Saracen POWs as slaves to work in his iron-ore mine. Robin wants to free the war criminals and let them ravish the land, after destroying the mine and sending England back to the bronze age.
The Sheriff’s plan is to hold an archery contest, with a silver arrow as the prize.
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 1, Episode 6]
Shown 11th November 2006 [Saturday]
An African nun staggers into Nottingham castle and claims to be a victim of Hood's band. Ths Sheriff is delightfully cynical about religion, but allows her access to the chapel.
The robbers now have Saracen lady-boy Djak as one of their gang. They intercept a couple of tax-collectors, and decide to steal all the tax money from the castle.
Gisbourne offers to marry Marion. She tries to get out of it every way she can, even considering becoming a nun!
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 1, Episode 7]
Brothers in Arms
Shown 18th November 2006 [Saturday]
The villagers capture a gang of thieving bastards. Instead of giving them the horse-whipping they deserve, Robin recruits them into his gang! Understandably, perhaps, since one of them is brother to one of his men.
Gisborne is still courting Marion. However, the sheriff knows there is a spy giving info to the robbers. He sets a trap.
Robin has to choose if he will help the thieves. The worse their crimes, the more forgiving he is - and when they try to steal from the rich, he punishes them. Conversely, he robs an honest, tax-paying tinker.
Marion has choices of her own. How far will she go to convince Gisbourne?
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 1, Episode 8]
Tatoo? What Tatoo?
Shown 25th November 2006 [Saturday]
It's King Richard's birthday. Robin has a flashback to the Crusades, when he saved King Richard from a Saracen assassination attempt.
The Merry Men rob the guests at Gisborne's party. Djaq is captured, and Gisborne goes after Robin to retrieve Marion's ring. We get some great scenes as Robin and Gisborne duel with words as well as action.
Robin's a complete prick, and acts completely out of character. He wants to torture Gisborne for info, and totally ignores the fact that Djaq is in the sheriff's hands.
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 1, Episode 9]
A Thing Or Two About Loyalty
Shown 2nd December 2006 [Saturday]
Gisbourne's friend invents gunpowder, and offers to sell it to the sheriff. The main condition is that it must only be used for mining, never as a weapon ...
The sheriff has the man imprisoned and tortured. Robin wants to destroy the secret, while Djaq wants to study it.
Much is sent undercover. he gets himself caught, but the Sheriff actually makes him a Lord!
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 1, Episode 10]
Peace? Off!
Shown 9th December 2006 [Saturday]
There's an arsonist on the loose. He burns churches and fights like a ninja, but Robin saves him anyway. Turns out he's a traumatised war veteran, so Robin orders Much to bond with him.
The sheriff has a guest - Saladin's nephew, in town for peace talks. Another group of Saracens is on their way - some dancing girls with special skills.
This is typically nonsensical. It's what we might expect of the sub- Xena shows that proliferated US TV in the late 1990s. The only original touches are when Robin mocks the others for their superstitious fear of darkness and evil, which were central components of the proper Robin Hood TV show, the 1980s masterpiece Robin of Sherwood !
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 1, Episode 11]
Dead Man Walking
Shown 16 Dec 06
Little John is captured by the Sheriff's men. He will be hanged in Nottingham, unless the Merry Men can rescue him.
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 1, Episode 12]
The Return Of The King
Shown 23rd December 2006 [Saturday]
The Nightwatchman raids Gisbourne's home.
Robin interrogates the doctor who gave Gisbourne an alibi during the attack on the King in the Holy Lands ...
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 1, Episode 13]
Clue: No
Shown 30th December 2006 [Saturday]
Robin's lost Marion, and he quits the do-gooder life.
The King returns, and Gisborne's victory is near. Or is it?
The ending is a mixed bag of sorts. The Nightwatchmen and the Noble Resistance have their final fling ...
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 2, Episode 1]
Sisterhood AKA Sister Hood
Shown 6 Oct 07
Robin and the boys are still in business, robbing helpless travellers. Their new victims aren't helpless, however. The fact that these strange men wear berets (hats from the Basque region of Spain, adopted by the British Army in the 1930s) should be a giveaway that something isn't right!
Later, Robin and his merry misfits go to town for some shopping. Robin realises the sheriff is up to something - it's that time of the week, I suppose. The sheriff tries to publicly punish a thief, and Robin goes to the rescue all by himself. Twit! It's never explained where the merry men disappeared too - or where the villains get access to latex disguises that evoke memories of Mission Impossible !
The Sheriff indulges in the typical monologuing followed by cliched deathtrap. Even the Matthew Poretta version, New Adventures of Robin Hood , wasn't this lame. And of course, the most interesting character meets an unbelievably predictable fate ...
Poor old Gisbourne is still miffed at Marion for jilting him at the altar. However, he's a decent bloke and doesn't get rough until the Sheriff orders him to. He's still after the Night Watchman, too ... And he has plans of his own, which set up a secondary plot arc for the Season!
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 2, Episode 2]
The Booby And The Beast
Shown 13 Oct 07
The Sheriff has a new guest - a German aristocrat [Dexter Fletcher]. He's a clueless twit, the Booby of the title. Marion is ordered to offer him companionship, a distraction while the Sheriff cheats him out of his fortune. The Sheriff needs the money to pay his fellow conspirators ...
The money will be kept in a secret vault, filled with boobytraps. Robin and the others decide to raid it, leading to a typical vault heist scenario. And to distract the guard, Djaq dresses like a sexy Asian babe for a change!
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 2, Episode 3]
Child Hood
Shown 20th October 2007 [Saturday]
A bunch of little brats are running wild in the forest when they discover Gisborne's new plot. He is testing the Sheriff's new armour - plate mail, made of Damascus steel by an Afro-Carribean Saracen blacksmith. The brats are captured, but one escapes and tells Robin. Robin plans to stop the armour production by destroying the secret ingredient. However, the Sheriff holds the rug-rats hostage.
Gisborne shows a bit of heart this time. He won't kill the brats, no matter how annoying they are. And when manipulative minx Marion attempts to trick him, he's smart enough to suspect her of plotting.
The climax involves Robin duelling Gisborne - but Guy has the Damascus Steel armour! Unfortunately, he's never seen Star Wars and so has no way of knowing that Stormtroopers wear armour and it doesn't help them! Besides ... Wasn't there a similar plot in Xena: Warrior Princess , involving the Armour of Hephaestus?
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 2, Episode 4]
The Angel of Death
Shown 27th October 2007 [Saturday]
Will Scarlet's dad drops by for a friendly chat. Normally, when a regular character's friend or relative drops by, they end up in some peril that can give the regular a motive to do extreme things. And predictably, Will ends up trying to assassinate the Sheriff!
The Sheriff has a plot of his own. He hires a poisoner, Ralf Little [2 Pints of Lager] to poison a street full of peasants. Robin and his horde quarantine themselves with the peasants, and try to find a cure. The insanity of the plot is, well, typical of this show. The poison is painful [though supposedly merciful], the symptoms don't resemble the pestilence it's meant to, and there is a simple cure.
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 2, Episode 5]
Ducking And Diving
Shown 3rd November 2007 [Saturday]
The Sheriff's messenger needs medical attention, so the sheriff has his men conscript the local wise woman [ Josie Lawrence ].
Robin sneaks into the castle to murder the messenger. How will he maintain his self-richeous morality? Will there be a convenient cop-out?
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 2, Episode 6]
For England...!
Shown 10th November 2007 [Saturday]
Robin has realised, on very flimsy evidence, that there's a traitor in his camp. He sets his own spy, Marion, to betray the man she pretends to love.
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 2, Episode 7]
Show Me The Money
Shown 17th November 2007 [Saturday]
The Sheriff summons the Black Knights, to make them sign his pact. Robin realises he can convert one of them to his own side. The swing-voter is Denis Lawson [ Star Wars: ANH ]!
Alan tries to play an angle of his own. He doesn't have much choice - Robin stole everything he owned!
Gisbourne, as always, is the most honourable man in the whole story!
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 2, Episode 8]
Get Carter!
Shown 24th November 2007 [Saturday]
Robin and the others are helped by a mysterious knight. Much thinks the stranger looks familiar ...
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 2, Episode 9]
Lardner's Ring
Shown 1st December 2007 [Saturday]
King Richard's messengers visit Nottingham, in disguise. They have a secret means of getting a message to the King - Lardner's Ring!
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 2, Episode 10]
Walkabout
Shown 8th December 2007 [Saturday]
The Sheriff goes sleepwalking. He wakes up alone in the forest, and makes himself comfortable among the thieves and beggars. All he wants is the scroll that Robin stole from him.
Unfortunately, it's Thursday. And every Thursday morning, Prince John's envoy arrives to check the Sheriff is still alive. Since the Sheriff is MIA, the envoy calls in the Army to destroy the entire town.
Gisborne does everything he can to save the people, rather than just run and save himself.
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 2, Episode 11]
Treasure of the Nation
Shown 15th December 2007 [Saturday]
Robin meets an old friend, one of the King's guard. They must retrieve a treasure.
Little John finally has something to do, and he garners the favour of a relatively young-looking Eleanor of Acquitaine!
Gisborne captures the local grain supply, so the Night Watchman tries to steal it all back. Poor Alan A'Dale is caught between them.
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 2, Episode 12]
A Good Day To Die
Shown 29th December 2007 [Saturday]
Much and the Merry men hold a surprise birthday party for Robin. Unfortunately it's gatecrashed by a hundred of the Sheriff's best mercenaries, led by a burly Scouser who used to be in UK soap opera Brookside.
Meanwhile, the Sheriff has a plan to kill the King. He's going to do it in the Holy Land - he takes Guy and Allan with him. Marion tries to intervene - and Allan must choose what side he's really on!
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 2, Episode 13]
We Are Robin Hood
Shown 29th December 2007 [Saturday]
Robin and the Merry men get to Acre, which is now in Saracen hands. Luckily Djaq has friends there, like Konnie Huq .
The Sheriff has plans of his own, and he actually seems competent for a change.
Several plot threads come to a conclusion. Several regular characters are written out - perhaps permanently!
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 3, Episode 1]
Total Eclipse
Shown 28 Mar 09
Robin goes after Gisbourne, and leaves his merry band to scatter for themselves. Unfortunately Gisbourne is the better fighter ...
An Afro-Englishman arrives in town. He's a Franciscan Friar, decades before St Francis founded the order, but that's the least of this show's anachronisms. He's Friar Tuck, the best fighter of the bunch, and he's come to hold the band together again.
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 3, Episode 2]
Cause and Effect
Shown 4 Apr 09
The Sheriff and Gisbourne are desperate to pay off Prince John, their former patron, who raised an incredible tax burden to punish them. Ironic, since in real life it was the fault of the supposedly GOOD King Richard that England was taxed into bankruptcy.
An Irish Warlord pays the Sheriff to levy a gang of conscripts. Robin and his men are unpopular with the locals, because they always bring down the Sheriff's wrath. Will they go to Ireland and help the villainous rebels fight against Good King Richard?
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 3, Episode 3]
Lost In Translation
Shown 11 Apr 09
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 3, Episode 4]
The Sins Of The Father
Shown 18 Apr 09
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 3, Episode 5]
Let the Games Commence
Shown 25 Apr 09
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 3, Episode 6]
Do You Love Me?
Shown 2 May 09
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 3, Episode 7]
Too Hot to Handle
Shown 9 May 09
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 3, Episode 8]
The King is Dead, Long Live the King
Shown 23 May 09
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 3, Episode 9]
A Dangerous Deal
Shown 30 May 09
Gisbourne is rotting in the dungeons awaiting execution, while his sister is the Prince's new Sheriff of Nottingham. But then her estranged husband arrives ...
There's some wonderful character development as we see what the Gisbournes are really like, and what made them the way they are. Robin hood and his chums are trusting fools, as always, but this time they aren't as lucky as they usually are.
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 3, Episode 10]
Bad Blood
Shown 6 Jun 09
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 3, Episode 11]
The Enemy of My Enemy
Shown 13 Jun 09
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 3, Episode 12]
Something Worth Fighting For - Part One
Shown 20 Jun 09
Robin Hood (2006) [Season 3, Episode 13]
Something Worth Fighting For - Part Two
Shown 27 Jun 09
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