Just recently, the BBC America shop released one of my favorite Brit tv shows to dvd: Robin Hood. The complete series (3 seasons) is now available on dvd and if you don’t feel like shelling out the cash for the purchase, I highly encourage viewing via Netflix.
The show follows the life of the legendary hero Robin Hood as he returns from war in the Holy Land to his home town of Locklsey- only to find the evil Sheriff of Nottingham has taken over. The series incorporates most of the elements from the classic tale. We have Robin the famous archer versus the sheriff and other henchmen of Prince John’s while King Richard the Lion-Hearted fights in the Crusades. Other familiar names/faces include Little John and Maid Marian. That’s about as true to the legend as it stays. Part of the reason I love this show so much is its tendency to stray into the ridiculous; with so many anachronistic elements and corny plot lines that I willingly classify this as a serious guilty pleasure.
The first two seasons are very enjoyable, with the Sheriff as quite the vicious scene stealer. Not to mention the fact that he so resembles Billy Joel that I kept waiting for him to burst into “For the Longest Time”. It never happened, but I hoped. The third season loses steam, and instead of focusing on the shenanigans of Robin and his merry outlaws, the show delves into overly saccharine moments, with romantic plot-lines that don’t make any sense at all. The little sub-plots that were the strength of the previous seasons, become distracting and meaningless. Despite this, Robin Hood is a must-see for any anglophile, even if it is less than historically accurate.
