A new programme that starts on BBC1 this Saturday. It's had some problems, what with the tapes being stolen in Prague. They got them back, obviously!

The trailers look quite good and I'm sure I'll watch it even though I will be comparing it with Robin of Sherwood.

The only actor I've heard of in the cast is Keith Allen who is playing the Sheriff of Nottingham. All the others have been around according to IMDB but not big names at all.

I think the beeb have high hopes for this as it is in the Doctor Who time slot. Here is the BBC webpage.

Not a fan of Keith Allen but have heard he's great in this. I'll definitely give it a go, although as a big fan of Robin of Sherwood, it'll have to go some - but then it's just such an iconic story that it's fair enough to have another version. They're fair plugging it, it's on the sides of buses and everything!

And they start it (along with SCD) on the 7th October, the day after my birthday!

It's like special presents from the BBC, jusrt for me.

I'm looking forward to seeing Richard Armitage as Guy of Gisbourne, he's normally pretty good.



Indeed!

I still wished they'd at least launched it in Nottingham though. Hmmph.

I'd like to see this, but, since I'm Canadian, it's not likely for a while. Who knows, maybe the CBC will pick it up like they did Doctor Who (we get Series 2 next week, I think.) Or maybe BBC Canada will pick it up sometime, who knows.

According to the BBC shop, Robin Hood vol 1 is already available for pre-ordering. Before the first episode even starts! I find it hilarious the way they're so behind this show and then other dramas get treated like the red-headed stepchild (no offence to any red headed stepchildren out there). The Beeb had to be harrassed on an almost daily basis before they decided to release the North & South DVD. Anyway, I think my point was that they probably will do all they can to sell it to the markets and get the DVD's out there so you have a good chance of catching it.

I am looking forward to this though. Be nice to have something to watch on a Saturday night for a while and this will take us right up to the viewing extravagansa that is Christmas. (I know, I know, I take my TV viewing too seriously.)

Thank God someone set this up. I'll definitely be watching. I like the Robin Hood mythology and Jonas Armstrong is an intriguing actor.

Having now seen more publicity for this show, I think it has a problem: in every picture, Guy of Gisbourne looks so much hotter than Robin. I don't want to be rooting for the bad guy but ...

Promethea- The Sheriff and his minions always trumps Robin, no matter what the film. Remember Kevin Coster's Prince of Thieves? Alan Rickman stole the show from the morose Costner, so much so that I was actually sad when the Sheriff was killed.

The BBC show unfortunately sounds like a dud; however for the sheer pleasure of watching Armitage in his leather biker costume, I'm willing to overlook the flaws.

Well, except for Robin Of Sherwood, where the bad guys were excellent actors (Nikolas Grace, Robert Addie) but not hotter than (either) Robin. But yeah, Rickman was all over Costner. I wonder if that urban legend that Costner made them edit out some of his scenes is true. It feels true.

I actually am finding Will Scarlett and Allan A Dale hotter than Robin at the moment.

Episode 1 is called Will You Tolerate This?

They're culling titles from the Manics now? Well, one argument is that the legend originates from Wales, so it's appropriate I suppose.

Although, I will strenuously deny any claim that Robin isn't from the vicinity of Notts.

I think the ranking is Gisbourne, Scarlett and then Allan a Dale (and doesn't Joe Armstrong remind you a lot of his dad?) at the moment, based on those pictures, followed by Robin.




A

I'd believe it of him. And no, I didn't fancy Grace or Addie in ROS (although, actually Gisbourne wasn't exactly ugly..). The Robin's were the sexiest. (Don't ask me to pick a favourite though, that would be mean...)

Then again there's this Sheriff ...

List him under 'not one I fancy' as well.

Although I now have the theme tune in my brain!

Better than having a certain Bryan Adams song in your head. Or was that what you were thinking all along?

The Beeb must be confident. Only Doctor Who and this have gotten this much plugging in the last few years and along with Torchwood, there getting a heavy amount of episodees. Remember even 13 episodes is a big deal for a UK series nowadays.

Nah, it;s Maid Marion I'm now humming

Very true, it's all over the Radio Times and I keep seeing the trailers on telly and hearing them on the radio.

The one on the radio has Robin saying "Will you tolerate this injustice? I will not" Along those lines anyway. Which, I suppose is where the ep title comes from.

I hope it will be good, it's been a while since Robin was on the telly.

Um ... well ... it was okay. A bit kiddy-cheesy, but I guess it is Saturday teatime, perhaps hoping for something more substantial was too much. Things I liked:
Much - funny, endearing, with just that one bath scene suggesting that his humour is just a front for the traumatic things he's seen. Poor guy, missing out on his one chance to rise in the world, and he obviously did something quite heroic in the war.
Allan a Dale - also pretty funny - liked the "I'm from Rochdale!" bit. How old is Rochdale? Would it have been around then?!
Guy of Gisbourne - fantastic! Armitage gives very good smoulder and I could listen to his accent all day. Lots more of him please.
Will Scarlet - it's weird to go back to a young Will having been used to the angry older man of Robin of Sherwood, but he seemed charming and not annoying. A bit Harry Potteresque?
Marian - not a particularly well-written role so far, but she's very pretty. She looks a bit like that woman off Holby City who was just in Extras.
The Sheriff - pretty good. Liked his patented Evil Laugh and "la dee dah, save my little baby" bits.

BUT ... I'm not warming to Robin at all. It's not just that he's completely unattractive to me (I just want to shave him and wash his face) but he didn't have the natural authority that this version of Robin - young lord of the manor - requires. Far too young and lightweight looking. And I can't believe that such a weedy looking man with such cheesy patter is a real ladykiller. The anti-war stuff is interesting, I guess, but I'm not sure if the actor can pull it off.

Beyond the characters, it all just looked a bit cheap. I thought it was meant to have some great budget? I read that they wanted to make it contemporary but for me the sheer lack of effort towards any kind of historical accuracy was off-putting. All the modern hairstyles and make-up take me right out.

I liked it enough for me to tune in again next week but I thought the action sequences need a little less slow-motion bits and a little more tension and excitement. I didn't mind Robin so much and I liked Guy of Gisbourne and Marian. Enjoyed Keith Allen as the Sheriff - something tells me he's going to get all the best lines.

There was just the sense of a lack of something driving Robin and Much at the start. But a pilot episode is never easy so we'll see how it moves along.

The arrow with the 'titles' each time they change seen is going to get old quickly.

Keith Allen as the Sheriff was hilarious "24 men - 1 man" Had me snickering, especially with GoG in the background pouting.



Mmmm. And he's a local(ish) lad. Yummy. I may be fighting you for him, I've fancied him since 'North and South'.



That was funny, and yes, I think it probably was around as I'm sure it's Rochdale that keeps trying to claim Robin is theirs, rather than Nottingham.

The castle's the wrong colour, though. Which noone else will care about, or know but I kept going 'funny looking bloody standstone...'

Much is a sweetie. I like him.

I think I'll continue with it for a while. It wasn'y terrible. Just not quite as good as I'd hoped. Mind you, it was never quite going to match the hype, was it?

Guess not.


Yeah, that was super corny. I kinda liked it, in a way, because it was like something from the old movies, but it could certainly get annoying.

I was kind of shocked when the Sheriff took the bird out of it's cage and crushed it for stress relief. I wasn't expecting that kind of thing in the timeslot it was in at all.

On the whole I think I liked it. It dragged a bit, especially Robin's earnest 'I'm a nice lord, bit of a lad, one of you common people on the inside' routine. Much was funny though and the bad guys were predictably the highlight.

Marian wasn't a damsel, which I liked. Hopefully she'll start shooting stuff up soon.

Woeful stuff. The guy playing Robin gave me splinters he was that wooden. I'll give it another go next week. I'm all for second chances, me! But there would need to be a dramatic improvement in the standard of acting across the board if I'm to stay with this.

If the standard remains, I'll be starting a campaign to bring back Maid Marion and Her Merry Men!!

Hee. I was wondering if anyone was going to express a view similar to mine. He was truly poor. Personally, I switched over to NCIS after about 15 minutes, so maybe it got better, but Keith Allen's standard shtick and the hotness of Lucy Griffiths weren't enough to keep me hanging on through the rest.

OK it might just be me, but the guy playing Robin looks a little like Dominic Moghnahan, circa Hetty Wainthrop. Oh and as far as hot Robin hood characters go I submit Nasir in Robin of Sherwood

Robin Hood watched by 8.2million viewers



So it did well out of the gate according to those unofficial figures - with all the hype it got, people were bound to have turned over out of some curiosity. Let's see if Peter Fincham is still "thrilled" in twelve weeks time, or this time next month.

I liked this a bit more than expected but it does need some ironing out. Such as no more Matrix style effects from now on.

Robin - Yeah Jonas is a hottie and he plays the cheeky chappie element well enough, so for the time being i'm pretty content with him in the role. He definitely can't pull the wool over people's eyes and he sure knows how to make enemies pretty fast but his sword work is good and I like his desire to protect his people. It came across as sincere enough for me to care about him.

Much - He irritated me for the first half of the episode (mainly because Sam Troghton irritated me so much in Hex) but I began to warm to him a bit more as the episode progressed. He seems to be suffering from PTSD and that might work better if it's played seriously rather than for laughs.

Will Scarlett - Very attractive and apparantly clever too. I like him as the slightly surly youngster but Harry Lloyd does it without being too annoying and if he can maintain, he'll be an interesting character in my book.

Allan A Dale - Gag him! Well maybe not but I did find him a tad annoying that I sided with Much when he said "i'm not your mate". His pathalogical lying is probably going to get more than himself in trouble as the series progresses.

Sheriff - Ooh, get you Keith Allen. Aside from crushing a songbird, I found him a little too pnato for my tastebuds. He might improve in weeks but IMO the Sherrif was the weakest character of the bunch.

Guy of Gisbourne- Hate him but i'm supposed to, right? Here is a man who enjoys sadism just a little much for his own good. He's also the only threatening enemy that Robin really has at the moment too so I'll look forward to those two duking it out.

Marian - I like this modernized kick ass version of Maid Marian. She saved Robin's bacon and rebuffed his advances. We've got a winner here.

Little John - Nice introduction at the last minute, can't wait to see more of him.

How come the BBC didn't have a trailer for next week? They do it for Doctor Who, they should do it for Robin Hood too.

There was a trailer of sorts. It was over the end credits, the credits were shrunk to one side of the screen and the promo played in a small box.

I think Robin Hood is around about 1260, so it is possible that Rochdale was known then. Guess where I am from.

They had the lead-in from the football yesterday as well, which probably helped the numbers. On the other hand, I think they're going to have the first part of Strictly Come Dancing as the lead-in in future weeks, so that should be pretty good as well.

Ack. I thought it was terrible. Or rather, great for kids, but not so much for adults. I really wouldn't say it was aimed at the same audience as Doctor Who; IMO it was aimed at a much younger audience throughout, rather than just in places.

I have to say, I liked Robin, and Guy of Gisborne, although that was probably because of his likeness to a brunet Sean Bean, and Much really sold me when he was crying in the bath, but not before or after that, unfortunately.

I didn't like the constant slo-mo, the from all angles action shots, some of the historical anachronisms, or Keith Allen. Someone needs to tell him panto season doesn't start for a couple of months yet.

Yup. I thought it was dreadful too. Dreadful. And I was so looking forward to it. Ha! That’s great! :D

I also thought it looked cheap, Promethea. They skimped on the extras, on the locations, on the costumes and in particular, on the script. It’s aimed at kids and played for laughs mostly. I did not warm to Robin at all and much prefer Sir Guy of Gisborne (don’t even go there Heatherbelle - he’s mine! Teehee!). He skulked and sulked and did it well. Being a baddie suits him just as much as being a goodie did.

Maybe I thought about it too much but how did Robin and Much manage to set up the “strings in the bushes” thing at the start? They were only passing through that bit if woodland yet they had a hiding place (which was very Hobbits hiding from the Ringwraiths) and managed to construct the ruse in minutes. Besides, those soldiers must be fairly thick to be fooled by a few twitchy twigs.

There were just so many things I didn’t like.

1. Opening with someone about to get their hand chopped off? Not very original for Robin Hood, is it?
2. Marion with the Ninja throwing star hairclip.
3. The usual shooting two arrows from the same bow crap – yet still managing to slice through two different ropes.
4. Arrow-cam.
5. Pointless slow-mo just to use up time. Sigh. Oh, just get on with it already!
6. The annoying scene change names complete with arrow sound – a few times I was certain someone had just been shot in the back.
7. The big build up to Robin’s choice – will he take the old sheriff’s advice? Or (dramatic pause) will he fight for his poor, oppressed people? Let. Me. Think.
8. The whole ditch digging scene. What was that about? A set-up to show us that Robin is a bit of a ladies man? As the daughter with the ultra-heavy duty eye-liner proved by snogging him in what… ten seconds flat?

I agree with all comments about Keith Allen needing to tone down the panto. Alan Rickman got away with it because he was the best thing in the film. Keith Allen can’t do the same here because the others are playing it straight. I will admit to being shallow and only tuning in to see Sir GOG but I’m not sure that even the delectable Richard Armitage could keep me tuning in for more of this dross. I’ll give it another go next week just to see if it was a bad start but I really don’t hold out much hope. I was much more interested in the trailer for Torchwood at the end.

On a somewhat unrelated note, does anyone else have new BBC idents or is it just BBC Northern Ireland? I thought I was watching an ad for a new series about the motorbike “wall of death” before I realised it was the new BBC logo.

I got a copy of it and I liked it. It was just cheesy enough for me.

Yawwnnn.

Having been directed by John McKay, who directed the brilliant 4th episode of Life on Mars, my personal favorite, that should have been better. Well, I suppose you can only work with what you are given.

How is it possible to make Robin Hood boring?

I'll stick with it. It wasn't brilliant but it wasn't truly appalling. For something to sit in front of on a Saturday night with a cup of tea and toast 'n' nutella (er, not that that's what I did, totally not...) it'll do. I think it is going to pick up. But I agree about the Slo-Mo Jumps of Pointlessness.


Hee! Totally in on that. Genius!

It's far too realistic and dull for my liking (well apart from Ninja Maid Marion). I always enjoyed the incognruity of the Merry Men being a bunch of outlaws living in the woods, and yet being impeccably groomed, handsome and clean-suited. Having a bunch of scruffy twenty-something war veterans moping around being all broody and digging ditches isn't campy enough for me to want to watch it. Paraphrasing someone on Popbitch, it's less "Robin Hood", more "The Adventures Of The Arctic Monkeys".

Apart from Keith Allen obviously. He's being campy enough for the rest of the cast put together. And yet it's still not a satisfying performance. Slightly too "gay" camp rather than "theatrical" camp. Yes, there is a difference...

And whilst I'm not normally one for HoYay someone should point out to Guy Of Gisbourne that he's supposed to hate Robin, not want to jump his bones. (Honestly I can't take Guy Of Gisbourne seriously as a villain after Maid Marion And Her Merry Men. Every time his name is mentioned I keep imagining their imagining of the character. Which was hardly threatening.)

I see HoYay factor with Allan A Dale, provided I don't want to beat him with a spade in future episodes.

The Matrix effects are a bit much. Do we really need to see someone jump from a wooden support three times?

No matter how bad upcoming episodes are, this will still be better than the reality dross we're forced to tolerate on a regular basis.

Add me in to the it was crap thinkers. I switched off after 20 minutes. I too thought Lord of the Rings when I saw them hiding in the tree trunk thingy. But when I saw the ditchdigger's daughter, wearing so much make up especially around the eyes, it made me realise this was not going to be of a standard that I thought it was going to be.The production looked cheap, the acting and dialogue just didn't do it for me either, if I hear that it has improved I might tune back in , but I am afraid not only did it not grab me, it pissed me off too.

I was a huge Roobbiiinnn thehoodedman fan back in the day, but this was mid week afternoon children's tv and not even good children's telly.

Yeah. That was by far the most crap moment in the whole thing. Something I read described her as looking like a Rimmel advert. Acted like one too.

However I'll give it another go, for the aforementioned "toast and nutella"/"better than reality shows" reasons.

Utterly appalling.

The writing was dull and predictable; the dialogue leaden and joyless; the pacing jerky; the actors generally miscast or just not especially compelling. If I didn't know better, I'd assume it was a student film or something.

Marian was hot in the 3 scenes she was in. That's about it.

Bring back Strictly Come Dancing or whatever. Rather cheap tat I don't want to watch than expensive tat I don't want to watch.

I thought it was pretty sweet. It wasn't aiming to be particularly mythic or dark or even necessarily realistic, but it's entertaining enough as a Robin Hood tale. Here, Robin is not dark or brooding - he is like a big kid, a boy, really, with mischief constantly sparkling in his eyes, and I think that interpretation is rather interesting.

Hmm. Less then half an hour after the first episode of this ended, I was struck down with an acute stomach bug, and have only today been able to stop throwing up long enough to crawl as far as my desk. If this was body's subconcious comment on Robin Hood, I have to say it was a slight over-reaction...but only a slight one. It was just really...meh. Robin was too immature - I can buy a young man in the role, but he needs to have a sense of authority, either as a lord of the manor, or as the leader of the poor and needy, and this kid didn't have it. What really surprised me was how much I enjoyed Keith Allen it this - normally he's the kiss of death as far as I'm converned, but here he seemed to realise how schlocky this was, and he pitched his performance accordingly.

Don't you think it's a bit harsh to bury the show after one episode? If it doesn't improve, them lets thrash it to pieces.

I enjoyed it. I don't think it'll be one of my "OMG, I can't possibly miss this!" shows, but it passed the time pleasantly enough.

Finally managed to get a chance to see this and, having read that it was dire, wasn't exactly in agreement but not blown away by its wonderfulness neither. It was OK enough for me to give it another chance this weekend, but not so good that I'll be upset if it takes me til next Thursday to actually see it.

The camera work bugged me immensely - yes, you have whizzy effects, now get on with the damn story, will you?, and the oh so terribly mood-inducing music caught my attention in ways incedental music never should.

Robin was OK, Mutch could be interesting and GoG is a hottie. I'm surprised there was any scenery left unchewed by Keith Allan, quite frankly. A couple of the smaller parts were dreadful - the Rimmel girl's father was splinter-central and Pa Scarlett was a little cheesy with the grief.

Overall, could have been worse but should really have been better. Will reserve judgement for a few more episodes.

Damn! I was looking forward to (eventually) seeing this, after listening to Paul Cornell at Worldcon be incredibly excited about it. Let's hope it gets better!

It does, I was able to sit through most of the second episode. Although I didn't get who most of the characters were, the topless one tied to a tree was cute though, so was the one that looked like he should have been on Emmerdale, and Little John was just funny.

Oh wow, now Guy of Gisborne is very fetching in his leather and guyliner and rather fun to watch but.

The make up on the women is absolutely atrocious, especially on the snogged daughter.

What really sticks in my mind about the episode is that it has the worst swordfighting ever. I mean really, the closest example of a similar quality has to be the gem of a movie "Wizards of the Demon Sword" (which is around as 'good' as you'd guess from the title.)

The magical sabre that popped up from somewhere, the guy doing the twirly thing with the longsword! aaaaaargh.

Sometimes knowing how to fence (with broadswords and rapiers etc.) can really change how you watch tv shows and movies.

Robin - Better than last week and more convincing his duty bound feel to protect his people. I have to agree with the Sheriff when it needs to be said that Robin should kill or maim a baddie already.

Much - I'm liking this character a lot more than last week.He's so dopey but he has got good intentions and was the only who would step up to save Robin, which warrants respect IMO.

Maid Marian - She's smarter than Robin and showed her vulnerability tonight when talking to him in the dungeon but how she's able to dual her loyaly to Gisborne and love Robin will be more interesting in coming weeks.

Guy Of Gisborne - Did he do anything interesting this week? At all? Because i certainly don't remember if he did.

Sheriff - Hate the character still but Keith Allen was less grating with his performance here than last week so props to that I guess.

Allan A Dale - Most useless character of the bunch so far.

Will Scarlett - Better here than last week and he does seem grateful for being saved by Robin.

Little John - Best character so far. Liked the stuff with his wife and child. Would probably be a better leader than Robin too I would wager.

Roy - Sarcastic little bugger eh? One to watch

There really can be only one thing to say about this weeks episode or was no one else paying attention?

Holy HoYay Batman!

Heh, indeed. I really like Marian, but even that didn't stop me from noticing all kinds of HoYay.