robinhood

(S01E06) As we approach the halfway mark in the BBC new Robin Hood series, I'm struck by two things taking place that should really have happened before now, but haven't for some strange reason.

Firstly, the stories are slightly better than in earlier episodes (you would think the producers would try to stack some of the better episodes near the start of the show).

And secondly, the principle characters are starting to take on more dimension and complexity, giving the audience much more to cling to as every new episode passes.

(S01E05) I can't honestly say Robin Hood is getting any better, but it's certainly not getting any worse.

This week's episode, "Turk 'Flu," seemed much more at ease with itself than previous episodes, and managed to recall a moment from classic Robin Hood tales of yore, with a simple twist on the 'archery competition' strand of the story and introducing a new member of Robin's band of merry men (or women).

(S01E04) If you've been watching this new series of Robin Hood since episode one, you've probably been waiting on a major turning point in the show to spur things on a bit. You know, like the death of a prominent figure, or a deadly moral dilemma for the lead character?

Well, this week's episode, "Parent Hood", delivered more than a few of those, and I can't help but feel that the tone set in this episode could have given the show the much-needed early boost which seems to have been lacking in previous episodes.

It's one of the major faults of this show (apart from the feeble attempt to give a 13th Century tale a 21st Century makeover): a lack of ambition when it comes to serious matters like death and betrayal.

Even Doctor Who regularly delves into topics such as absent parents, unrequited love and irresponsible leadership.

(S01E03) I was probably right to hang on for another week of the BBC's new Robin Hood series, despite the relatively slow start in the first two episodes and a somewhat disappointing slant on the famous English myth..

This third episode, Who Shot the Sherrif? was more like the kind of show you would expect from the BBC,. especially since it takes over the slot normally occupied by the big-hitting revival of Doctor Who.

What this series really needed was a bit of drama -- you know, deaths, violence, a whodunnit and some complex interweaving of plot elements.

While we didn't exactly get all of the above, the producers managed to at least show the promise of some spark and make viewers hang on in there for another few weeks.

(S01E02) I was perhaps a little too harsh on the BBC's new series of Robin Hood when I reviewed episode one last week with a criticism-neutral view of the new take on a classic tale.

The second episode, "Sheriff got Your Tongue?" was a dramatic improvement (literally) on the opening episode -- which probably suffered from being too short, and too unoriginal in it's approach to re-hashing the legend of Robin Hood for the 21st century.

While the opener tended to wheel out the bog-standard cliches and worn-out plots, the second episode concentrated more on establishing the acrimonious relationship between Robin and the Sheriff of Nottingham (still portrayed far too campishly for my liking by a normally tough Keith Allan) and setting up Robin's motive for 'robbing the rich to give to the poor'.

(S01E01) Apparently, 8.2million people tuned in to watch the first episode of the new BBC series of Robin Hood, but I can only suspect it had something to do with a dull England Euro 2008 soccer qualifier airing immediately before it, because there was nothing extraordinary about this latest re-telling of a classic legend (reckoned to be around the 40th variation of the Robin Hood character in film and TV since 1908), which would persuade so many people to stay tuned for almost an hour.

Sure, it had everything you would come to expect from a quality BBC prime time drama; high production values, great locations, fine acting, a decent script and Dominic Minghela (brother of Anthony) at the helm.

However, I just couldn't help but feel that I had seen it all about 40 times before. And I had.

Cue the jokes about men in tights and long shafts.

Yes folks, Robin Hood and his band of Merrie Men will return to U.K. television screens later this year in an £8m series for BBC ONE, produced by an independent television company with additional funding from BBC America (which means people in the U.S.A. probably won't have to wait years to see it, or spend hours downloading it from dodgy BitTorrent websites).

Newcomer Jonas Armstrong is already filming scenes for the series in the lead role, and Keith Allen (Shallow Grave, Twin Town) will play his arch-nemesis the Sheriff of Nottingham. Seemingly, there is no Friar Tuck in this latest version of the classic anti-hero, described by Armstrong as both "modern and medieval" -- whatever that means.

Filming has started in Budapest, and the series has been written by Dominic Minghella (brother of Anthony).