Unfortunately Robert Addie died (of lung cancer) in 2003, at the age of just 43, so he never lived to see "our" Gisborne. (Btw, just realized that both actors' initials are RA. Weird.)
Thank you VERY much for this write-up! I've often seen claims that RoS is far superior to the new BBC RH, and have been meaning to check out the show for myself. I still may do that, but from reading your synopsis I can already say with full certainty that I prefer "our" RH. The visual grandeur and atmosphere of the setting and historical accuracy (the two areas of superiority that you mention) are far less important to me than complex characters and stories. Dialogue kept to a minimum, no overarching stories, characters who are more archetypes than three-dimensional people, a clear-cut good guys/bad guys division... nope, this is not going to be very high on my Amazon.com wish list.
I will add that the lack of story arcs and the fact that episodes could be switched without anyone noticing is something that I understand was more the norm for television series at the time. The shift to serialization (I think that's the term) began in the mid-1990s. One reason I'm aware of this is that Xena was on the cusp of this change. Many episodes in Season 1 and 2 (1995-96) were standalone episodes, and while there was some continuity there were no real overall story arcs. Seasons 3-6 were very serialized -- if you tuned in to an episode randomly without knowing the storyline, you'd be left scratching your head.
Actual quotes from Guy in this instance: “You’re hysterical!” “You need a man to take care of you.” “What’s the matter with you?”
I mean, wow. It’s like the entirety of our Guy and Marian in a single episode.
Only our Guy had much, much better lines. Sheesh. *shakes head* (OK, admittedly Guy had the "You need a husband" line in The Taxman Cometh, but that was actually hilarious because of the segue from Marian's "I do not need gifts.")
I actually came into this show (I’m not sure why) thinking that this Guy was the first time in which the character was a more three-dimensional villain who was given some degree of sympathy.
Did you hear that from me, perhaps? Because I heard it from a friend in the Xena fandom who told me that, in response to my gushing over "our" Guy. When I later mentioned it to a few other people who had seen RoS, their response was, "What? Gisburne in RoS was complex and sympathetic?!" I think my friend must be the only person in the world on whom Robert Addie's attempts to garner sympathy for his character actually worked. (I still haven't been able to induce her to watch the BBC RH, even though she has watched and liked some clips from it, partly because RoS is so much the definitive Robin Hood for her that she doesn't want it supplanted in her head by another version.)
Anyway, thanks again for the summary!
ETA: This made me laugh:
the Sheriff has no psychological hold over Guy(I don’t think this Guy has enough of a brain for the Sheriff to have power over)
I had no idea Robert Addie had passed away. I was watching all the cast interviews on the DVD last night, and I guess because my DVDs were brand new, I assumed they had taken place very recently. That's a shame - I was often wondering if perhaps everyone was talking with a general knowledge of BBC's "Robin Hood" as well, as there were a couple of interesting remarks made...but I guess not.
I too prefer our RH to RoS, for the two reasons I said: deeper character development and more complex stories. I think maybe I was a little over-hyped for RoS, what with everyone calling it "the best Robin Hood EVER", and though I definitely enjoyed it, I do prefer our own. However, I wouldn't completely discount it - maybe don't buy it, but don't switch off either if it happens to be on TV! Will Scarlett, Marion and Nasir are quite fascinating, and for me (as someone who loves the Robin Hood legends before any particular retelling) it was very interesting to contrast/compare.
It's definitely a product of its time in terms of its episodic nature, though interestingly enough (according to the commentary) it was only ever broadcast ONCE on British television, and was actually much more popular in the States.
I do recall you mentioning that RoS Guy was more sympathetic, but I definitely had this preconception before your discussion with auroracat (?) on IMDB. I'm really not sure where I got the idea from...though at times, you do feel a twinge of pity for GoG, he's definitely not what you'd call 3-dimensional. At least on in the first two season - I have heard that the third season has the new Robin as his half-brother, so maybe it's different then.
If you ever watch in one day, let me know what you think!
Thank you VERY much for this write-up! I've often seen claims that RoS is far superior to the new BBC RH, and have been meaning to check out the show for myself. I still may do that, but from reading your synopsis I can already say with full certainty that I prefer "our" RH. The visual grandeur and atmosphere of the setting and historical accuracy (the two areas of superiority that you mention) are far less important to me than complex characters and stories. Dialogue kept to a minimum, no overarching stories, characters who are more archetypes than three-dimensional people, a clear-cut good guys/bad guys division... nope, this is not going to be very high on my Amazon.com wish list.
I will add that the lack of story arcs and the fact that episodes could be switched without anyone noticing is something that I understand was more the norm for television series at the time. The shift to serialization (I think that's the term) began in the mid-1990s. One reason I'm aware of this is that Xena was on the cusp of this change. Many episodes in Season 1 and 2 (1995-96) were standalone episodes, and while there was some continuity there were no real overall story arcs. Seasons 3-6 were very serialized -- if you tuned in to an episode randomly without knowing the storyline, you'd be left scratching your head.
Actual quotes from Guy in this instance: “You’re hysterical!” “You need a man to take care of you.” “What’s the matter with you?”
I mean, wow. It’s like the entirety of our Guy and Marian in a single episode.
Only our Guy had much, much better lines. Sheesh. *shakes head* (OK, admittedly Guy had the "You need a husband" line in The Taxman Cometh, but that was actually hilarious because of the segue from Marian's "I do not need gifts.")
I actually came into this show (I’m not sure why) thinking that this Guy was the first time in which the character was a more three-dimensional villain who was given some degree of sympathy.
Did you hear that from me, perhaps? Because I heard it from a friend in the Xena fandom who told me that, in response to my gushing over "our" Guy. When I later mentioned it to a few other people who had seen RoS, their response was, "What? Gisburne in RoS was complex and sympathetic?!" I think my friend must be the only person in the world on whom Robert Addie's attempts to garner sympathy for his character actually worked. (I still haven't been able to induce her to watch the BBC RH, even though she has watched and liked some clips from it, partly because RoS is so much the definitive Robin Hood for her that she doesn't want it supplanted in her head by another version.)
Anyway, thanks again for the summary!
ETA: This made me laugh:
the Sheriff has no psychological hold over Guy(I don’t think this Guy has enough of a brain for the Sheriff to have power over)
Great line. :D
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I too prefer our RH to RoS, for the two reasons I said: deeper character development and more complex stories. I think maybe I was a little over-hyped for RoS, what with everyone calling it "the best Robin Hood EVER", and though I definitely enjoyed it, I do prefer our own. However, I wouldn't completely discount it - maybe don't buy it, but don't switch off either if it happens to be on TV! Will Scarlett, Marion and Nasir are quite fascinating, and for me (as someone who loves the Robin Hood legends before any particular retelling) it was very interesting to contrast/compare.
It's definitely a product of its time in terms of its episodic nature, though interestingly enough (according to the commentary) it was only ever broadcast ONCE on British television, and was actually much more popular in the States.
I do recall you mentioning that RoS Guy was more sympathetic, but I definitely had this preconception before your discussion with auroracat (?) on IMDB. I'm really not sure where I got the idea from...though at times, you do feel a twinge of pity for GoG, he's definitely not what you'd call 3-dimensional. At least on in the first two season - I have heard that the third season has the new Robin as his half-brother, so maybe it's different then.
If you ever watch in one day, let me know what you think!
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