The Only Ever Robin
...and my first ever TV review, of the all-sorts-of-wonderful Robin of Sherwood, still amazing after three decades.
It was a strange experience rewatching, after thirty years or so, my favourite TV series from my teenage days. Let me clarify what I mean by favourite: it’s the only one I’d care to watch again nowadays. Perhaps the strangest thing about it is that while I had vivid memories of the characters, the music, the imagery and the atmosphere, I remembered virtually nothing about the stories. And so I find it again after all these years: the characters, music, imagery and atmosphere are just as enchanting as I remembered. The plots, not so much. By and large, they do not stand up to scrutiny; there are loose ends, travelling distances and times do not match up, villains are too easily defeated, obvious solutions are ignored to prolong the plot etc. But then, the same criticism can be levelled at many beloved franchises, be it Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Pirates of the Carribbean, Harry Potter, Star Trek - and as far as I am concerned, Robin of Sherwood beats all of them on almost every score.
It may be difficult for younger generations to imagine just how different the series was when it was first aired. It was really like nothing I had ever seen before. Other TV series seemed just to have the actors do their thing and then film it. Obviously I know that there’s more to it, but in RoS almost every frame has an artistic quality; the colours, compositions and overall aesthetic effects are remarkable, even if the technical quality is less than stellar. Or perhaps it is exactly because the series lacks the high gloss of a Holywood production that it is so eye-catching. This may also be the reason why the locations look so real. Many of the landscape images are so vivid that I feel I could step right into the scene and go for a walk - the arrival at Kirklee Priory, for example. At the same time, the places also seem surreal, dreamlike and beyond this world, and I’m not just talking about the colour filters and dry ice mist. Through some sort of mental trickery, the series manages to make the forest seem simultaneously rock solid and completely magical.
Which brings me to Michael Praed. I don’t know how I can praise his performance enough. His Robin is grounded and earthy and has an intense physical presence (well, let’s be honest and call it swoon-inducing), yet at the same time he is ethereal and otherworldly to a degree that rivals Galadriel. I have seen him described as “fey” and that might be the most fitting word. He is so young and vulnerable and overwhelmed with the task allotted to him, and he is fierce and determined and, well, incredibly brave. In his early fighting scenes, he looks scared just as if, you know, he was doing this for the first time. When he encounters Marion in her bed chamber, his upper lip is glistening with sweat, because he has just been running for his life. Observe him in the duel with the Templar: he looks terrified. And then again he in turn can look terrifying: just think of the scene when he is bewitched by Lilith and tells Much to cut his bonds. Praed displays a wonderful variety and subtlety of facial expressions, and his rare smiles are utter enchantment. More than anything else, it is his warmth and affection for his friends that make him so irresistible. It surprises me that my 16-year-old self was not in love with him (I had more of a soft spot for Nasir). Nevertheless, no other fictional character’s death has ever wrenched my heartstrings like Robin’s. Praed is not a hard act to follow; he is an impossible act to follow. Sorry, Jason.
Judi Trott perfectly matches Praed in the sense that her Marion is simultaneously gritty and elfin. She is as beautiful as a Pre-Raphaelite madonna and yet convincingly down-to-earth in her woodland outfit with her leather pouch on her belt. She is feisty and can kick ass with the best of them but remains sensitive and gentle-hearted. The interactions between Marion and Robin are full of tenderness and I adore it that the love-at-first-sight thing is conveyed by having them talk from the first moment as if they’ve known each other for ages. They work flawlessly as a team. A great scene is when Marion visits Robin in the dungeons in The Words of Wayland and they combine caresses with an exchange of crucial information. I also love it that Marion is so at ease with the other Merries and thinks nothing of cuddling John or stroking Much’s hair while he rests his head on her lap. She does this in a casual and entirely innocent way; she has thrown in her lot with a bunch of rough guys and has taken them to her heart like a sister.
All the Merries are great, each in their own way. Mark Ryan as Nasir was, as I said, my favourite, probably because he was taciturn and mysterious and of course, awesomely cool. Clive Mantle and Ray Winstone did an excellent job portraying strong men in their own right who follow Robin out of love and loyalty but are not afraid to confront him and argue with him when he is wrong. Peter Llewellyn Williams had perhaps the toughest part, playing a character that was routinely underrated. It would have been great to see him grow up more, but the script didn’t seem to provide for that. Well, I still dig Nasir, but nowadays Friar Tuck is probably my favourite Merry after Robin and Marion. He has an adorable accent and some of the funniest lines, and Phil Rose’s body language and facial expressions are priceless.
It is a rare thing in my experience to have villains who are absolutely loathsome but whom I nevertheless enjoy watching. Gisbourne and de Rainault are complete scum; cruel, selfish, callous, arrogant, black-hearted scoundrels beyond redemption. And yet they are highly entertaining and wonderfully funny in their weird co-dependent relationship full of frustrations on either side. Nickolas Grace succeeds in giving the Sheriff a certain degree of dignity, bat-crazy though he seems most of the time. And Robert Addie makes such good use of his impressive hurt-puppy look that in spite of all my loathing I did at times feel sorry for him. As a teen, I never picked up on the homoerotic vibes between them, obvious as they are; as an adult I find them a fascinating ingredient in the overall mix.
Having divvied out praise among all the regular actors, I feel I really should say something about Jason Connery. He did what he could. It was a solid performance and he had his moments. But Praed had set such an unattainable standard that every successor would have failed. Once again, sorry Jason.
The traditional tales of Robin Hood offer material for sound action adventures which, quite frankly, wouldn’t have interested me much as a teenage girl and even less so as a middle-aged woman. Whoever had the idea to include paganism and elements of fantasy was a genius. Blending these aspects with the medieval setting is what gave the series its unique charm. I can’t remember whether it was before, during or after RoS ran on TV that I first read The Mists of Avalon with its similar themes and general feel, but I was clearly susceptible to just that kind of thing.
So much more could be praised about the series. All the locations were wonderful, and I regret not seeing at least one episode set in the winter. The costume department deserves a medal.
Precisely once in my life did I go out and buy the sound track to a film or TV show. It was Clannad’s Legend. ‘nuff said.
It was a strange experience rewatching, after thirty years or so, my favourite TV series from my teenage days. Let me clarify what I mean by favourite: it’s the only one I’d care to watch again nowadays. Perhaps the strangest thing about it is that while I had vivid memories of the characters, the music, the imagery and the atmosphere, I remembered virtually nothing about the stories. And so I find it again after all these years: the characters, music, imagery and atmosphere are just as enchanting as I remembered. The plots, not so much. By and large, they do not stand up to scrutiny; there are loose ends, travelling distances and times do not match up, villains are too easily defeated, obvious solutions are ignored to prolong the plot etc. But then, the same criticism can be levelled at many beloved franchises, be it Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Pirates of the Carribbean, Harry Potter, Star Trek - and as far as I am concerned, Robin of Sherwood beats all of them on almost every score.
It may be difficult for younger generations to imagine just how different the series was when it was first aired. It was really like nothing I had ever seen before. Other TV series seemed just to have the actors do their thing and then film it. Obviously I know that there’s more to it, but in RoS almost every frame has an artistic quality; the colours, compositions and overall aesthetic effects are remarkable, even if the technical quality is less than stellar. Or perhaps it is exactly because the series lacks the high gloss of a Holywood production that it is so eye-catching. This may also be the reason why the locations look so real. Many of the landscape images are so vivid that I feel I could step right into the scene and go for a walk - the arrival at Kirklee Priory, for example. At the same time, the places also seem surreal, dreamlike and beyond this world, and I’m not just talking about the colour filters and dry ice mist. Through some sort of mental trickery, the series manages to make the forest seem simultaneously rock solid and completely magical.
Which brings me to Michael Praed. I don’t know how I can praise his performance enough. His Robin is grounded and earthy and has an intense physical presence (well, let’s be honest and call it swoon-inducing), yet at the same time he is ethereal and otherworldly to a degree that rivals Galadriel. I have seen him described as “fey” and that might be the most fitting word. He is so young and vulnerable and overwhelmed with the task allotted to him, and he is fierce and determined and, well, incredibly brave. In his early fighting scenes, he looks scared just as if, you know, he was doing this for the first time. When he encounters Marion in her bed chamber, his upper lip is glistening with sweat, because he has just been running for his life. Observe him in the duel with the Templar: he looks terrified. And then again he in turn can look terrifying: just think of the scene when he is bewitched by Lilith and tells Much to cut his bonds. Praed displays a wonderful variety and subtlety of facial expressions, and his rare smiles are utter enchantment. More than anything else, it is his warmth and affection for his friends that make him so irresistible. It surprises me that my 16-year-old self was not in love with him (I had more of a soft spot for Nasir). Nevertheless, no other fictional character’s death has ever wrenched my heartstrings like Robin’s. Praed is not a hard act to follow; he is an impossible act to follow. Sorry, Jason.
Judi Trott perfectly matches Praed in the sense that her Marion is simultaneously gritty and elfin. She is as beautiful as a Pre-Raphaelite madonna and yet convincingly down-to-earth in her woodland outfit with her leather pouch on her belt. She is feisty and can kick ass with the best of them but remains sensitive and gentle-hearted. The interactions between Marion and Robin are full of tenderness and I adore it that the love-at-first-sight thing is conveyed by having them talk from the first moment as if they’ve known each other for ages. They work flawlessly as a team. A great scene is when Marion visits Robin in the dungeons in The Words of Wayland and they combine caresses with an exchange of crucial information. I also love it that Marion is so at ease with the other Merries and thinks nothing of cuddling John or stroking Much’s hair while he rests his head on her lap. She does this in a casual and entirely innocent way; she has thrown in her lot with a bunch of rough guys and has taken them to her heart like a sister.
All the Merries are great, each in their own way. Mark Ryan as Nasir was, as I said, my favourite, probably because he was taciturn and mysterious and of course, awesomely cool. Clive Mantle and Ray Winstone did an excellent job portraying strong men in their own right who follow Robin out of love and loyalty but are not afraid to confront him and argue with him when he is wrong. Peter Llewellyn Williams had perhaps the toughest part, playing a character that was routinely underrated. It would have been great to see him grow up more, but the script didn’t seem to provide for that. Well, I still dig Nasir, but nowadays Friar Tuck is probably my favourite Merry after Robin and Marion. He has an adorable accent and some of the funniest lines, and Phil Rose’s body language and facial expressions are priceless.
It is a rare thing in my experience to have villains who are absolutely loathsome but whom I nevertheless enjoy watching. Gisbourne and de Rainault are complete scum; cruel, selfish, callous, arrogant, black-hearted scoundrels beyond redemption. And yet they are highly entertaining and wonderfully funny in their weird co-dependent relationship full of frustrations on either side. Nickolas Grace succeeds in giving the Sheriff a certain degree of dignity, bat-crazy though he seems most of the time. And Robert Addie makes such good use of his impressive hurt-puppy look that in spite of all my loathing I did at times feel sorry for him. As a teen, I never picked up on the homoerotic vibes between them, obvious as they are; as an adult I find them a fascinating ingredient in the overall mix.
Having divvied out praise among all the regular actors, I feel I really should say something about Jason Connery. He did what he could. It was a solid performance and he had his moments. But Praed had set such an unattainable standard that every successor would have failed. Once again, sorry Jason.
The traditional tales of Robin Hood offer material for sound action adventures which, quite frankly, wouldn’t have interested me much as a teenage girl and even less so as a middle-aged woman. Whoever had the idea to include paganism and elements of fantasy was a genius. Blending these aspects with the medieval setting is what gave the series its unique charm. I can’t remember whether it was before, during or after RoS ran on TV that I first read The Mists of Avalon with its similar themes and general feel, but I was clearly susceptible to just that kind of thing.
So much more could be praised about the series. All the locations were wonderful, and I regret not seeing at least one episode set in the winter. The costume department deserves a medal.
Precisely once in my life did I go out and buy the sound track to a film or TV show. It was Clannad’s Legend. ‘nuff said.