It’s pretty common these days to bemoan popular culture for not having any original ideas. That’s as may be, but something that often gets forgotten in all this is that some stories deserve to be retold again, and again, and again. For me, the story of Robin Hood is such a tale. Though obviously no adaptation can expect to reach the heights of the Disney film, the BBC have bravely decided — based on the huge success of their new Doctor Who — to make a new, family-friendly TV series based on his exploits.

Things don’t start well though. For the first ten minutes or so, the show plays more like a Hercules rip-off than anything worthwhile, which is a bit painful. Bad jokes, an irritating sidekick, gratuitous cleavage, awkwardly established danger and somewhat contrived violence. I was concerned.

But then the story starts properly. Robin of Locksley, for those embarrassingly unfamiliar with the tale, has returned home from the Crusades to take his land back, weary of the bloodshed and violence.¹ He returns to find Locksley, and the rest of Nottingham, under the oppressive thumb of the Sherrif of Nottingham — played so far over the top by Keith Allen that he probably can’t even see the top from where he is. People are having their hands chopped off for illegal hunting, and getting hanged for stealing. And so he’s faced with a choice; play the political game and try to make a difference slowly, letting some be sacrificed, or…

Well, you know the other one. Save the day, form a band of men who might be merry, cause problems. It’s when the story starts focussing on this decision that it suddenly takes a huge step up.

Casting Robin Hood is of course, a bit of a trick. Jonas Armstrong has a British accent, so they’ve dodged one arrow right there. He’s a bit young-looking for a war veteran, but everyone did things younger back in the olden days. He’s got a good level of Robin Hood roguishness, and a reasonable amount of authority, but I’ll be expecting him to get a bit more stature as the show progresses and Robin finds his niche.

As for his manservant — it’s probably not Sam Troughton’s² fault that Much is so irritating most of the time; the dialogue is pretty dire for the most part. The scene where he recalls the horrors of the war he’s come from evens this out nicely, however, and I just hope they keep hitting this balance between fool and wounded man. Marion seems good too, though not quite as foxy as I might have hoped.³ Guy of Gisbourne is brilliantly smarmy, Alan a Dale is annoying, and no sign of Little John yet.

By the end, the episode proves itself as a respectable bit of television, but there are a few missteps. They need to bring in someone clever to be in charge of the Witty Repartee division. The violence could be a bit more polished. The Sheriff could stop crushing birdies just to prove how gosh darn evil he is. A general reduction of cheesiness wouldn’t go astray. But there’s potential.

1. Yep, there’s a costly and somewhat controversial war going on in the middle-east. Early indications suggest that the show might have a little fun with this. Or, possibly, make ham-fisted political references. I’m hoping for the former.
2. Grandson of Patrick Troughton, Doctor Who Number Two.
3. How can she compare to this?