As reimagined by scenarist Richard Carpenter (no, not that one, this one goes by the nickname "Kip"), Robin of Sherwood starts with Robin as a child, watching his home village of Loxley get destroyed by the evil Sheriff of Nottingham's minions, who then follow up by killing Robin's father, who is the keeper of The Silver Arrow, a patently phallic looking device with magical powers. Nottingham is only too happy to remove The Silver Arrow from the dying grasp of Robin's father, setting up the pan-generational conflict neatly in the first few minutes. Fast forward a couple of decades and Robin is an enterprising lad living in the woods and trying to keep his adoptive brother Much out of trouble after Much kills one of the King's deers. This leads to the imprisonment of Much and Robin, where in their cellar dungeon they are quickly introduced to several other prisoners, notably Will Scarlet, who will go on to make up the Merry Men. During an ultimately successful escape attempt, Robin hides out in a room that houses a lovely maid by the name of Marian, and so begins that love story. Right off the bat, you can see that Carpenter effortlessly introduces characters quickly and efficiently, but he sometimes does it in unusual ways, also utilizing pagan myth and sword and sorcery motifs to augment the basic action.

Probably the strangest introduction is Little John, who in this version is under the satanic sway of the one of the series' bad guys, the evil sorcerer de Belleme. With a gigantic reverse pentagram scrawled on his chest, and with long, unkempt hair and beard, Little John looks like he's wandered in from the Manson Ranch, until Robin is able to knock him out and wash the tattoo off, releasing John from his spell and making him a lifelong friend. The breaking of de Belleme's spell also introduces probably the most unlikely character in this adaptation, and one neither in the original stories nor particularly historically accurate, a Saracen by the name of Nasir, who had, like John, toiled under the magical aegis of de Belleme before being freed. Soon joining the fray are Marian and Friar Tuck, who, in a scene somewhat reminiscent of the Flynn version, are rescued from Guy of Gisburne's grasp as they make their way through Sherwood to the convent where Marian plans to take her vows. Interestingly in this version, Marian is not mere window dressing, and by the later episodes is romping through the woods with the Merry Men, ably shooting arrows with her bow with the best of them.

Another thread Carpenter weaves through his adaptation could have come directly out of Sir James George Frazer's landmark examination of religious anthropology, "The Golden Bough." In this version of Robin, Robin is "called" to his magical destiny by a forest shaman named Herne, who clads himself in a stag skin (complete with head and antlers) while schooling Robin in the powers of light (symbolized by the magical sword Albion he bequeathes to his charge) to fight those of darkness commanded by de Belleme and Nottingham. And so a mythic and epic stratum is added to the basic Robin Hood storyline, and, surprise of surprises, it all works amazingly well.

What also sets this particular version apart is its almost total reliance on outdoor location shooting for the many Merry Men sequences. Even the interiors are filmed in period castles at times, giving the whole series a nicely palpable Medieval flavor. The cast is uniformly excellent, with Michael Praed a baby-faced yet determined Robin of Loxley, and Judi Trott, a raven-tressed Marian with more than a bit of spunk. Standing out in the supporting cast are Ray Winstone (whose body served as the motion capture basis for the title character in Beowulf) as Will Scarlet and Peter Llewellyn Williams as Robin's sometimes dunderheaded adopted brother Much. My favorite supporting player was actually Hugh Jackson, Inspector Japp of the Suchet Poirots, who here plays Nottingham's evil, if bumbling, brother, Abbott Hugo, who is forever on the make for more lands to add to his monastery's holdings.

The first two seasons amble pleasantly along, having an almost Cadfael feel to them at times, as Robin interacts with such characters as an herbalist who is accused of being a witch or some Knights Templar returning from the Crusade. John Rhys Davies pops up in one episode as Richard the Lionhearted, where for a moment or two it looks like Robin and his outlaw band may be pardoned and freed to help set things right in England again--but that would have spelled the end of the series, so don't count on it. I am loathe to post any spoilers here, so let me be as oblique as possible by saying that the second season comes to an end with some unexpected developments that allow a new person to assume the mantle of Robin, the Hooded Man.

The third season radically rethinks the Robin Hood legend, but brilliantly so, as Carpenter revisits one of the other non-Loxley source elements and casts Robin as the titled Robert, son of the Earl of Huntington, played in a serendipitous (and actually intentional) casting coup by Sean Connery's son, Jason. With the second season ending with the Merry Men scattered and everyone's future up in arms, the third year actually takes a couple of episodes to establish Robert as the "new" Robin, a role he does not accept willingly. While some viewers may have passing qualms with how relatively quickly the Merry Men (and Marian herself) come around to accepting Robert as Robin, Connery is probably more dashing than Praed in the role, bringing a nice athleticism and that same self-effacing style that graces his father's best work. While there's nothing really new other than Robert in this third season, surprisingly little if any momentum is lost in this final season, though the series ends with no wrap up of several dangling plot threads.

Robin of Sherwood is a fine reimagining of a legend that has delighted audiences for hundreds of years. The camaraderie of the cast is something palpable, with a nice blend of action, romance and even comedy from time to time giving the series a nicely balanced feel throughout its three years.

The DVD

Video:
Robin of Sherwood has a typical full frame mid-80s television look to it, with passable color but unusual softness, some of which is due to the intentional and frequent use of filters. While the image is certainly not up to today's higher standards, it actually adds to the quaintness of the treatment and shouldn't be too distracting for any but the most ardent videophile.

Sound:
The DD 2.0 soundtrack has excellent fidelity and range, augmented by Clannad's evocative (if overly reverb-heavy, as a lot of their recorded music is) score. Perhaps unintentionally some of the best separation is on the opening menu and submenus, when arrows fly in from different directions to hit their targets. No subtitles are available.

Extras:
This set is full to overflowing with mostly excellent extras. Both Set 1 (comprised of the first two seasons) and Set 2 (the third season) have their own separate bonus disc, each with a two part retrospective documentary featuring most of the principal cast, as well as a lot of the production crew. This cast obviously loved the project dearly; in fact, almost all of them count it as one of the highlights of their professional careers. There's also a vintage behind the scenes documentary, outtakes, blooper reels and, for completists, the title sequences for the American and French versions, as well as one with no text, so that Clannad's theme can be enjoyed just with images. Fourteen audio commentaries are scattered throughout the eight discs of episodes and while they are fitfully interesting, most if not all of the information to be gleaned from them is delivered in the making of documentaries.

Final Thoughts:
This may not supplant the Flynn/De Havilland version of this legend in most film buffs' minds, but Robin of Sherwood deserves kudos for its skillful reinvention of the story. With a less glamorous feel, probably most akin to the Lester film version of the story, Robin of Sherwood recreates a bygone era with panache, grace and humor. Highly recommended.

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"G-d made stars galore" & "Hey, what kind of a crappy fortune is this?" ZMK, modern prophet