New Robin Hood series on the BBC
Oct. 7th, 2006 08:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marycrawfordI just noticed a TV listing for 'Robin Hood' on BBC1 tonight, and went, "Huh, are they rerunning that old series with Michael Praed that I loved when I was a kid? At 8 o'clock on a Saturday?"
So no, it's an entirely new Robin Hood series.
It starts with a chase scene, where first an unlucky villager, then Robin and his servant Much are being chased by the Sheriff's men. They're on foot, being chased by four or five guys on horses, and it's very very clear that they're running along a bridlepath, and that's the only reason they're in danger - if they got off the stupid path and started zigzagging through the trees, it would be impossible for the horses to run them down, and their pursuers wouldn't have the advantage anymore.
When they finally do get off the path, they hide under the roots of a large tree, while a single black-armored rider waits on the path, searching for them. Um. I half expected a spider to start crawling down Robin's collar.
Robin pretends he's got the Sheriff's men surrounded by having Much pull on ropes so that various bits of trees move. It's broad daylight, and the trees aren't thick enough to have anyone hiding behind them, and it's all just...argh. I like cheese, but this isn't cheese; it's more, well, chalk. It all feels very slow and plodding and humorless.
Then Robin and Much meet Random Guy, who has a daughter with really un-British amounts of cleavage, and Robin has a go at the daughter and then has to fight Random Guy, so he can show off his scimitar skills. And then he gets back to Locksley Hall and a plot of sorts starts developing, but it took so long that I gave up. Maybe it got good after the first half hour or so; I just ran out of patience.
Robin is fairly cute in a boyish, scruffy, blue-eyed sort of way, and Guy of Gisborne wears a big black leather coat and swallows half his consonants, so I'm guessing he's evil. Sadly, neither of them does much for me, and I think I'll just make up my own series starring Sean Bean as Robin and Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham. Mmm.
So no, it's an entirely new Robin Hood series.
It starts with a chase scene, where first an unlucky villager, then Robin and his servant Much are being chased by the Sheriff's men. They're on foot, being chased by four or five guys on horses, and it's very very clear that they're running along a bridlepath, and that's the only reason they're in danger - if they got off the stupid path and started zigzagging through the trees, it would be impossible for the horses to run them down, and their pursuers wouldn't have the advantage anymore.
When they finally do get off the path, they hide under the roots of a large tree, while a single black-armored rider waits on the path, searching for them. Um. I half expected a spider to start crawling down Robin's collar.
Robin pretends he's got the Sheriff's men surrounded by having Much pull on ropes so that various bits of trees move. It's broad daylight, and the trees aren't thick enough to have anyone hiding behind them, and it's all just...argh. I like cheese, but this isn't cheese; it's more, well, chalk. It all feels very slow and plodding and humorless.
Then Robin and Much meet Random Guy, who has a daughter with really un-British amounts of cleavage, and Robin has a go at the daughter and then has to fight Random Guy, so he can show off his scimitar skills. And then he gets back to Locksley Hall and a plot of sorts starts developing, but it took so long that I gave up. Maybe it got good after the first half hour or so; I just ran out of patience.
Robin is fairly cute in a boyish, scruffy, blue-eyed sort of way, and Guy of Gisborne wears a big black leather coat and swallows half his consonants, so I'm guessing he's evil. Sadly, neither of them does much for me, and I think I'll just make up my own series starring Sean Bean as Robin and Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham. Mmm.
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-07 07:13 pm (UTC)I didn't know there was hype, but then I only watch an odd hour or so of TV a week. I'm glad I didn't know about it beforehand, because I rely on the BBC as doing this sort of thing really really well, and I'd have been extra dissapointed.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-07 07:18 pm (UTC)I watch most of my TV on my computer these days, but there are ads on buses and everyone seems to be talking about it here. I agree, usually the BBC does much better miniseries, and as a pilot which is supposed to catch one's attention, this one didn't do its job at all.
*uses only Robin Hood icon*