marycrawford: 13 hour clock icon (Default)
[personal profile] marycrawford
I 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.

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-07 07:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] marycrawford.livejournal.com
Underwhelming is the word. I couldn't really compare it to the Michael Praed version myself, because I never saw reruns of it (alas) and so what I remember is very unspecific: mostly that it was quite rugged and grim, that there was a lot of Celtic myth in it, that Marian was a tough cookie and that Robin was gobsmackingly gorgeous. At least while he was Michael Praed, not so much the later blond guy. *g*

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-07 07:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] marycrawford.livejournal.com
Also, please do not retire this icon ever. *admires*

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-07 07:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ltlj.livejournal.com
The Praed/Connery Robin Hood is out on DVD now, and the set has tons of extras. Interviews with cast, writers, production people, and bloopers, and whole bit.

icon

Yeah, I love this shot. I love that they keep it consistent that if you want to hug John, you have to catch him by surprise.

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-07 07:35 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] marycrawford.livejournal.com
The Praed/Connery Robin Hood is out on DVD now, and the set has tons of extras

Ooooo. Tempting words, those.

The ones about John, too. *G*

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