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Category:    Home > Reviews > Action > Adventure > Swords > Arrows > Myths > British TV > Robin Of Sherwood - Set Two (1983 British Television series/Acorn Media)

Robin Of Sherwood - Set Two (1983 British Television series/Acorn Media)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: A     Episodes: B

 

 

Robin of Sherwood Set 2 is the box set continuation of the 1980’s BBC television series.  Though there are some major changes in the series from Seasons One and Two (more on that in a moment), the overall tone and feel of the series is much the same, as is the picture and sound quality.  For the basics, see my review of Set One elsewhere on the site at this link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5437/Robin+Of+Sherwood+Set+1+(1983

 

 

 

Now, before we go any farther, be aware that there are major spoilers ahead.

 

The last episode of Set One (Season Two), ended on a somber note.  It appeared that Robin Hood had been killed and the final scene was of Marion and the rest of the Merry Men shooting flaming arrows into a stream in memoriam to their fallen leader.  The reason for this was the behind-the-scenes reality that Michael Praed, the actor who portrayed Robin, was leaving the series (to go to America where he joined the cast of Dynasty).  Rather than cancel the successful series they took a cue from soap opera tradition and recast the title role.

 

Luckily, they didn’t simply have a new actor that no one else on the cast noticed (a la Darren Stevens on Bewitched).  It had been established in Season One that Robin of Loxley had been recruited by the mythical being Herne the Hunter to be the living spirit of the forest.   In Set Two, Herne chooses someone new to take up the role of the fallen hero.  Enter Robert of Huntington, played by Jason Connery (son of Sean).  Most of the season deals with him taking on the role of Robin and gradually winning the trust and respect of the surviving Merry Men.  Connery pulls it off with aplomb, and a situation that could have been a tragedy for the series became one of its strengths.

 

Everything that made the series work is still in evidence here; tight stories, beautiful natural settings, and tremendous acting.  In my previous review I mentioned the career-making performance of Ray Winstone (seen most recently in the new Indiana Jones film), as Will Scarlet.  It bears repeating.  The series is worth watching for him alone.

 

Extras this time include no less than nine audio commentary tracks on the episodes, two documentary/featurette pieces, behind-the-scenes footage, Clannad: Scoring Robin of Sherwood, the U.S. credit sequence, outtakes and text cast filmographies.  Also note that both sets are coming out as one set, which another writer will take on for its July 2008 release.

 

 

 

-   Wayne Wise

www.wayne-wise.com

 

 

Wayne Wise again really recommends the book Robin Hood by Celtic/Arthurian scholar John Matthews to anyone more interested in a more in depth look at the mythos and symbolism behind the character.


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