29 Oct 06. BBC 1, 7.05 pm
WRITER: Mark Wadlow DIRECTOR: Richard Standeven
CAST: Jonas Armstrong (Robin), Lucy Grifiths (Marian), Keith Allen (Sheriff), Richard Armitage (Guy Of Gisbourne), Sam Troughton (Much), William Beck (Roy), Gordon Kennedy (Little John) & Harry Lloyd (Will Scarlett), Joe Armstrong (Allan-A-Dale)
After stealing some of Guy Of Gisbourne's horses, the outlaws discover an abandoned baby in the underbrush...
Robin Hood is beginning to finds its groove now, which is cause for both celebration and concern. Episode 4, Parent Hood (please stop with the titular puns!) exhibits the same spark and pace as last week, but it's also guilty of providing identikit action scenes. Yet again there's a captive in the dungeon, yet again the outlaws break into Nottingham Castle on a rescue mission, yet again there's a public hanging, yet again there's a fight in the castle courtyard, yet again Robin chickens out of killing someone with an arrow, etc. We're only four episodes into the series, and it's becoming stale.
On the positive side, the opening horse-stealing ruse is good fun, and the discovery of a baby provides some larks with the cast (even if the tot's abandoment makes little sense once its history is revealed). There is also a devilish plot by the Sheriff to have Robin assassinated by one of his own outlaws, which provides just enough drama and sinister undertones to alleviate the show's cosy drama mentality.
So, there's much to enjoy in Mark Wadlow's script, which does a decent job with a potentially awful premise. I particularly enjoyed a scene where Robin helps Marian feed a quarantined village by shooting arrows pierced with food over their walls -- just the right mix of good-natured heroism.
The enchanting Lucy Griffiths is quickly becoming the best thing about this series, narrowly pipped to the post by Keith Allen's smarmy Sheriff, while Jonas Armstrong remains affable but neutered by the scripts absence of Robin's killer instinct and endless attempts to parallel his Crusade exploits with contemporay Middle East issues.
But Parent Hood belongs to William Beck as Roy, the only distinctive member of the outlaws, beyond Troughton's comic stooge Much. Here he gets a meaty slice of the action, and a few emotional secenes that see the young actor rise to the occassion admirably.
A shame the same can't be said about the rest of the cast. Robin's gang are made up of famous names (Allan A Dale, Will Scarlett, Little John) but so far every actor has been given practically zilch to work with. Joe Armstrong (Allan) and Harry Lloyd (Will) are particularly extraneous to everything and fade from memory every week. Gordon Kennedy (Little John) has had a few moments to shine, but he's been particularly uninspiring. His physical presence isn't that strong, and so far his acting abilities have been strained -- typically resulting in variations of forced "we goooh... to Notting'um..." line delivery.
Still, I had fun watching Parent Hood, despite its faults. The story was engaging and contained a few moments of peril, while the balance of comedy and action is well-judged. It's just a shame that the comeraderie of the outlaws isn't wholly believable, and every episode recycles the same basic plot beats.
There are plenty of reasons why this 2006 retelling of Robin Hood should work (strong cast, excellent production design), but so far it seems unable to break out of its own simple template. But, it's early days, and Parent Hood certainly ends with a brave and dramatic moment (if you ignore the silly final sight gag)...
WRITER: Mark Wadlow DIRECTOR: Richard Standeven
CAST: Jonas Armstrong (Robin), Lucy Grifiths (Marian), Keith Allen (Sheriff), Richard Armitage (Guy Of Gisbourne), Sam Troughton (Much), William Beck (Roy), Gordon Kennedy (Little John) & Harry Lloyd (Will Scarlett), Joe Armstrong (Allan-A-Dale)
After stealing some of Guy Of Gisbourne's horses, the outlaws discover an abandoned baby in the underbrush...Robin Hood is beginning to finds its groove now, which is cause for both celebration and concern. Episode 4, Parent Hood (please stop with the titular puns!) exhibits the same spark and pace as last week, but it's also guilty of providing identikit action scenes. Yet again there's a captive in the dungeon, yet again the outlaws break into Nottingham Castle on a rescue mission, yet again there's a public hanging, yet again there's a fight in the castle courtyard, yet again Robin chickens out of killing someone with an arrow, etc. We're only four episodes into the series, and it's becoming stale.
On the positive side, the opening horse-stealing ruse is good fun, and the discovery of a baby provides some larks with the cast (even if the tot's abandoment makes little sense once its history is revealed). There is also a devilish plot by the Sheriff to have Robin assassinated by one of his own outlaws, which provides just enough drama and sinister undertones to alleviate the show's cosy drama mentality.
So, there's much to enjoy in Mark Wadlow's script, which does a decent job with a potentially awful premise. I particularly enjoyed a scene where Robin helps Marian feed a quarantined village by shooting arrows pierced with food over their walls -- just the right mix of good-natured heroism.
The enchanting Lucy Griffiths is quickly becoming the best thing about this series, narrowly pipped to the post by Keith Allen's smarmy Sheriff, while Jonas Armstrong remains affable but neutered by the scripts absence of Robin's killer instinct and endless attempts to parallel his Crusade exploits with contemporay Middle East issues.
But Parent Hood belongs to William Beck as Roy, the only distinctive member of the outlaws, beyond Troughton's comic stooge Much. Here he gets a meaty slice of the action, and a few emotional secenes that see the young actor rise to the occassion admirably.
A shame the same can't be said about the rest of the cast. Robin's gang are made up of famous names (Allan A Dale, Will Scarlett, Little John) but so far every actor has been given practically zilch to work with. Joe Armstrong (Allan) and Harry Lloyd (Will) are particularly extraneous to everything and fade from memory every week. Gordon Kennedy (Little John) has had a few moments to shine, but he's been particularly uninspiring. His physical presence isn't that strong, and so far his acting abilities have been strained -- typically resulting in variations of forced "we goooh... to Notting'um..." line delivery.
Still, I had fun watching Parent Hood, despite its faults. The story was engaging and contained a few moments of peril, while the balance of comedy and action is well-judged. It's just a shame that the comeraderie of the outlaws isn't wholly believable, and every episode recycles the same basic plot beats.
There are plenty of reasons why this 2006 retelling of Robin Hood should work (strong cast, excellent production design), but so far it seems unable to break out of its own simple template. But, it's early days, and Parent Hood certainly ends with a brave and dramatic moment (if you ignore the silly final sight gag)...
