WRITER: Paul Cornell DIRECTOR: Richard Standeven
CAST: Jonas Armstrong (Robin), Lucy Griffiths (Marian), Keith Allen (Sheriff), Richad Armitage (Guy of Gisbourne), Sam Troughton (Much) & Gordon Kennedy (Little John)
Robin finds himself framed for a series of murders by a mysterious sniper, as part of the Sheriff's propoganda...This new series finds a surer footing with its third episode, mainly due to its more serious tone. Paul Cornell's script might not be anything particularly original, and suffers from a fairly obvious revelation of the murderer's identity (hint: it's one of the new characters introduced, of course), but it's also constructed very nicely with a good sense of rhythm and some strong character moments.
A highlight of the series is undoubtedly Keith Allen's performances, ensuring his Sheriff a well-judged menacing bully, but with a twinkle in his eye. His scenes with Jonas Armstrong's Robin are particularly good fun, and here there is a quite excellent confrontation here after Robin infiltrates his bedroom chamber.
However, an increasing low-light is Robin's lack of killer instinct. I understand the writers need a psychological reason for Robin to not just kill the Sheriff and save everyone a lot of bother, but his refusal to kill anyone just isn't plausible for his lifestyle.
The merry men (sorry, "outlaws") are also quite superfluous to everything at the moment, which is a shame because there are some good young actors there. Sam Troughton gets a slice of comedy each week as Much, but everyone else just shrinks into the background -- which is a shame, because the "gang" mentality is something that should be far stronger in a Robin Hood series.
Lucy Griffiths remains wonderful as Marian, bringing heart and sincerity to the role, as well as just the right balance of old-fashioned subservience and contemporary girl power. She even gets a brief moment of action finally.
Jonas Armstrong is charismatic and engaging as Robin, although his character is somewhat castrated by the writing. As discussed, in this incarnation Robin lacks a killer instinct and is too concerned about his public image. I'd prefer to see some machismo and a shade of arrogance creeping into the nice-guy sometime soon.
Overall, Who Shot The Sheriff? is a marked improvement for the series, thanks to some stronger plotting and some cracking character interplay from Armstrong, Allen and Griffiths. The production is slick and beautiful, although it's a shame the show is so restricted regarding its tone: too bright to evoke the atmosphere you associate with the time period, while the swashbuckling is being kept firmly on a tight leesh so far. It's about time they cut loose and let the outlaws (sod it, merry men) have some fun...
