Writer: Debbie Oates
Director: Matthew EvansCast: Jonas Armstrong (Robin), Lucy Griffiths (Marian), Keith Allen (Sheriff), Richard Armitage (Guy Of Gisbourne), Sam Troughton (Much), Gordon Kennedy (Little John), Harry Lloyd (Will Scarlett), Joe Armstrong (Allan-a-Dale), Anjali Jay (Djak), Josie Lawrence (Matila), Sara Howarth (Rosa) & David Bamber (Blight)
Robin must stop a messenger revealing information to the Sheriff about King Richard's return, and later discovers there's a spy amongst his gang...Ducking And Diving is a rather humdrum episode of Robin Hood, focusing on a quite uninteresting central plot that wastes the talents of its guest stars and is ultimately crippled by the fact a subplot (with traitorous Allan-a-Dale being slowly exposed) is far more interesting than the main story -- about a messenger who has information for the Sheriff (Keith Allen) about the King's return, but it must remain a secret to prevent an assassination attempt...
The main story wastes a guest appearance by David Bamber as ratty physician Blight, then crowbars in Josie Lawrence as an unconvincing "wise woman" Matilda -- who more closely resembles a school art teacher! As luck would have it, Matilda helped usher Robin into this world as a baby, so she helps the outlaw by drugging the messenger (Henry of Lewes) and turning him into an incoherent lunatic.
Unfortunately, Matilda's actions are discovered and the Sheriff's punishment is to expose her as a witch by ducking her in the local village pond. The treatment of witches in the Middle Ages is something I've been waiting to see appear in Robin Hood, but while the ducking sequence itself is well-crafted, it seems a waste to limit witchcraft to almost an afterthought here...
So while the thrust of Ducking And Diving is dispiriting and plodding -- not helped by Matilda's daughter Rosa (Sara Howarth) giving birth back at the outlaw's camp -- Debbie Oates' script gets some respect for unexpectedly exposing Allan-a-Dale (Joe Armstrong) as a traitor in Robin's midst. Allan's dealings with Guy Of Gisbourne has been a good recurring plot strand for season 2, but it's nice to see the writers refusing to stretch it to breaking point, and it's ended very well in episode 5.
For once, the last 10 minutes of an episode doesn't revolve around an escape from Nottingham Castle, but instead it's just a simple two-hander between actors in a tavern. I hope the series as a whole realizes character relationships and interplay are what audiences really want to see, as they're what make the action worth watching. Of course, now that Allan has been exposed, it's frustrating to realize nothing else is around to replace that recurring plot!
As side-notes, it's nice to see Little John (Gordon Kennedy) being treated as a normal human being, instead of a monosyllabic cliche, for the second week running. Little John was always my favourite "merry man", but his treatment in this BBC series has been especially weak for the most part. Hopefully this is the beginning of a turnaround for the character.
On the flipside, Much (Sam Troughton) is seriously beginning to irritate me now. He was quite effective comic relief during season 1, but he's become almost dangerous a liability lately. Purely for the purposes of the plot, it takes Much mere seconds to blurt out the secret about a traitor to the whole group, before a later slip-up with a knife almost costs him his own life!
Still, while Much is flawed, he's at least memorable -- compared to Harry Lloyd's limp Will Scarlett -- but his constant screw-ups are beginning to annoy me. Another script convenience arrives when physician Blight conveniently discovers (off-screen) that Matilda delivered Robin into this world. I can live with it, but it's still lazy plotting that proves irksome...
Overall, Ducking And Diving is only worthy of attention for Robin's discovery of Allan's betrayal, as the main plot is quite a bore. The ducking sequence, with Matilda fastened to a chair to be drowned, is great when it arrives -- even if her inevitable rescue is a far-fetched -- but I'd have preferred a proper episode about the treatment of suspected witches...
The tragic waste of guest star David Bamber, and a miscast Josie Lawrence, only confirm episode 5 as a disappointing misstep. It's only rescued from total failure by a late emphasis on character over action.
3 November 2007
BBC 1, 7.15 pm
