Writer: Rob Heyland
Director: James ErskineCast: 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), Michael Elwyn (Sir Edward) & Denis Lawson (Harold of Winchester)
The Black Knights descend on Nottingham to sign a Pact the Sheriff has drawn up, that will remove King Richard from the throne...Credit where it's due; series 2 of Robin Hood has been a great deal more fun, and the recurring subplots (the Black Knights, Allan's treachery) have given the series more cohesion. I'm enjoying each episode much more than last year, although it helps that I've learned to lower my expectations considerably...
For England...! marks the sophomore year's half-way point, and it's only fitting that this episode revolves around series 2's best new idea -- the Black Knights and their plot to dethrone King Richard upon his return from the Crusades. The Sheriff (Keith Allen) is gathering the Knights to sign The Great Pact Of Nottingham -- drawn up by a mute scribe he pushes off a tower by way of thanks, in fine pantomime baddie tradition. Seriously, all we needed was a long scream that faded to a squelch!
One of the gathering Knights turns out to be the Sheriff of Winchester (Denis Lawson), an old friend of the former Sheriff of Nottingham, Sir Edward (Michael Elwyn), Marian's father. Edward's now in the castle dungeon, so Robin (Jonas Armstrong) hopes Winchester's loyalty to his old friend will help undermine the current Sheriff's masterplan...
The Pact's signing is taking place on the King's birthday, so Robin's gang have the ideal excuse to infiltrate the castle (not that they ever usually have a problem), by dressing up as entertainers and smuggling weapons inside musical instruments. In one unintentionally hilarious scene, the worst security checkpoint in the world fail to spot an obvious sword handle sticking out of a lute!
Of course, things are complicated when Winchester's past history with Edward is revealed as being less than rosy. It seems Edward "stole" Winchester's girlfriend from him years ago, and later married her, resulting in their child Marian (Lucy Griffiths). So Winchester allies himself with the dastardly Sheriff and agrees to sign the Pact in return for Sussex and the sweet Marian as his concubine...
Rob Heyland's script gets more mileage out of its idea than you'd expect, and even manages to make some of its sillier ideas just about work -- like the suggestion Robin's gang need to dress up as a Morris Dancers-style troupe, when Robin himself has a preternatural ability to drop from castle ceilings and masquerade as anybody simply by wearing a cloak!
Still, it's nice to see that Allan-a-Dale (Joe Armstrong) hasn't been dropped from the show entirely, as he's already sniffing around Guy (Richard Armitage) and making inquiries about joining the baddies full-time. It's about time the villains of the show amounted to more than a two-hander between the Sheriff and Guy, so I hope Allan's successful in his application. Of course, not even Guy is clever enough to realize Allan knows important information they can use -- like exactly where the Outlaws' Camp is!
But with Robin Hood, you're always being asked to suspend your disbelief and go with the flow. I mean, after almost 20 episodes, the Sheriff still hasn't realized that devising complex ways for enemies to die (this week, a medieval version of Gladiators over a giant cauldron) may be great fun, but it never gets the job done. So cue another action sequence, as Robin and Allan are forced to knock each other around with giant cotton-buds on a plank, before the outlaws spring into action and save the day.
But I always expect a frothy mix of good, bad and embarrassing with Robin Hood. It's best not to focus too much on specifics and just enjoy the great scenery, sets and the handful of decent performances. Chief amongst them has always been Richard Armitage's Guy, who here gets the most development of his character since last series 1...
Once Guy learns dirty old Winchester wants to whisk beautiful Marian away with him, he's the first one to start arranging his ex-fiance's escape from the castle. Then, in the finale, there's a neat reversal of expectation when it's Guy and the Sheriff who rescue Marian from Winchester's clutches -- not a seconds-too-late Robin...
It seems that, for all his faults and sucking-up to the Sheriff (in pursuit of power and social standing), Guy's not actually so terrible. In fact, where Marian's concerned, he's actually just as heroic towards her (and a damned sight more dashing) than Robin! How much better would this show be if Armitage were the one carrying the arrows, leading men with beards that look like they can withstand a strong breeze?
Overall, For England...! has some repetitive spells and there's the usual unintentional silliness, but that's par for the course. For the most part, episode 6 is entertaining and even has a few surprises along the way. But it's mostly successful because it continues Allan's storyline after his recent fall from grace, the excellent Denis Lawson is a memorable guest star, and it puts some emphasis back on Guy of Gisbourne -- who was the best thing about series 1, and is still the only character with any real personality.
10 November 2007
BBC1, 7.15 pm
