Writer: Simon J. Ashford
Director: Matthew EvansCast: Jonas Armstrong (Robin), Lucy Griffiths (Marian), Keith Allen (Sheriff), Richard Armitage (Guy Of Gisborn), Sam Troughton (Much), Gordon Kennedy (Little John), Harry Lloyd (Will Scarlett), Joe Armstrong (Allan-a-Dale), Anjali Jay (Djak), Stephen Beckett (Legrand), Andy Helfer (Paxton) & Lynda Bellingham (Queen Eleanor)
Robin receives a message from King Richard, which tells him to find the "treasure of the nation" -- hopefully before the Sheriff does...The penultimate episode of this improved second series starts slowly, but hots up after 20-minutes to provide fun adventuring with Robin's gang and compelling drama between Marian (Lucy Griffiths) and Guy Of Gisborn (Richard Armitage).
If season 1 was obsessed with breaking into Nottingham Castle, season 2 is definitely fixated on messengers; as another one arrives in Sherwood Forest to hand Robin (Jonas Armstrong) a message from crusading King Richard himself...
Legrand (Stephen Beckett) is the burly herald in question, a character created to cause antagonism with the similarly meat-headed Little John (Gordon Kennedy), although Beckett's performance doesn't really stretch much beyond a few baritone chuckles. A clichéd attempt to have the two giants eventually become friends doesn't quite come off, either.
Despite the first 20-minutes being a little dawdling, with Legrand taking Robin to see a wool merchant called Paxton (Andy Helfer) to decipher the King's message, things slowly become more interesting. Paxton helps decrypt the message, that asks Robin to find the "Thesaurus Patriae" (Treasure Of The Nation), and the gang head off on a treasure hunt through the forest, to some circular standing stones, and finally into an underground room…
Meanwhile, Marian is upset that Robin's latest quest means the villagers of Locksley will have to fend for themselves, now that the Sheriff (Keith Allen) has turned the place into a garrison for his mercenaries. She has no alternative but to take on her Nightwatchman persona and sneak into a storeroom to steal food for the starving people, only to be discovered by sympathetic Alan (Joe Armstrong) and Guy...
At this point, the subplot becomes more interesting than the main plot, as Guy discovers Marian's true identity and has no option but to take her prisoner. Robin Hood has always struggled to make its characters emotionally connect with viewers, but Guy and Marian have more history and facets to their characters than anyone else. It helps that Armitage and Griffiths play well against each, and seeing Guy realize his former fiancé has been leading a secret life against him, is by far the most engaging aspect of the episode…
But that's not to say there isn't merit with the treasure hunt plot, as it leads to fun moments of Indiana Jones-style underground adventure -- complete with a stone doorway (obviously made of polystyrene!) that traps our heroes inside. The Sheriff promptly turns up to eavesdrop on some information about the mysterious treasure's location and rides off with his men to a church at Kirklees.
Of course, Robin's gang soon escape and find the location of the treasure first, all amazed to discover it's actually a person: Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine (Lynda Bellingham), King Richard's mother, who must be evacuated from England. There follows a scramble to get the Queen out of the church and to safety, with the Sheriff's men back on their tails, leading to a fight sequence in the woods where (for once) the Sheriff shows backbone by killing Paxton and fighting Robin man-to-man...
Yes, after spending so long acting like the stooge to his own henchmen at times, it's great to see the Sheriff getting stronger material to work with recently. It's more iconic and enjoyable to see noble Robin Hood fighting the dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham -- rather than just foiling another of his elaborate schemes and traps.
With most of the cast off being action men, it's left to Lucy Griffiths and Richard Armitage to provide the "real" acting, as outed Marian tries to appeal to Guy's better nature. But a bitter, hurt and resentful Guy sees no other option but to kill the love of his life for her vigilantism.
Needless to say, Robin's team manage to get Queen Eleanor to safety and she leaves for Ireland, before heading onto France. Back at the castle, a despondent Sheriff hopes to be cheered up by news Guy has captured the Nightwatchman and is readying him to be hung from the gallows. But, as Marian arrives (and is amusingly mistaken for an onlooker by the Sheriff), the "Nightwatchman" appears on the battlements and leads Guy and his men away in pursuit…
Guy therefore incurs the wrath of the Sheriff for allowing the Nightwatchman to escape again -- but, as consolation, he wins the respect and admiration of Marian – for making Allan pretend to be the Nightwatchman to spare her life. Honestly, I'm more interested in seeing if Marian can slowly turn Guy into a good guy, rather than watch her elope with Robin elope into the forest!
Overall, Treasure Of The Nation is mostly filler, although the Nightwatchman subplot unexpectedly ends a recurring plot neatly and simultaneously provides an emotional punch that's lacking elsewhere. It was interesting to have Queen Eleanor turn up in the series, particularly when she took a shine to "Big Bear" Little John, and I'm also enjoying the suddenly pro-active Sheriff, too...
It takes awhile to get going, but episode 11 is entertaining and manages to surprise a few times. The main irritation (beyond the repetitive use of music; that blares out for such thrilling moments as... a man hiding in a well!) is that the 90-minute finale won't arrive for another fortnight…
15 December 2007
BBC1, 7.15 pm
