1. Herne's Son (Part 1)

05/04/1986

After the death of Loxley, the outlaw band have gone their separate ways. Robert of Huntingdon, the man called by Herne, has rejected his calling, saying no one else could be The Hooded Man. He cannot escape his destiny. Robert's father, the Earl of Huntingdon, hosts a party to gain favor with vile, border lord Owen of Clun. Marion of Leaford attends with her father, who has bought her a pardon from the king. Clun makes unseemly advances toward Marion. When no one else will help her, Robert, to his father's horror, defends her in a swordfight against Clun. When Clun kidnaps Marion, Robert must reassemble the outlaw band to rescue her.

My Review: The story starts where The Greatest Enemy ended, only it's reshot to make Jason Connery's face partially visable in the original shot the face was covered up completley. However the Hooded Man then walks away and tells Herne that he's done as he's asked, he's saved the Merry Men and his job is done. A year later and Sherwood is almost a safe place to be as the group has split up. Marion has been pardoned (again) and now lives back in Leaford with her father (a supporter of King Richard who's also been pardoned by King John). Robert of Huntington meets the Sherriff, Hugo and Guisbourne and escorts them to the Earl of Huntingdon's castle for a banquet in the honour of Lord Owen of Clun (played the K-9 kicking George Baker) Owen is a barbarian swine but with land that's strategic to King John and so the banquet is held to win him over. Owen makes a play for Marion and Robert defends her honour. However Owen leaves and captures Marion and her father is set up by the Sherriff to sieze his lands and home. Only Nazir comes to the aide of Sir Robert and he is captured by Owen and made to become his champion in a brutal pit fighting gladiatorial contest. This leaves Richard as the only one who can act and he returns to the forest to reclaim the role of the Hooded Man, Robert of Sherwood. He visits Wickham and the locals tell him about the breakup of the Merry Men. Robert vows to bring them all together again and rescue Marion. He meets up with Tuck first and after a good drenching they set off to find the others. I enjoyed this story, it's a good reboot of the series. I can see the advantage in just picking up where the last series left off, but this way allows Robert to be built up as a character seperate to the mythology and see how he comes to terms with the role of Herne's Son on his own terms. Splitting up the Merry Men provides Robert with a nice easy quest to begin with too and by the end of the episode things seem to have brightened.

2. Herne's Son (Part 2)

12/04/1986

Robert of Huntingdon and the reformed Merry Men set out to rescue Marion from Clun, and Huntingdon claims the mantle of Robin of Sherwood.

My Review: The second half of the story opens with Tuck and Robert finding Little John and Much. John has had a severe haircut and beard trim and looks far older for it. Much meanwhile has finally learned how to shoot a bow properly and he manages to kill a wolf while it's running and without aiming much either. A remarkable shot for an experienced archer. Initially Little John refuses to help and so Robert fires him up by goading him and challeninging him to a fight with 1/4 staffs. This fight sequence looked good to me abut it ended far too quickly. It's decided they'll all go and help rescue Marion, but first they need to fins Will Scarlett. Will's in a terrible state, addled with drink and undefined anger he's a monsterous bully and Robert must resort to a street fight to let Will exhaust his rage. Meanwhile Guisbourne tries to locate the mysterious Hooded Man and his grey horse and he makes it to Litchfield during Robert vs. Will, only for the intelligence deficient town watch to mess things up for him. Finally Will comes on board and they head off to the Weksh boarder. I really liked the use of the green filter in the story to indicate dark and stormy weather, it contrasts nicely witht he red filter of death used extensivley in the previous year to great effect. Meanwhile Gulnar pulls 63 different funny faces as he devises a love potion to make Marion fall in loe with Owen of Clun. It works and they are handfasted. Nazir meanwhile has been trained as Owen's new champion in the Mortal Pit Fighter Combat of death game. Robert arrives to win Marion and is forced to fight Nazir, but it's a cunning plan to buy time. The pit fighter scenes looked impressive on the dimly lit set and the finale with Gulnar setting Owen up for the portcullis on the head trick made for an interesting finale. The coda is interesting too with Marion's father berrating the Sherriff, Guisbourne and Hugo for their ploy, Hugo was so scared that he never appears in the series again!

3. The Power of Albion

19/04/1986

Before his death, Loxley gave Albion to Marion. She has kept it safe for the past year at the home of her father, who has begged her to have no more to do with the outlaws. She attempts to give it to Robert, but he still says no one could take Loxley's place. When the band tries to stop a torturer en route to Nottingham, Robert is wounded by a poisoned arrow and falls gravely ill. After returning home from going to aid Robert, Marion and Albion are taken by the Sheriff. Although Gisburne is sure Robert of Huntingdon is the new Robin Hood, no one will believe him. Robert is able to masquerade as a shallow, young nobleman and make friends with the Sheriff as part of a scheme to free Marion. After the true powers of Albion are revealed, Robert, whom everyone now calls Robin, knows he is truly Herne's son.

My Review: The story where Robert finally shrugs off his pst and becomes the Hooded Man (tm) full time. It's an interesting story and for once Guisbourne is right, having correctly worked out that Robert is the new blond-haired leader of the Merry Men. However without proof he's impotent (as usual) and slowly going mad with rage as the Sherriff doesn't believe him. Marion meanwhile tries to give Robert the big letter knife aka Albion but Robert refuses, claiming he's not worth, he's not worthy enough of it. The Merry Men are back and a robbing and a stealing full time. Things are nearly back to normal, but Marion's still trying to go straight and not live in a cold forest in a dirty dress that smells of moss and sweat. A torturer is sent for and the gang attack him but the guy survives and limps off. Robert was shot in the leg and infection sets in with preternaturally quickness. Marion is snet for and she's followed but the spy trips over his own clown feet and gets himself killed. This upsets the locals who will be blamed for his death under Norman law. Marion can do little and so they take Robert off into Sherwood just as the Sherriff and Guisbourne arrive to fine the village for the death of the Sherriff's man. Robert gets worse and so Herne appears and does some secret magic itual thing off camera. Robert is healed but Mariona nd some of the villagers have been chained up for the Sherriff's amusement. Worse still the Sherriff has Albion. Robert arranges a cunning plan by luring the Sherriff into an ambush and rescuing Marion, Boba Fett and the other extras. Robert is outed as the new Robin however by the torture guy who survived from earlier on and so Robin must fight his way to freedom, Guy tries to kill Robin but Albion rebells and Guy falls to the floor in agony. Robin 2.0 accepts Albion is now his and Marion agrees to become a Merry Woman once again. Everything is right again in the forest of Sherwood. This is a great episode that effortlessly mixes tension, drama, suspense and a bit of high farce into an agreeable and entertaining story. The new Robin is a lot more playful than the last, more serious, one. He delights in humiliating his opponants and his comic bravado in combat infuriates his enemies giving him extra advantage.

4. The Inheritance

26/04/1986

An old man and his beautiful daughter live alone in the ancient castle of Caerleon. They are about to be attacked by a horde of brigands led to the castle by a former employee of the old man's. This traitor knows there is a priceless treasure in the castle, but never found out exactly what it was. The daughter seeks out Robin Hood to defend her, her father and the treasure that is beyond price (although it's not something the robbers would find useful!). Robin must ultimately make a staggering choice of loyalty.

My Review: An interesting mix of the Robin Hood legend and the King Arthur legend, alas not as good as Monty Python and the Holy Grail, it is never the less an interesting insight to Robin's character and his beliefs. Much of the episode is the standard character enriching scenes coupled with spectacular cinematic fight scenes that really take advantage of the locations. The end result is a little plain, nothing we haven't seen before but it's not bad either, if anything can be said to be a 'typical' episode then it's this one.

5. The Sheriff of Nottingham

03/05/1986

Robert de Rainault, high Sheriff of Nottingham, failing one time too many to end the activities of Robin Hood, is dismissed by the king and replaced by Philip Mark, "The Butcher of Lincoln". Mark captures 6 villagers from Wickham and sends out word that Robin Hood must turn himself in or the captives will die the next noon, and six more the day after that until Robin is captured. Nasir must face the new Sheriff's servant, Sarak, a masked assassin out of the Saracen's past.

My Review: An interesting episode which examines the Sherriff's character when the king gets upset with him and has him replaced by a sociopathic butcher and his trusty Saracen sidekick (who just happens to be Nazir's greatest rival). The Sherriff is taunted and goaded and Guisbourne starts shoving him around. Meanwhile the new Sherriff is keen to get down to the blood letting and so has 6 villagers kidnapped and threatens to kill them unless Robin gives himself up. Robin with the help of the former Sherriff plots to release the prisoners and humiliate the new Sherriff. Meanwhile Nazir faces his past in a duel to the death. Robin and co are captured by Guisbourne and when the new Sherriff arranges to have them killed he's taken aback when his sidekick kills him, revealing himself to be Nazir. Everything is reset back the way is was and the Sherriff plans to make it very hard indeed for Guisbourne.

6. The Cross of St. Ciricus

10/05/1986

Robin and his band rescue from bandits a desperately ill woman en route to the shrine of St. Ciricus at Croxden Abbey. She confesses a startling secret to Tuck and later to Robin. Gisburne, on orders from the Sheriff, is also on his way to the Abbey to steal the sacred cross. Robin must stop him, but finds the nature of their enmity has changed.

My Review: Lepers, thousands of them! Don't shoot until you hear the sounds of their bells lads. An interesting story with a brilliantly funny twist and an awfully bad twist. The funny twist - Much and Scarlett find some food and eat it and then they 'discover' that it was made by a group of wandering lepers. The funny part is their reaction and then the reveal that the lepers are in fact Guisbourne and a couple of expendable soldiers. The other twist is the 'revelation' that Guisbourne's mother was knocking off Robin's dad and Guisbourne is Robin's half brother! This is really bad, so fake and twee, it's more vomit inducing than The Care Bears the Movie - the 6 hour extended version!

7. Cromm Cruac

17/05/1986

After Much is injured in a pit trap, the outlaws seek help for him at the nearest village, Cromm Cruac, a place no one has heard of until now. All is not right, as becomes evident by the things the men see and the way some of them begin to act. Robin must confront Gulnar, a sorceror who once served Owen of Clun.

My Review: An interesting stand alone story, with only Gulnar as a link to the rest of the series. This could almost be a pilot episode for the series in its own right, with the familiar Sherriff and Guisbourne gone there's a refreshing lack of continuity to the story. The concept of the village lost in time is not a new one but it's done with conviction and ease that the idea seems fresh and inspired, and the 'Ringwraith's' don't look bad either.  Dicky gives another delightfull OTT performance and it's a pity that he's missing for much of the episode as he really is very watchable. A very good story imho

8. The Betrayal

24/05/1986

King John, furious over the disappearance of the past several tax collections from Nottingham, schemes to put an end to the outlaws by ending their popular support. A band of his soldiers, led by the merciless Roger de Carnac, masquerades as Robin's band, committing atrocities against villagers throughout the shire.

My Review: An excellent story, the classic evil twin archetype has never been done so well. Creating an evil duplicate of the merry men is so brilliant and evil that it really ought to have been done before now. It was fun the see King John again, he's a great character and he has all the best lines too, especially when reading the statements of of the villagers regarding Robin's description. Sherriff has a few good lines too but he's pushed into the background too much by the large guest cast and Guisbourne is treated little better than an extra at times.  The main joy of the story is the kiss at the end, finally after all the angst and teasing Robin and Marion are finally together. The only critisism is the awful wig LJ is made to wear, it looks more like a hat than a head of hair!!! Also Nazir suddenly develps a headscarf out of nowhere in the middle of story, whatsupwiththat?

9. Adam Bell

31/05/1986

The Sheriff's young nephew, Martin, is kidnapped by Adam Bell, an aging outlaw who was the Robin Hood of his day, but now robs only for himself. The Sheriff, using his hostage, Much, as a bargaining chip, persuades Robin to rescue the boy from Bell.

My Review: An interesting story about youth and growing old. The young boy Martain is unaware that his uncle is chosing his future life for him, while Adam Bell is trying to find his role again in life. In the middle there is the Sherriff and Robin, both certain of themselves and capable of shaping their own destinies. Also there wide range of morailty on display is telling too, with the goodly Robin at one end and the wicked Sherriff at the other. In the middle lies Adam Bell and he's slowly sliding towards evil without realising, thanks to the influence of the cowardly murderer Moth. Adam wants to be remembered as a hero again and he somewhat hates Robin for usurping his position as the people's champion and its this bitterness that leads him into actions like abducting children. To redeem himself however he must put his resentment and jealousy aside and when he finally does he becomes a hero once again, nobely sacrificing himself so that Robin can continue the fight for good and gentle nobility. The Sherriff meanwhile fails to get what he wants but he doesn't lose much either. All in all it's an interesting story with unexpected plot twists and moral conflicts to confront and resolve, in an established series its good to test the characters like this to stop them becoming cliches and this story tests Robin the most and he passes it on his own terms.

10. The Pretender

07/06/1986

Taking up with a 12 year old French princess, King John has anulled his marriage to Queen Hadwisa, who vows revenge against her former husband and the new queen, Isabella. Her plan is to have Isabella murdered while on a pilgrimage and make it appear to have been done by Robin Hood. Hadwisa's family believe they have enough support among the barons to depose King John and replace him with a new young man who claims to be Arthur of Brittany, John's nephew. While Arthur infiltrates the outlaw band, Gisburne becomes involved in the plot. Gisburne is only too eager to advance his position and finish off Robin Hood all at the same time. The Sheriff, however knows that "if Queen Isabella dies, we shall ALL hang," but gravely ill from a dog bite, he is unable to stop Gisburne.

My Review: Politics, the greatest bloodsport of them all. I love the subversive way that the series presents all the 'ruling classes' as either total loonies, sadistic monsters or tantrum throwing toddlers. We start off with the tantrum toddler variety, as the King gets divorced and remarries. The former queen shouts and throws things and stamps her feet and generally acts like a total brat. Then we have the loonies, the pretender of the title who don't blink once on camera and the new queen herself who can still throw a tantrum when needed and her costume is ghastly too. Then we have the monsters, the Duke of Gloster who sets up the whole shceme to appease old former queen and also install his puppet on the throne and the Sherriff himself who's bedridden after being bitten by a dog, I suspect the dog died shortly afterwards, of poisoning.  Guisbourne too turns into a bit of nasty work playing both sides against each other. Only Robin and co stand as well adjusted people in an ocean of weirdo's and even Herne pops his head in after a lengthy absense to give some cryptic advice. The Sherriff's nightmare is great though, as is the sight of Ploppy the Jailor, here playing the role of a barber-surgeon. All in all I was glad when Arfur died, he had it coming, it's just a pity no one killed all the other nobles too, they deserved it, they really did.

11. Rutterkin

14/06/1986

Mad Mab is an old hermit who lives happily with her family of pigs, including her 'baby', Rutterkin. Edgar of Huntingdon, Robert's uncle, captures Rutterkin and later Mab, accusing the old woman of being a witch (and the pig her familiar), paid by the Earl, Robert's father, to cause the death of King John, who has been beset by a mysterious illness. The Earl is arrested for treason and sentenced to death. In trying to rescue him, most of the outlaw band is taken as well.

My Review: Equally good and bad, the sub plot about Robert's uncle betraying his borther (Rob's dad) to gain favour with the king and the earldom is a great little piece of political chicanery with some great visuals and off the wall ranting madnees by King John. The bit with the mad old bat and the pigs is best not mentioned really, it's almost as bad as a really good episode of the new series.

12. The Time of the Wolf (Part 1)

21/06/1986

The Sheriff is ordered by The King to collect grain from the villages of Nottingham, as more provisions are needed for the troops in France. Knowing that the villagers will not survive the winter without their hard-earned grain, the outlaws secretly steal the grain back during the night, causing The Sheriff a lot of embarrassment when the King's men come to collect it in the morning. In desperation, The Sheriff blames the whole fiasco on Gisburne, resulting in Gisburne running away and a price being put on his head. Seeking sanctuary, Gisburne flees to Grimstone Abbey, but is not greeted by monks at the door.

My Review: It's all set up, as Gulnar and his new wolf army kill some monks and take over their abbey. The Sherriff takes all the grain and then Robin takes it back, leading to Guisbourne being made scapegoat and outlaw. Herne pops up a couple of times to warn about 'the time of the wolf' and Gulnar's horde abduct half the people of Wickham and use them as bait to lure Robin & co into a trap. Guisbourne tries to find sanctuary but instead is made to join the cult of the wolf. It's all interesting, especially the interplay between Robin & Marion who suddenly and out of character suddenly have doubts about their union. It's good to see Boba Fett too, he's the best merry man that never was and the Sherriff is at his sinister best too, blaming Guisbourne for his own mistakes and then taking great joy in hunting him down. All in all a good opening episode and the cliffhanger promises lots more to come...

13. The Time of the Wolf (Part 2)

28/06/1986

Gisburne has joined the Sons of Fenris and manages to capture Robin and his men as well as the Sheriff of Notingham. With Robin in his power, Gulnar completes his creature using dark magic and sends it on his way. Safe in Halstead Abbey, Marion foresees a tragedy at the Ring of the Nine Maidens and for Robin even victory may come with great loss.

My Review: And so it ends, the finale of not just the story, or the season but the entire series itself, not that they knew the series was ending at this point. I wonder if they did know wether they would change the ending at all? Gulnar's ultimate creation, an identical copy of Robin (a golum - not a Gollem) is an interesting idea, although I swear it looked like Addie in the fight sequence standing in for whoever wasn't facing the camera. Gulnar himself is even more hysterically mad in this story than ever before, which is a good thing, cos Dicky can carry it off. The Sherriff does very little except stand around having axes thrown at him but in the end he escapes and hatches another of his cunning plans (they always fail so badly, don't they?) and Guisbourne is mad, bad and jolly dangerous to be shouted at. The Merry men don't do much either, only Little John and Marion get any decent screen time and at the end Marion is forced to wear a wimple because her hair's so badly done by the awful on-set hairdresser. It all ends on a pretty positive note: the clone is killed, Gulnar slain, the wolves killed or driven off, the villagers freed and they have a party to celebrate. Robin goes to collect Marion and she tells him she's decided to marry god instead and they say farewell. The final scene of Robin firing firearoows into the lake ties in with the end of the pilot TV movie and Robin 1's memorial at the end of season 2, then they all shake hands, united in common purpose and it's the end. A good way to end the series imho, it gives it a timeless quality, a way of saying there's still more to come, I just wish there had been a fourth season, and what happened to Abbot Hugo, he hasn't been seen since part 2 if Herne's Son.