ORBzine - The New Adventures of Robin Hood TV Review
[Season 1 !Season 2 !Season 3 !Season 4 ]
1. 1- 1 10005 13 Jan 97 Rage of the Mongols 2. 1- 2 10009 20 Jan 97 Attack of the Vikings 3. 1- 3 10001 27 Jan 97 Robin and the Golden Arrow 4. 1- 4 10002 3 Feb 97 A Race Against Death 5. 1- 5 10003 10 Feb 97 A Price on His Soul
New Adventures of Robin Hood [Season 1, Episode 6]
Marion to the Rescue
Shown 17 Feb 97
Shown
This is shown in the UK an hour before Xena , on the same channel in fact, and this begs the obvious comparison. They even use similar set-pieces; Maid Marion fires arrows into a castle wall and uses them as a ladder; Xena uses throwing knives for the same trick. However, When Xena does it she has style!
Xena is filmed in sunny Kiwi-land; Robin Hood is shot in the former USSR because it is cheap and the landscape unspoilt. The flaws - well, to start with the extras cannot speak English and have to be over-dubbed back in the USA.
New Adventures of Robin Hood [Season 1, Episode 7]
The Legend of Olwyn
Shown 24 Feb 97
Shown Second Week, December 1999
The show seems to be getting a much better budget these days, though the plot does not really deserve it. This week Robin is told by an old wise man(tm) [Christopher Lee!] that an ancient evil will arise and only Robin & co can save the world. Oh, really?
New Adventures of Robin Hood [Season 1, Episode 8]
Witches of the Abbey
shown 3 Mar 97
shown Second Weekend, November 1999
This week the Guest Star is Mary Tamm, a name familiar to fans of Dr Who's Tom Baker years. She is Abbess of the Sherwood convent, Aunt of Robin of Locksley and leader of a secret coven of witches. The evil plot of the week; the witches kidnap Little John and brainwash him into becoming their slave, to do their evil bidding.
Robin sneaks into the crypt under the convent, and finds himself in a maze of strange passages. This leads on to the highlight of the show; a duel between Robin and a spider-man on a huge web. Unfortunately the budget for the monster only stretched as far as a man in a black catsuit and a hallowe'en mask, but the background music [a pop-rock type effort] helped make this cheap & cheerful showdown quite enjoyable.
9. 1- 9 10008 10 Mar 97 The Arabian Knight
New Adventures of Robin Hood [Season 1, Episode 10]
The Birthday Trap
shown 17 Mar 97
shown Fourth Weekend, November 1999
Robin disguises himself as an old man and goes to visit his family incognito as they attend a castle banquet. However, as usually happens in USA TV shows the building is taken over by robbers [a la Die Hard] and only Robin can save the day.
Still, as standard cliche plots go it's certainly a lot more impressive than little Timmy gets trapped in a disused mineshaft.
New Adventures of Robin Hood [Season 1, Episode 11]
Miracle at Avalon
shown 24 Mar 97
shown First Week, December 1999
The show seems to have a bigger SPFX budget this week. The plot introduces Sir Guy of Gisbourne [much better than the Sheriff of Nottingham, who was far inferior to Tony Robinson in Maid Marion] and concerns a healer goddess from Avalon.
New Adventures of Robin Hood [Season 1, Episode 12]
Dragon from the Sky
shown 31 Mar 97
shown Third Weekend, November 1999
Robin has to save Marion from a Dragon. It turns out the creature is actually a stellar cartographer from a world hundreds of light-years away. But not only are the Sheriff's men after the alien, so is a freelance Dragon-Hunter.
What is strange about this episode is not the switch from Fantasy to Sci-Fi. No, what caught this reviewer's attention was the increase in budget - although they have a long way to go before they can match the production values of Xena or Hercules, the people responsible for this show managed to create an alien that is more convincing than those in Star Trek. Okay, that's not difficult - but it's nice to see someone making an effort.
New Adventures of Robin Hood [Season 1, Episode 13]
Nightmare of the Magic Castle, aka Robin and the Magic Castle
Shown 7 Apr 97
Shown Second Week, December 1999
The show seems to be getting a much better budget these days, though the plot does not really deserve it. This week Robin is told by an old wise man(tm) [Christopher Lee!] that an ancient evil will arise and only Robin & co can save the world. Oh, really?
shown Fourth Week, December 1999
This show just can't compete with Xena , either in plot or on-screen action. Also, for some reason Anna Galvin has been replaced as Maid Marian by Barbara Griffith.
14. 2- 1 10014 14 Jul 97 The Ultimate Army 15. 2- 2 10016 22 Jul 97 The Legion 16. 2- 3 10017 28 Jul 97 The Devil's Bride
shown 9 Aug 97
shown Second Week, January 2000
Robin and his merry men rob a casino [castle with female mud-wrestling pool], but the casino-owner captures Friar Tuck and holds him hostage. Robin is forced into a most dangerous game against 3 hunters and assassins.
18. 2- 5 10021 23 Aug 97 Bombs Away 19. 2- 6 10018 30 Aug 97 The Road to Royston 20. 2- 7 10015 6 Sep 97 The Mystery of Druid's Grove
shown 27 Sep 97
shown First Week, February 2000
Robin and his merry men are joined by some buxom babes. The show starts with an unusually historically accurate intro that dates the series to the year 1191, during the Third Crusade [Richard the Lionheart's campaign against Saladin]. It then goes on to say that the Crusade was intended to locate the Staff of Moses [!!!] which the English Amazon warriors discovered was in England!
The Amazons go to England, where they meet up with Robin and race the Saracens, who have hired a local merchant named Devlin to be their hand.
22. 2- 9 10025 4 Oct 97 Outlaw Express
shown 11 Oct 97
shown Third Week, February 2000
The episode starts with Prince John having the tarot read by his tame witch, Morgiana. His wife irritates him by playing with Tina the dog [a Xena reference?], and the Prince defenestrates the pooch. The witch detects a strange disturbance [in the Force], and teleports away immediately, and meets up with her old friend - Robin Hood's mentor Olwyn [Christopher Lee], who appeared in a previous episode.
Olwyn and the witch were apprenticed under Merlin 500 years before, along with one called Malaloch. Malaloch turned to evil, and has now returned with a magickal device called Merlin's Scepter. He has the power to reanimate the dead, and creates an army of zombies.
In the pre-credits scene, Malaloch sends his troops into a church.
The priest gets violent but is easily defeated, and the menfolk of the village are slain.
Remember, only the men, the evil one urges. To which nobody replies,
You mean we must spare the women?
No, you rape the sh*t out of them!
In other words, it is sexist rubbish that implies women are no good in combat
- even if they are expendable zombies!
Malaloch has never heard of Maid Marian, or the Amazons from 2 episodes
back.
Robin and friends are in a Braveheart-style idealised village. Once the zombies appear, Robin has to make peace with Prince John. They rescue the Sheriff and make for the Prince's castle, where they conduct a last stand.
Somehow Prince John's Elite guard have disappeared, and only the Merry Men are left to defend the castle. The zombies close in, and the climactic SPFX scene is nothing but a sop to the Jesus freaks who may be offended by the pagan magicks used by Merlin's pupils!
24. 2-11 10023 25 Oct 97 Justice for All 25. 2-12 10026 1 Nov 97 Percy's Ghost 26. 2-13 10024 8 Nov 97 Your Land Is My Land
The New Adventures of Robin Hood
The New Adventures of Robin Hood [Season 1, Episode 2
]
Shown
Shown
This is reviewed in a special supplement here!
New Adventures of Robin Hood [Season 3, Episode 1]
First Love
Shown 20 Sep 98
Shown 9th April 2001 - Monday
The episode starts with a ten-minute pre-credits sequence to introduce the characters. Robin is now played by John Bradley, and his opponents here are Captain Hilts and the Elite Guard. King John sent Hilts and his men to conquer the North of England - and anyone who knows anything about the geography of England will wish the writers had actually looked at a map of the place or something.
The main part of the episode is a Casablanca rip-off. Olivia, Robin's ex-lover and now married to the head of the North England resistance, comes to stay with the Merry Men. There's lots of talk about social equality crap, and people rant on about the cause. Olivia's background story seems identical to Marion's.
New Adventures of Robin Hood [Season 3, Episode 2]
The Haunted Castle
Shown 27 Sep 98
Shown
The old Robin, Matthew Portenza [or whatever] is gone, and in his place sits a Richard Gere lookalike called John Bradley. Marion II is still present, one Barbara Griffith by name. The black guy is gone, but we have a nerd type for comic relief.
The merry men foolishly venture into a haunted castle, where they split up and are confronted with their worst fears.
New Adventures of Robin Hood [Season 3, Episode 3]
The Giant King
Shown 4 Oct 98
Shown 23rd April 2001 - Monday
A corrupt Lord pays Robin protection money, and Robin helps out by training the Lord's daughter and sickly son in sword-fighting. The Lord sends Robin and the others on a quest to find the last of the Fomorii, Irish Giants who can breathe life into a dead or dying human.
The result? This episode seems to have more than a slight resemblance to Dragonheart , but without the presence of the babelicious Dina Meyer.
Robin and Marion also do a bit of Ghost-type pottery moulding.
The New Adventures of Robin Hood [Season 3, Episode 4]
Sword of the Samurai
Shown 11 Oct 98
The New Adventures of Robin Hood [Season 3, Episode 5]
Robinville
Shown 18 Oct 98
The New Adventures of Robin Hood [Season 3, Episode 6]
Vanishing Act
Shown 25 Oct 98
The ep starts with implied passion, revealing that Marion is frigid. Then she pulls a Vanishing Act - the plot is stolen from the Kurt Russell film Breakdown. David Soul (Starsky and Hutch) is unrecognisable as Clement the Hermit. The magistrate has a crossbow - he talks about his office as if it were awarded, not inherited or bought. Is he an aristocrat or an anachronism? There is a gratuitous lingerie display.
New Adventures of Robin Hood [Season 3, Episode 7]
The Hunter
Shown 1 Nov 98
Shown First Week, June 2000
Friar Tuck tells the village kids how Rowena met up with the gang. It started when Robin and his gang set out to stop a rival robber-band led by his boyhood friend, Patrick Glenbower.
Meanwhile, valley-girl witchlet Rowena [ Christie Woods ] is using her magicks to test a range of 1990s costumes. We even get to see the lingerie shot used in the title sequence, and she looks great! Scared by a rat, she goes through Olwyn's spell-books and casts a spell to get rid of it. She calls up the Hunter to kill it ...
Olwyn [Christopher Lee] is not present - his only contribution is a 3-word voiceover, be careful, Rowena.
The episode turns into a Predator rip-off, with infrared shots to indicate the point-of-view of the now-invisible monster. It only attacks armed opponents, and has an impressive intelligence factor. It travels from tree to tree, and drags its victims off to some unknown fate. Robin is hopeful - If it bleeds, we can kill it!
Rowena is still the best thing about the show, as ever - but she is more irritating than usual, and keeps referring to grown-ups bossing her about!
New Adventures of Robin Hood [Season 3, Episode 8]
A Date With Destiny
Shown 8 Nov 98
Shown Second Week, May 2000
The real star this week is Christie Woods as Rowena, a surfer babe who is supposedly the sorcerous side-kick of Olwyn [Christopher Lee].
They travel 15 years into the past, to the year 1176, and Robin saves the life of a Christian fanatic. The Fanatic takes the throne from Prince John, and the witch Morgiana [Amanda Walker] helps him.
New Adventures of Robin Hood [Season 3, Episode 9]
Orphans
Shown 15 Nov 98
Shown Fourth Week, April 2000
This show may lack the production values of Roar , but it's FUN!
A foreign Queen, Stephanie, refuses to marry Prince John to seal an alliance - so her cousin the evil Sir Mortimer tries to kill her. She escapes, goes on the run disguised as an orphan boy and joins Robin Hood's band as it moves an orphanage-wagon around. Mortimer and his men follow, and shoot at her with a crossbow. Luckily Robin sees a flash of light [as if reflected off the bow's telescopic sight!] and warns her!
Ths subplot involves one of the urchins, a bullying little tyke, who steals some loot off a couple of brigands. Of course the thugs come looking for it - not a real danger like Mortimer, merely comedy villains.
Robin Hood [Season 3, Episode 10]
The Assassin
Shown 25th June 2001 - Monday
Robin tries to set up a peace conference between Normans and Saxons. However, he is stalked by an Assassin who can transform into a crow ...
New Adventures of Robin Hood [Season 3, Episode 11]
Body and Soul
Shown 29 Nov 98
Shown Third Week, May 2000
Robin is killed by a Knight named Briggs. His soul is trapped in the body of his killer, and if Rowena the Sexy Sorceress cannot reconstitute his own body within 24 hours then he will be trapped as Briggs forever. In a Quantum Leap reference he sees his enemy's reflection in the mirror - Oh boy!
Robin Hood [Season 3, Episode 12 - Season Finale]
Assault on Castle Dundeen
Shown 6 Dec 98
Shown 9th July 2001 - Monday
Robin and the Merry Men are besieged in a castle, protecting the young Lord of Dundee from his uncle [a cross between Braveheart and the villain in the Mad Max films].
Marion gets a luurve interest - kinda. Lots of not-teenage angst ...
There are references to Season One gadgets - explosive powder and kites big enough to carry a man aloft!
The New Adventures of Robin Hood [Season 3, Episode 13]
The Auction
Shown 13 Dec 98
40. 4- 1 45 __ ___ 99 Ringside Murder 41. 4- 2 46 __ ___ 99 Heroes 42. 4- 3 47 __ ___ 99 Godiva 43. 4- 4 48 __ ___ 99 Raven's Peak 44. 4- 5 49 __ ___ 99 Black Rose 45. 4- 6 50 __ ___ 99 The Running Bride 46. 4- 7 51 __ ___ 99 The Prison 47. 4- 8 52 __ ___ 99 The Rebellion 48. 4- 9 40 __ ___ 99 Return to Camelot 49. 4-10 41 __ ___ 99 The Hanged Man 50. 4-11 42 __ ___ 99 The Time Machine 51. 4-12 43 __ ___ 99 Day After Day 52. 4-13 44 __ ___ 99 Return of the Giant
The New Adventures of Robin Hood [Season 1
, Episode 1
]
Shown th June 2006 [Wednesday]