As Robert searches out the disbanded members of Robin's original Merry Men, he must convince them, one by one, that he is not only worthy of the original Robin's leadership role, but also that fighting the injustices of the aristocracy and the corrupt church is still a vital necessity.
This third series of episodes establishes Robert of Huntingdon assuming, rather reluctantly at first, the mantle of the new "Robin Hood" when forest pagan god Herne the Hunter declares him the new owner of Albion, Robin of Loxley's magical sword. Series creator and writer Richard Carpenter, Executive Producer and Story Consultant Paul Knight, and third series Producer Esta Charkham decided to go with the physical opposite of previous Robin Praed, by casting lithe, blond-haired Jason Connery (the son of Sean Connery, who did an interesting take on the Robin mythology in Richard Lester's Robin and Marion). Fortunately, there are two major branches of the Robin Hood legend in England, one being Robin of Loxley assuming the title of Robin Hood, and the other being Robert of Huntingdon, the son of a nobleman, leading the motley group of Wolf's Head rebels including Little John, Friar Tuck, Will Scarlet, Nasir the Saracen (added for this series and stolen by Costner and company), and Much, Robin's adopted brother. If you're a fan of the series, then you know that at the end of the second series, Robin of Loxley was killed off, when actor Michael Praed decided to leave the series to work on ABC's Dynasty (as, ahem, Prince Michael of Moldavia). And the series' inclusion of mystical elements (borrowing quite a bit from the cross-referencing of the Arthurian legends in books and films) nicely expands the rather limited potential, had the series focused strictly on the popularized legend, for weekly plots concerning Robin tricking the Sheriff of Nottingham every week, and rescuing Maid Marion ad nauseam. But Robin of Sherwood is certainly the most authentic feeling adaptation I've ever seen of the legend, with its small budgets enhancing, not limiting, the gritty feeling that we're really out in Sherwood Forest with a band of rag-tag rebels, fighting the Crown.
As for TV, I still have a soft spot for Mel Brooks' little-seen 1975 spoof, When Things Were Rotten, starring Dick Gautier.
Of course the Errol Flynn version still remains the one to beat in my book (with the hilariously ridiculous Kevin Costner version still hands down the worst - why was that a hit?).
I suppose like most movie junkies I've seen numerous takes on the Robin Hood legend - both proper versions and those adapted to modern times.
Acorn Media has released the last series (season) of the show, Robin of Sherwood: Set 2, featuring the final 13 episodes starring newcomer Jason Connery as the "new" Robin Hood. Back then, the whole sword and sorcery genre was still rolling along (was Excalibur the start of that revival in the 80's?), and British filmmaking had flowered once again (with big hits like Chariots of Fire, Gandhi, as well as smaller, well-received art house indies like Dance With a Stranger), making imports like Robin of Sherwood quite attractive to cable and pay-TV services. Wow - has it really been over twenty years since I watched these episodes on Showtime (and did I really use to pay money every month to get uncut movies.full frame?)? It's been a long time (1984-1986), but I remember Robin of Sherwood (or as it was known in the States: Robin Hood) quite well.