List of Robin Hood (2006 TV series) characters
Robin Hood is a British television dramedy series, produced by Tiger Aspect Productions for BBC One, which debuted in October 2006. The programme uses the majority of the familiar characters from the traditional Robin Hood legends. Though appearances by Friar Tuck and Prince John are not until series 3, portrayed by David Harewood and Toby Stephens respectively. Some characters have been given new back-stories or personality traits not evident in previous versions of the legend. The show has a contemporary edge which extends to its costumes and themes. Often alluding to the current political events of the 21st century. Its characters sometimes use contractions, not yet used in the 12th century; when the show is set.
Main characters
Robin Hood
Sir Robin of Locksley, is the titular main protagonist of the 2006 TV series. He is portrayed by Jonas Armstrong, who is much younger than many of the previous actors to have played the character. Armstrong described his portrayal of Robin Hood as "A believable superhero... Like all leaders, he's an egoist and he's often quite arrogant. He's not an out-and-out hero...He has an undercurrent of darkness."At the beginning of series one, Robin has just returned to England after five years fighting in the Third Crusade as part of the King's Guard, during which he was honoured by King Richard and almost mortally wounded. He was still the Earl of Huntingdon, and Lord of Locksley Manor and its estate. He becomes an outlaw after refusing to preside over the execution of Will Scarlett, his brother and Allan A Dale. In the earlier episodes, it becomes clear that his memories of the Crusades have affected him strongly, making him unwilling to kill, this being why he does not kill the Sheriff or Gisborne early on.
Robin had previously been betrothed to Marian when they were teenagers, but this was undone by his departure. He still has strong feelings for her when he returns and is pleased that she is still unmarried. However, their relationship is strained and she is untrusting of him. Marian initially shuns Robin and rejects his attempts to charm her. They become closer over the course of the first series, Robin frequently visiting her home under cover of darkness, though their meetings usually are concerned with Robin's war against the Sheriff. He is devastated when she becomes engaged to Guy of Gisborne in order to protect herself and her father. Robin is witness to this and is visibly upset. He endeavours to find a way for Marian break her engagement to Guy, by proving he is a traitor to the King.
A darker side of Robin's character is revealed in episode 8 of series 1. when he realises that it was a masked Gisborne he prevented from killing King Richard in the Holy Land. This sends Robin into a rage and he attempts to kill Gisborne, compromising his own teachings and beliefs. Though prevented from doing so, Robin strives to prove his guilt for the rest of the series.
When Guy stabs Marian, unaware that it is her disguised as the Night Watchman, she appears to die. Robin and Marian begin to express their regret over their parting many years ago. Robin admitting that he believes they should be together and that he should not have gone to war, leaving her. To a supposedly dead Marian, Robin now utterly distraught, breaks down over her body and admits that he loves her. She survives; her "death" attributed to the shutting down of her body following the stab wound, and hemlock, applied by the treacherous physician Pitts. Despite her love for Robin, she decides to go ahead with the wedding to Guy, in order to protect her Father. A heart-broken Robin abandons his men.
Robin viciously rebuffs Much's attempts to comfort him and prepares to leave Nottingham. He stops in his tracks when he hears Much interrupting Marian's wedding and reaches the ceremony in time to see Marian leave Guy at the altar. He gives her a ride to the castle after Gisborne reveals his true colours. They share their first kiss outside the castle gates, establishing their romantic relationship. Robin gets his fighting spirit back, saving Marian's father Edward from being killed by the Sheriff and redeeming himself to Much by preventing the Sheriff from slitting his throat.
In series 2, Robin and Marian's relationship has developed, and after Marian's father dies, she joins Robin in the forest. The transition is not easy and takes a toll on Marians independence. They share a common goal of saving England from the clutches of Prince John, however their strategies differ. She is more logical, whilst Robin is prone to acting rashly, especially when overcome with emotion. They share many tender moments in the forest despite this. Robin remains somewhat jealous of her relationship with Guy, but she remains faithful. In episode 9, Lardner's Ring, Robin proposes to Marian again, which she accepts, but soon finds herself back in the castle with Guy. Marian chooses this as the only option to keep her alliance with Robin from Guy.
In the final episode of series 2, Marian is caught in an attempt to assassinate the Sheriff. She is captured and taken to the Holy Land, where Robin and the gang are also. Sir Guy of Gisborne stabs Marian, mortally wounding her, in a rage caused by her admitting she is in love and engagement to Robin Hood. Robin and Marian are married as she lies dying. Robin assures Marian that he will keep fighting, although he expresses that he cannot without her. A montage sequence is shown of Robin's memories of their life as he carries Marian to her grave.
Series 3 takes place months after Marian's death, as Robin and the remaining outlaws return to England. Robin, now bent on avenging his wife's murder, sends away his friends out of anger and heads to Locksley to kill Gisborne. Their vicious fight ends with Robin being thrown over a cliff. He is rescued by Brother Tuck, but a tired and broken Robin refuses his help, claiming that he has nothing more to give and that he has lost all faith in himself. However, when Robin learns that the gang are to be executed, he and Tuck set out to rescue them. During the rescue, Robin manages to pin Gisborne to a wall. Initially intending to murder Gisborne, Robin relents when Guy actually begs for death, contenting himself with merely slashing Gisborne's cheek. He buries Marian's wedding ring shortly afterwards and expresses aloud that he will never stop loving her.
In episode 4, the gang is joined by a girl from Locksley called Kate, who is forced to join Robin's gang when he rescues her from the Sheriff's new tax collector, Rufus. In episode 5 he meets the mysterious Isabella and seems attracted to her, but later learns that she is Gisborne's younger sister. He becomes closer to Isabella in episode 6, sharing a passionate kiss. He convinces her to help him steal Prince John's money, but her loyalty to Robin is questioned by the rest of the gang.
In episode 7, he and Isabella become closer still after Gisborne finds out about their relationship. However, when Robin goes to Kate's aid at the castle, he tells Isabella he can never give up his life as an outlaw. Angry and hurt, Isabella betrays Robin in favour of allying with Prince John. When she becomes Sheriff, Robin continues to hope for an alliance, but the arrival of her husband Thornton ends any hopes of redemption, and after his murder, she reavows to kill Robin Hood.
In episode 10, Bad Blood, Robin is captured along with Guy by a mysterious hooded character. The man reveals that Robin's father and Guy's mother had an illegitimate child whilst Guy's father Sir Roger was fighting in the Holy Land, but had to conceal it when he returned secretly carrying leprosy. After Sir Roger was exposed and cast out, Ghislaine gave birth to a boy named Archer. Guy also discovers that he did not kill his parents by starting a fire as he had previously believed, but his mother had been killed accidentally in a fight between Robin's father and Guy's father, and Sir Roger had stayed with her whilst she died. The stranger is then revealed to be Robin's father, whose face was disfigured in the fire, and he asks Guy and Robin to forgive each other in order to find Archer, who is now in York jail awaiting execution.
In episode 11, The Enemy of my Enemy, Robin takes Gisborne to the camp, but not before having a fight about their parents and Marian. The gang intervene but are shocked when Robin prevents them from slaying him, and tells them that Gisborne is one of them. Robin and Gisborne then travel to York, where Gisborne gets himself arrested so that he can locate Archer in the dungeons. Robin, uses a disguise to convince the Sheriff of York to release Gisborne. However, as a guard takes Robin down to the dungeons, a messenger from Isabella informs York that the pair are murderous criminals. Robin and Gisborne find their brother Archer, who has been having an affair with York's wife and is a supposed master of alchemy, and make their escape with the other prisoners. The trio then get brought to the main hall where Archer betrays them, only to be caught again and put on execution. Before Gisborne is hanged, there is an explosion and Robin and Archer save Gisborne.
In Something Worth Fighting For, Robin and the gang save several men of Locksley from being taken by Sheriff Isabella to help Prince John construct an army against the King. Knowing they are out of time, Robin decides to seize Nottingham Castle and await the return of King Richard from the Holy Land. Isabella attempts to sow discontent among the outlaws by pardoning Allan A Dale of his crimes; this causes him to leave, disgusted that they still have such little faith in him. Although Archer, who has allied with Isabella for easy money, springs an elaborate trap on the outlaws as they try to infiltrate the castle, he eventually betrays his employer and joins the cause of his half-brothers, and they succeed in taking over Nottingham Castle. Much then informs Robin that something has been left at the castle entrance: the dead body of Allan, slain by Vaisey. The gang's mourning for Allan is cut short, by the return of Sheriff Vaisey who has brought a large army. Robin and the gang then retreat into the castle and await Vaisey's inevitable attack.
In the 2009 series finale, Isabella, while fighting Robin, slices his neck with a poisoned blade, though he survives long enough to kill her and the Sheriff and destroy his army. At the end of the episode, the dying Robin bids his gang a final farewell, speaking to each of them in turn, then staggers off to a glade in Sherwood Forest to die peacefully. As he lies dying, a vision of Marian appears before him and the two embrace and enter Heaven. The gang retrieve Robin's corpse for burial, and vow to continue fighting injustice in his name.