Few heroic figures have ever been as popular or as enduring as Robin Hood. Almost since the time he allegedly lived, his exploits have been passed down through plays, novels and films. He’s a legend that goes back well over 500 years and is as recognizable today as ever. I’m not going to go into plot minutiae of the BBC television series Robin Hood. Suffice it to say that there’s an evil sheriff and a troupe that fights against him led by our titular hero. Complicating things further, Robin loves a woman that’s engaged to one of the sheriff’s men. The story takes place in the city of Nottingham and the forests around it. You need more than that? Pick up a book or pick up this DVD.

There were some minor alterations made to give the more modern feel. Not so much in the way that the wildly inaccurate Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves did and not in a cutesy Disney in the 70’s way. The modernization is more in the mannerisms of the characters than anything else.

Marian (Lucy Griffiths) is much more empowered than the medieval original. She’s doing a little outlawing of her own disguised as “The Night Watchman”, a vigilante whose exploits are as welcomed among the poor as Robin Hood’s are. Giving Robin (Jonas Armstrong) a friendly rivalry with the woman he loves makes for a nice dynamic between the two.

Updates to the Sheriff of Nottingham (Keith Allen) character meet with mixed results. He’s is still a cruel man who overtaxes the people throwing the city into poverty, but Allen plays him over-the-top, exaggerating his evil qualities to an almost comical extent. That didn’t bother me much but it could be the make-it-or-break-it change for hardcore Robin Hood fans.

Guy of Gisborne (Richard Armitage) gets a more nuanced treatment than usual. He’s still the Sheriff’s right-hand man, and he still has a bitter hatred for Robin Hood. In his rivalry for Marian’s love you get the feeling that there’s more to him than unbridled loyalty to the Sheriff. Little John (Gordon Kennedy), who is used far less here than in any other adaptation I’ve seen, is pushed aside while Much (Sam Troughton – the grandson of Doctor Who’s Second Doctor, Patrick Troughton) is made considerably more prominent. In fact, the relationship between Much and Robin is what made the show for me. They have a real kinship having gone through hell and back together during the Crusades. Their friendship is so strong that I felt emotionally drained when, in one of the season’s final episodes, they get into a fight.

On the technical side, the production values are incredible. The outdoor scenes are especially beautiful, capturing the colors of the forests, costumes and dirt roads in great detail. You’re going to see a lot of that scenery over and over and the repetition could get a little monotonous, a situation that’s probably more evident when watching marathon style on DVD than it would be in a normal broadcast schedule.

When it comes down to it, the success or failure of any adventure series boils down to one question: is it fun? I’m pleased to say that I did indeed have a fun time watching the first season of Robin Hood. I enjoyed the new takes on some of my favorite characters and I look forward to watching their exploits when they return to television in season two.

The DVD Presentation
The widescreen presentation of Robin Hood is fantastic. The color is beautiful and the forest scenes are filled with lush greens and browns. The audio is also exceptional. The score comes through the surrounds with surprising force, particularly in action scenes.  Forest ambiance comes from various directions. Just wait until you hear fifty arrows flying around at one time – it’s great! Robin Hood isn’t a product of the movie house but it feels as though it could play on the big screen.

And the Extras Are?
Four audio commentaries –
These commentaries hit the ground running with little time to get to know the participants – and there are quite a few participants. I only was able to recognize the actors’ voices. There’s some good information on the tracks but too much time is spent on the good times that were had by the cast and crew and not enough are devoted to the actual production. They’re listenable commentaries if not particularly insightful ones.

Hood Academy –
I enjoyed this featurette, as it showed all the training the cast had to go through including archery lessons, horse riding and more.

Character profiles –
There are short features on each of the main characters included across all of the discs. They’re interesting because they allow the actors to discuss their feelings and motivations for their modernized characters. Unfortunately, a lot of the key sequences are reused in other supplemental features on this set, which makes them somewhat redundant.

The Making of Robin Hood – (29:16)
This is a standard discussion with cast and crew about how they updated Robin Hood for the modern era. None of the nuances are particularly hidden, but many of the particulars are really better left imbedded in the show than overly discussed. The cast interviews are interesting, but much of them are already included in the “character profiles”. It’s a nice summary of the creation of Robin Hood, but lacking much depth. Watching the stunt men is always fun though.

Dressing Hood – (16:02) –
This is a great featurette on costume design. It follows lead designer Frances Tempest as she comes up with the costumes for the principle cast. Many of the cast members appear in the featurette commenting on how they feel about their outfits. If you’re at all interested in costume design, I recommend watching this.

Designing the Hood – (11:07) –
Here we have a standard featurette on set design. To be frank, I was bored though I did enjoy the discussion of the restrained use of CGI. Outside of the intro credits and scenes with an amazing number of arrows flying everywhere, I never noticed any obvious CGI, so kudos to the SFX team for that!

The Bottom Line
Is this series the best interpretation of the legend? Not by a long shot. But 2006’s Robin Hood is thirteen episodes of solid heroics that make for an entertaining diversion. This take on the Robin Hood legend is worth watching at least once. I’ll be watching it again for sure. BBC’s Robin Hood doesn’t hit every target, but it does hit the ones that matter.

Bring on season two!