It's been fun, but yesterday I suddenly realised I was watching the last episode before Michael Praed f*cked off to Dynasty to play Prince Michael of Moldavia - the episode where Robin dies. I saw that first when I was seven, and I was very, very heartbroken, and I still don't tend to watch that episode unless I'm feeling, er, grounded enough. The death scene makes me flinch, even now. The thing is, at the time, I flatly refused to watch the following series, with Jason Connery, and I still haven't. They're playing that series from today, and I'm tempted, but I don't think I will. I loved the gang, all of them, and I love the production, the costumes, the sets, the baddies - but it feels like... well, mostly it feels like I would be trampling all over a promise I made and really, really meant at the time, even if the reasons for it were entirely personal and aren't so important to me now.

 

I've loved various incarnations – it's something that has been done well, or at least differently enough to be interesting, at several different times. My mum adored the 60s version – I don't see the attraction myself, but I bet I would if I'd grown up with it (if only for the theme song). I've read various versions – poems, books, etc – even 'Ivanhoe'. I love the Errol Flynn version – swashbuckling galore. And I love the Disney cartoon. And 'Robin and Marion', with Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn – it's beautifully sad and autumnal. I liked, somewhat guiltily, 'Maid Marion and her Merry Men', and 'Robin Hood: Men In Tights' ("Unlike some other Robins, I have a genuine English accent," hee-hee). These are all very, very different. I also enjoyed 'Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves', although not for their Robin, and not for the fact that they seem to have stolen chunks of it from 'Robin of Sherwood', and certainly not for the Ewok treehouses or the dubious use of catapults. I mainly liked Alan Rickman chewing the scenery. "No more merciful beheadings..."

 

However, because I've loved those versions, I've also really, really hated it when I feel they've got it wrong. There was a series produced by the same people who did 'Hercules' and 'Xena, Warrior Princess', that was just... appalling, for reasons I will resist going into. And the recent BBC production. I'm sorry if anyone on my flist likes it, feel free to ignore me because this is purely personal and definitely an overreaction on my part, but I hated it. I hated the attempt to lever in modern issues (and yes, admittedly RoS did that too, on occasion, but they were a lot more subtle about it). I hated the cute modern haircuts (and I do see the irony), and the modern-but-not language. I got what they were trying to do – make it relevant, etc – but they went about it in such an unsubtle way, like they were sticking up a big neon sign to say: "Look! It's a parallel with the Iraq war / immigration issues / etc!" Also, I wanted to smack that stupid smirk off his face. And why did he spend all his time looking through his eyebrows at everyone? Had someone glued his chin to his neck? And why was Marion such a Mary Sue?

 

Sorry, sorry, I'm overreacting, I know. It was probably okay, in its way, and the Robin Hood stories have always, always been altered to fit with the issues of the time. I'm just very fiercely possessive about Robin Hood. There were things about 'Robin of Sherwood' that were bad (Robin's acting, sometimes, and his varying accent, and his lovely hair, and the mysticism that was occasionally put on with a trowel, and the unspeakable folk dancing). But their teamwork was fantastic – all the little incidents that just showed the gang bonding. The costumes were great, the sets were authentic (far more so than a lot of expensive Hollywood productions, purely because they filmed in real castles and built almost nothing). The writer's knowledge of British legends was wonderful and thorough (Wayland the Smith? Excellent). The bad guys were interesting, and realistically complex – the amoral, political, clever Sheriff, and Gisburne the none-too-bright, resentful bully, always willing to blame someone else for his mistakes. I could have watched entire shows with just interaction between the Sheriff and Gisburne and the Abbot, (When the Sheriff gets married! "This is a wedding, Gisburne, not a celebration!"), or just the Merry Men messing about in the woods. Oh, and the woods – they actually looked like English woodland, because they were. It's a surprisingly rare thing.

 

Oh, and I nearly met Michael Praed once. I was working at a casting studio, and he was due to come in. Talk about butterflies – it's not every day you get a list that tells you, "In two hours you will meet the man you hero-worshipped for years, and who you're apparently still not over. You will have to look him in the eye and ask him to fill out a casting form with his telephone number, address, and vital statistics. You will also have to take his photo. You will have to be professional about this. It is your job. There is no escape." But the bastard never turned up. :S It's probably a good thing - I might not have survived the experience.