YMMV / Robin Hood S 02 E 13 We Are Robin Hood

• Audience-Alienating Premise: Although it contained some dark moments and a few Downer Endings, the show up until this point had been a fairly lighthearted affair, revelling in its Anachronism Stew and Big Damn Heroes antics, and heavily promoted as family-friendly viewing for Saturday nights. Then Series 2 ends with Marian being fatally stabbed to death by Guy of Gisborne just minutes after marrying Robin Hood. Writers/creators Dominic Minghella and Foz Allen tried to justify this decision by explaining it was a way to "shake up the show" and delve into Robin's characterization following the death of his wife, only for the two of them to drop out of the third series before production started. The entire project was then passed to a new creative team that clearly had no interest in exploring the long-term fallout of Marian's murder, and seemingly very little familiarity with any of show's preceding storylines and characters. Aborted Arcs and Continuity Errors abounded, along with an influx of deeply unpopular characters that were brought in to replace those that had been written out, and the sidelining of most of the remaining original cast members.
  • Needless to say, audiences were utterly baffled at the direction the show had taken, and the sharp decrease in ratings led to its cancellation after the badly-received Series 3. A popular refrain in fandom is that the show died with Marian, what with the Too Bleak, Stopped Caring attitude that it generated in viewers.