History Series / RobinHood

The show was best known for its [[AnachronismStew anachronistic take on medieval history]] and its cast. It is now probably remembered most for its controversial decision to kill off a central character. Despite initial comments by the BBC that the actor had left of his/her own accord, further controversy arose with the release of Series 2 on DVD in which creators Dominic Minghella and Foz Allen not only revealed that it was their choice to kill the character in an attempt to "[[ShockingSwerve rock the show]]", but that the death scene was purposefully shot with markedly sexual overtones. Dominic Minghella, the man responsible for the episode wherein the character was killed, was not involved in Series 3 and seemingly provided no consultancy concerning what "storytelling opportunities" he had in mind for the follow-up to her death.

The show was best known for its [[AnachronismStew anachronistic take on medieval history]] and its cast. It is now probably remembered most for its controversial decision to kill off a central character. Despite initial comments by the BBC that the actress had left of his/her own accord, further controversy arose with the release of Series 2 on DVD in which creators Dominic Minghella and Foz Allen not only revealed that it was their choice to kill the character in an attempt to "[[ShockingSwerve rock the show]]", but that the death scene was purposefully shot with markedly sexual overtones. Dominic Minghella, the man responsible for the episode wherein the character was killed, was not involved in Series 3 and seemingly provided no consultancy concerning what "storytelling opportunities" he had in mind for the follow-up to her death.

The show was best known for its [[AnachronismStew anachronistic take on medieval history]] and its cast. It is now probably remembered most for its controversial decision to kill off [[spoiler:Marian]]. Despite initial comments by the BBC that [[spoiler:actress Lucy Griffiths]] had left of his/her own accord, further controversy arose with the release of Series 2 on DVD in which creators Dominic Minghella and Foz Allen not only revealed that it was their choice to kill [[spoiler:Marian]] in an attempt to "[[ShockingSwerve rock the show]]", but that the death scene was purposefully shot with markedly sexual overtones. Dominic Minghella, the man responsible for the episode wherein [[spoiler:Marian]] was killed, was not involved in Series 3 and seemingly provided no consultancy concerning what "storytelling opportunities" he had in mind for the follow-up to [[spoiler:Marian]]'s death.

Series Three was a ReTool of the show, with new writers, characters, costumes and storylines. Although new cast member Isabella and guest star Prince John were generally well received by fandom, Tuck and Kate, the replacements for Will Scarlett and Djaq the Saracen (written out at the same time as [[spoiler:Marian]]) were not. The show eventually revealed that [[spoiler: Guy and Robin shared a [[LongLostSibling half-brother]] [[MeaningfulName called Archer]], in an attempt to set up Robin Hood as a LegacyCharacter that could carry on the show after the mass cast exodus that took place at the end of the series.]]

The show concluded with [[spoiler:the Sheriff, Isabella, Guy and Robin all killing one another with assorted swords, poisoned daggers and explosions. Robin was taken to Sherwood Forest, and as he dies, he is reunited with Marian in the afterlife. Although only two out of the nine original cast members remained, the writers left room for the series to continue, with mention of [[RichardTheLionHeart King Richard]] being held hostage in Austria (as per historical record), Prince John still in power, and Archer taking up the mantle of Robin Hood as the outlaws' leader]].

* RagTagBunchOfMisfits: Robin Hood's team included his [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass long-suffering manservant]], his noble-born [[BadassDamsel girlfriend]], a [[BadassLongcoat woodsman]], [[HeartbrokenBadass a carpenter]], a [[BadassAdorable Saracen prisoner of war]], a [[BadAss thief/poacher/con-artist]], a [[BadassPreacher warrior monk]], and...uh...[[TheLoad a girl who made pots]].

* RavenHairIvorySkin: Marian.

* [[InstrumentOfMurder Instruments Of Murder]]: Will makes these as part of a plan to break into the castle in ''For England..!'', including a dart-shooting flute and a lyre that conceals a sword and shield.

* [[InstrumentOfMurder Instruments Of Murder]]: Will makes these as part of a plan to break into the castle in ''For England..!'', including a dart-shooting flute and a lyre that conceals a sword and shield

* FauxActionGirl: Despite being [[CreatorsPet shilled as “a good fighter”]] and insisting that “I can look after myself”, Kate is...well, to say “completely useless” is putting it mildly. She appears in eleven episodes, and in that time she is [[DamselInDistress held captive]] ''five'' times[[note]]Once by Gisborne in ''Cause and Effect'', twice by Rufus in ''Sins of the Father'', once by random guards in ''Too Hot to Handle'', and finally by the Sheriff's men in ''Something Worth Fighting For''[[/note]]. [[IdiotBall endangers her own life by wandering into a volatile situation]] and making it worse ''four'' times[[note]]In ''Cause and Effect'' she ruins the outlaws' ambush by rushing in premmaturely, achieving nothing except to get Robin captured along with her brother, and later abandons the outlaws to sneak into the castle by herself only to be discovered five seconds later, in ''Sins of the Fathers'' she goads Rufus into destroying her pottery kiln and livelihood, and in ''Something Worth Fighting For'' she sabotages Tuck's attempt to stage a peaceful protest by daring the guards to kill her.[[/note]], [[AttemptedRape almost raped]] ''three'' times[[note]]By Rufus in ''Sins of the Fathers'', Prince John in ''Too Hot to Handle'', and by Sheridan in ''The King is Dead''[[/note]], held in the StandardFemaleGrabArea hold ''twice''[[note]]By Gisborne in ''Cause and Effect'' and by Sheridan in ''The King is Dead''[[/note]], and seriously injured in combat ''once''[[note]]A random soldier throws a dagger at her in ''Do You Love Me?''[[/note]]. ''Every single time'' she needs a man to extract her from the situation.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The use of slo-mo in the pilot.

* HotShounenMom: Ghislaine, mother of Guy and Isabella.

* LoveTriangle: Robin, Marian and Guy, and to a lesser extent Will Scarlett, Djaq and Allan-a-Dale.
** In the third season this is stretched into a LoveDodecahedron: Much and Allan have a crush on Kate, who pines for Robin, who quite fancies Isabella, who flirts with Prince John, who is pretty much in love with himself.

* OneSceneWonder: Or rather, one episode wonder; [[MeaningfulName Legrande]].

* EvenBiggerBad: Prince John.

* HoYay: Does no one notice the sheer amount of times Much says "I love you" to Robin. It's a little ridiculous.

* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Guy of Gisborne (played by Richard Armitage) has an army of fangirls, and according to the creators, Marian's attraction to him stems from the fact that "women like 'em a little rough." Likewise, Allan-a-Dale gained a mysterious boost in popularity after his [[spoiler: FaceHeelTurn and defection to the Dark Side]] and subsequent upgrade to black leather, though the trope is {{subverted}} within the show in that love interests Marian and Djaq ultimately prefer Robin Hood and Will Scarlett over their bad boy counterparts.

** Played straight in S3, in which twenty-eight year old Clive Standen plays twenty year old Archer, and ''thirty'' year old Joanne Froggat plays Kate, whose age is never specified, but who is clearly meant to be a young teenager judging by the way she behaves and is treated by other characters.

* EnglishRose: Marian.

* BehindTheBlack: How exactly did Carter manage to sneak up on the outlaws ''in the middle of a desert'' unawares?

* FauxActionGirl: Despite being [[CreatorsPet shilled as “a good fighter”]] and insisting that “I can look after myself”, Kate is...well, to say “completely useless” is putting it mildly. She appears in eleven episodes, and in that time she is [[DamselInDistress held captive]] ''five'' times, [[hottip:*:Once by Gisborne in ''Cause and Effect'', twice by Rufus in ''Sins of the Father'', once by random guards in ''Too Hot to Handle'', and finally by the Sheriff's men in ''Something Worth Fighting For''.]] [[IdiotBall endangers her own life by wandering into a volatile situation]] and making it worse ''four'' times, [[hottip:*:In ''Cause and Effect'' she ruins the outlaws' ambush by rushing in premmaturely, achieving nothing except to get Robin captured along with her brother, and later abandons the outlaws to sneak into the castle by herself only to be discovered five seconds later, in ''Sins of the Fathers'' she goads Rufus into destroying her pottery kiln and livelihood, and in ''Something Worth Fighting For'' she sabotages Tuck's attempt to stage a peaceful protest by daring the guards to kill her.]] [[AttemptedRape almost raped]] ''three'' times, [[hottip:*:By Rufus in ''Sins of the Fathers'', Prince John in ''Too Hot to Handle'', and by Sheridan in ''The King is Dead''.]] held in the StandardFemaleGrabArea hold ''twice'', [[hottip:*:By Gisborne in ''Cause and Effect'' and by Sheridan in ''The King is Dead''.]] and seriously injured in combat ''once''.[[hottip:*:A random soldier throws a dagger at her in ''Do You Love Me?'']] ''Every single time'' she needs a man to extract her from the situation.

* BadassNickname: "RobinHood" itself.