In the hood

BY CATH BENNETT

A SHOW about Robin Hood which doesn’t feature Maid Marian is like a series about Superman but without Lois Lane.

Viewers were stunned when creators decided to kill off the popular outlaw’s love interest at the end of the last season.

But star Jonas Armstrong believes Marian’s death allows him to give more depth to the big-hearted rogue who famously stole from the rich to give to the poor.

“I’ve always tried to find the darker aspects of Robin because the good sides are clearly there for all to see,’’ Armstrong explains.

“But now Robin’s lost Marian, the heartbeat of his life, I’ve been able to darken and deepen him. It takes him in a new direction for fans.’’

Series two concluded with Sir Guy of Gisborne, played by Richard Armitage, fatally stabbing Marian after she told him she was in love with Robin.

Gisborne then fled with the Sheriff of Nottingham, leaving the love of his life to die in the arms of Robin, who arrived too late to save her.

Season three opens with Robin on a mission to take his revenge.

“The beginning of the series is explosive, it’s really strong,’’ Armstrong says.

“Robin has just gone mad, because he’s obsessed by revenge, he must kill Gisborne whatever the cost to himself and others.

“So he doesn’t care about his men and being the champion of the people, all that’s gone.’’

This Friday’s opening episode features a duel between Robin and Gisborne, after which our hero is left close to death.

But there is salvation in the form of a travelling monk Tuck, played by Blood Diamond star David Harewood.

“Tuck sorts him out,’’ Armstrong explains. “He makes Robin remember what he believed in before he lost Marian, and reminds him that England needs the Robin Hood legend to inspire them.’’

With Maid Marian out of the picture, Robin gradually starts to consider other love interests.

Upcoming episodes feature Isabella, the sister of Guy of Gisborne, and feisty Locksley villager Kate, played by Joanne Frogatt.

“Kate has her own quest, she’s like a mini vigilante all by herself,’’ Armstrong says.

“Her family have suffered a terrible loss at the hands of Gisborne.

“Robin and the gang have to calm her down otherwise she’ll be killed too.

“Eventually she joins the lads and she becomes indispensable to them.’’

While creators the BBC have since decided series three will be the last, Armstrong, who previously appeared in comedy drama Teachers, earlier announced his retirement from the role after the third season.

“You can’t do one thing for too long,’’ he says when asked the reason behind his shock decision.

“The show has to keep changing and evolving – we’ve done about 39 hours now of Robin Hood so it needs to go in different directions.’’

Since filming ended, Dublin-born Armstrong has gone on to appear in The Street, currently showing on UKTV, as well as shooting a role for movie The Glasshouse in Romania.

But he hooked up with his merry men to watch the very last episode of the show he has been a part of since 2006.

“It is just a brilliant, brilliant finale to the three years,’’ he says.

“We all got quite emotional watching it and were trying to hold the tears back.

“We’ve been racing around those forests for three years and we’ve been through a lot together and become true comrades at arms.’’

 Robin Hood series three premieres on Prime, Friday at 8.30pm.

- © Fairfax NZ News