Robin Hood 2006 - The lead characters
“For every man there is a purpose which he sets up in his life. Let yours be the doing of all good deeds."
“Where would be the fun in that?”
“Do you know who I am? I’m Robin Hood.”
Robin Hood
Robin is clever, idealistic, selfless, dryly humorous, heroic, handsome, modest, a little world- and battle-weary, occasionally acrobatic, undaunted by authority, sometimes outrageously bold, always principled.
Our Robin is a noble - Robin of Locksley - who returns with honours from the Holy Land and a new perspective on fairness and the value of human life.
But the England to which he returns - and particularly Nottingham - has changed too. It has been corrupted by greed, crippled by taxes, shattered by poverty. The new Sheriff’s regime has become steadily more austere, and if Robin wants to resume his place on the Council of Nobles, to take back his lands and renew his stewardship of the town of Locksley, he must toe the line. For his friend and loyal manservant, Much, who is only too pleased after five years on the Crusade to put his feet up by the fire, it’s a no-brainer.
But Robin can’t do it. The Sheriff immediately tests his loyalty, and Robin immediately shows his true colours: if it’s condone this regime or lose your lands, Robin’s going to live as an outlaw.
Much
Robin's manservant Much is sometimes daft (though there is often a truth to his lack of political correctness, e.g. when he asks what is the point in risking life and limb to save peasants who’re going to suffer anyway?), forever loyal, forever hungry, forever yearning for the quiet life, the warmth of the home fire and a little well-earned luxury. He gets himself into scrapes, from which Robin has to rescue him. He undercuts Robin's idealism. He is the voice of reason, the voice of the ordinary man, the voice of cowardice. He makes us laugh. He SO doesn’t want to be in the forest. And yet, if he weren’t at Robin’s side – wherever that may be - we know Much would wither and die.
Will Scarlett
Son of Locksley’s carpenter, Willis the gang’s chief engineer. He can construct anything from any material, so long as it’s wood. Robin tells him about the Saracen recurve bow he has seen in the Holy Land they develop this weapon. Will’s family suffered during the bleak years of Robin’s absence, when Sir Guy of Gisborne ran Robin’s estates – and he’s a constant reminder of the importance of the gang’s central mission.
Little John
Little John was leader of the forest outlaws before Robin arrived. A man of few words and much muscle, John has a more simplistic morality than Robin's: see a problem, sort it out. But underneath that brute strength, is Little John hiding a big heart?
Allan
Allan has the gift of the gab. He can talk the hind legs off a donkey. He would talk the hind legs off his own donkey, and find himself having to walk, if Robin did not rein him in. He is a pathological liar, and is a good front-man for scams, particularly in situations where Robin’s face is known. He’s a passionate anti-capitalist and would not buy into the state and the rule of law even if times were more benign. Maybe we’re being polite here – maybe Allan is just a crook. You could accuse him of that. He wouldn’t mind. He’d carry on merrily. He’d cheat his best friend at cards.
Djaq
Djaq joins the gang in episode 5, a Saracen maiden kidnapped from her home and sold as a slave in England. Resourceful, prickly, witty, cunning she earns her rightful place in the gang joining in Robin’s mission to destroy a lethal local mine and saving Little John.
A living breathing reminder of the war we are fighting overseas, Djaq’s presence sometimes proves a threat to the gang’s masculinity, as the outlaws frequently try to prove that they have skills she cannot match – usually without success. The fact is Djaq is an incredible woman, and an even more incredible man.
Meeting Robin changes Djaq’s life; she flees to the forest and for the first time ever, Djaq is really free. Djaq is a talented scientist – having learnt a few tricks from her physician father and the knowledge she brings of Saracen science and medicine adds another string to the gang’s bow.
Marian
Intelligent, beautiful, spirited, proud, stubborn, kind, brave, meticulous, principled, honourable, critical, observant, a strong swordswoman who is cunning and loyal. The years of frustration may have eroded Marian’s gentleness but they have left untouched her generosity of spirit and a keen sense of duty to her people.
Marian has never really forgiven Robin for leaving her; it’s more a matter of principle than bitterness, but for her the situation is very simple: he chose glory over his people, pursued it relentlessly and left her to fend for herself. It was all downhill from there for, shortly after Robin left for the Crusades, her father Sheriff Edward was deposed and the new ruthless Sheriff came to power. He brought with him a brutal regime which immediately shot fear through the hearts of Locksleyites.
Left humiliated and powerless, Edward and Marian retreat to Knighton Hall. For Marian’s sake, Edward accepts a diminished role at council, bowing to authority and a shadow of the man he once was. In the years that follow, Marian watches helplessly as the peers who dare to question the Sheriff are summarily bumped off and her father’s influence grows ever weaker. In an altered darker world, Edward teaches his daughter sword fighting, defence skills and archery in the hope that she should have the choices he cannot offer her.
To protect her ailing father, Marian appears to have accepted a quiet role as nursemaid, and given up her silly ideas about looking after the populace. If she should change her mind, it is clear that her father would pay - and we’re not talking in money. So, when the Sheriff’s spies give up their watch at midnight, Marian comes out to right the wrongs of the world. She cannot be seen on pain of (her father’s) death, so she wears a mask and is known as the Nightwatchman. She rides out at night to deliver good and receives no approbation, only the satisfaction of a good deed done.
The Sheriff of Nottingham
The Sheriff's rise to power was swift and decisive. He reduced the old Sheriff Edward's circumstances and made it clear that any rebellion would be met with extreme force, especially towards that pretty daughter of his. This ambitious, cunning, paranoid man needs to be feared by his people: the punishments he metes out are severe indeed: a finger for a loaf of bread, a life for a bag of flour; yet it keeps an order in his lands, and that’s how he likes it while he concentrates on more pressing matters...
The Sheriff is a loyal and trusted follower of Prince John's he understands the importance of his own second-in-command – a footpad who’ll do the heavy lifting, not ask too many questions and make him feel important and talented. Cleverly, the Sheriff awards Robin's lands to Guy of Gisborne, which boosts Gisborne's ego as well as his loyalty to the Sheriff. Gisborne proves himself to be a useful heavy with a vicious disliking for the King.
To the Sheriff, Nottingham is not perfect, but it's disciplined and ruled – economically of course, it's a mess because the poor are starving, taxed to within an inch of their lives and unable to trade. On his return, Robin brings renewed hope to this shire of misery: he teaches order through fairness, a contented populace and reasonable justice. He is the bane of the Sheriff’s life.
Sir Guy of Gisborne
In a different world, Gisborne would be good; had he fought with the Crusaders and he would have done so to the death.
The Gisborne family were once landed until King Richard stripped them of what was rightly theirs. Robin thwarted Gisborne's assassination attempt on the King. It was to be Gisborne's moment of glory. Robin’s return threatens Gisborne's lands, and sense of identity: Robin is bad news, and even if Gisborne weren't completely loyal to the Sheriff, he'd still want to hunt and kill Robin Hood. Gisborne is capable of overwhelming cruelty in his ruthless pursuit for heritage and position, yet beyond this drive for recognition is his one hope for redemption: Marian.
Roy
Roy, one of the original forest outlaws, is Little John’s protégé: brave, sarcastic, brutal and cunning. And he misses his Mum.