S3 Episode Guide - The Sheriff of Nottingham (Episode 6)

 


Robin of Sherwood: Series 3, Episode 6

The Sheriff of Nottingham

Original Transmission Date: 10 May 1986

Written by Anthony Horowitz

Story
We're at one of the busy gates of Nottingham with many people milling about: we even see a pair of pickpockets or cutpurses at work. The Sheriff of Nottingham, Sir Guy of Gisburne and soldiers are waiting just outside the gate expecting to catch Robin Hood and his band of outlaws. We later discover that Gisburne has received information from an "informant". 



The Sheriff stops a cart of hay (driven by a man called Carter!) and uses Gisburne's sword to check that the outlaws are not hiding under the hay - unsuccessfully and much to the amusement of the townspeople. At the same time a column of flagellating hooded monks are carrying a model of a church (relic container?). Stepping back from the cart of hay the Sheriff notices that one of the monks is showing some of his long red curly hair - unusual for a monk. The Sheriff immediately realises this is Marion and the other outlaws in disguise. He orders Gisburne and the soldiers to catch them but in the crowded space Gisburne's horse rears up and Gisburne falls off his horse. In the confusion the outlaws make good their escape.







There is an air of celebration at Wickham where the model church is opened by Robin and Marion to reveal money bags worth a "year's taxes" which the outlaws give to the villagers in gratitude for the help they have received. Much is complaining that Will Scarlet was over enthusiastic with the flagellation and the other outlaws kid him on about the "red weals". Marion unexpectedly says she sometimes feels almost sorry for the Sheriff.





Back in Nottingham, the Sheriff moans about the loss of "200 marks" and berates Gisburne about his informant. Gisburne counters that the Sheriff is overly obsessed with Robin Hood and says they are really "two sides of the same coin" which angers the Sheriff even more.



Just at this moment in comes the royal envoy, the pompous Hubert de Giscard, with news of the king's displeasure over the failure to capture Robin Hood. De Rainault is to be replaced by Philip Mark, the "butcher" of Lincoln who is accompanied by a masked Saracen ("bodyguard, torturer, assassin"). The news is brought by a breathless Friar Tuck to the other outlaws in Sherwood. Nasir clearly knows who this must be.





We then see Philip Mark, Sarak and soldiers on the way to Nottingham and then in flashback we see Nasir and Sarak fighting in a sandy landscape by the sea - this is beautifully portrayed. Sarak was facially scarred in the fight and apparently left for dead by Nasir. Nasir meaningfully rips a medallion from a chain around his neck and drops it on Sarak. Sarak vows revenge for being "ruined" by Nasir. Philip Mark is the epitome of haughtiness.









Robin and Marion are now walking in Sherwood talking about what the new sheriff means for them. Marion sees that a new sheriff does not stop the fighting and tells Robin she knows how it will end (see later comments).



Philip Mark takes over in Nottingham and Gisburne quickly ingratiates himself with the new sheriff. Mark is confident that his methods will prove more effective at catching Robin Hood. He puts on a show by having a prisoner fight a kind of duel with Sarak and then proposes to terrorise the villagers in Wickham.







Part of Mark's dastardly new methods includes having soldiers trample Wickham's row of cabbages, but more seriously they take 6 hostages with the threat to execute them unless Robin hands himself in. One of the hostages is Edward of Wickham's wife Alison. Sarak presses Nasir's medallion on Edward and tells him to take it to Nasir.







Edward's son fetches Robin and the outlaws to the village. Edward gives the medallion to Robin who gives it to Nasir who says it is "nothing": a token to tell him that Sarak is here. Some of the villagers led by Geoffrey band together in a threatening manner but after some heated words the outlaws leave, promising to rescue the hostages. Edward says he will go with the outlaws since Alison in one of the hostages. He asks Elizabeth (his mother/mother-in-law?) to look after his son.





Back in Nottingham Philip Mark taunts de Rainault suggesting he goes to his brother, the abbot, and take up holy orders. Getting no support from Gisburne or de Giscard, de Rainault calls the new sheriff a "posturing catamite": an accurate description since he has done much swaggering and eyeing up of both men and boys. This angers the new sheriff who orders that de Rainault should be immediately stripped of his fine clothes, clothed in rags, taken to Sherwood and left to fend for himself.



In Sherwood, Nasir is deciding what to do about Sarak while the other outlaws and Edward talk about how to rescue the hostages in Nottingham Castle. At the same time de Rainault is abandoned in Sherwood by Mark's soldiers who mock him. In the Nottingham Castle dungeon Alison encourages the other prisoners with her trust in her husband, Robin and the other outlaws.







The "former" Sheriff finds Sherwood at night a threatening place and running in panic ends in one of the outlaw's traps. To avoid being killed by Will Scarlet he tells the outlaws there is a secret tunnel into Nottingham Castle. De Rainault also wants to undermine the authority of the new sheriff. Robin draws Nasir aside to ask him about Sarak and tells him he must fight and kill Sarak as Nasir is now one of the outlaws. We learn a bit more about Nasir's past in this scene.





Supper is served in Sherwood (by Friar Tuck) with a suspended de Rainault looking on. Much goes up to him and asks the key question "why do you hate us?". There then follows a really interesting passage where de Rainault explains why he hates the outlaws: there's some really good use of close ups in this sequence and there will be more to say about this scene in the comments. Nasir leaves to confront Sarak. 



In the morning de Rainault leads the outlaws to the tunnel exit outside the castle and through an impressively large tunnel to a corridor near the guard room and dungeon. Alison in the dungeon senses that the hooded man is here. The outlaws knock out two soldiers and drop them into the tunnel but with approaching footsteps in haste Much doesn't have time to replace the flagstone properly. The footsteps are Gisburne's who clearly knows nothing of the tunnel. He lifts the loose flagstone to investigate.







The outlaws succeed in rescuing the hostages but Gisburne has seen through the plan and Philip Mark and Gisburne surprise the outlaws and hostages with much greater numbers of soldiers. Mark reminds de Rainault that he had been banished from Nottingham and so orders him imprisoned in the dungeon where de Rainault meets the old prisoner and his pet rat, Arthur (never credited). Philip Mark in a rare act of mercy orders the release of the original three women hostages.





Meanwhile Nasir and Sarak confront each other on a grassy plain by a large lake. Sarak removes his mask to show the extent of his scarring. This is another beautifully shot scene, intercut with the original sword fight in the desert. We do not see who emerges the victor.





We are now in the place of execution. De Hubert, Philip Mark and Gisburne assume their seats of honour to watch the show, Sarak arrives and Mark repeats the earlier challenge to Robin Hood of crossbow versus Sarak's throwing knife. But "Sarak" kills Philip Mark instead and removes his hood to reveal himself as Nasir. The outlaws exploit the confusion to release their bonds and a few soldiers are killed until Robin calls a halt to the fighting. Gisburne fights Robin but ends up in a butt of muddy water.









There is a beautiful scene between Robin and Marion where Marion asks Robin whether he knew it was Nasir or not. Robin confesses he didn't know and that he just "lives in hope". Marion playfully tells him off for such a "dangerous way to live" but they end up romantically rubbing noses.







In Nottingham Castle, de Rainault has been released from the dungeon and threatens to reveal de Hubert's incompetence to the king unless he gives a favourable report of him. De Rainault reassumes the seat of office with a self satisfied smile.





Comments

This episode was written by Anthony Horowitz who wrote 5 of the episodes in series 3. The episode reuses some ideas from previous episodes: the outlaws breaking into Nottingham Castle to rescue hostages, the Sheriff incurring the king's displeasure by his failure to deal with Robin Hood and his merries, and the unwanted visit of the royal envoy.

However, there are some features that make this an excellent episode. Firstly, Lewis Collins really enters into the spirit of the production by putting the s in swagger, the h in haughty and the c in catamite (though it may not be quite the right word as it implies subservience though may be that was the real insult intended). Secondly there are the two beautifully shot fight scenes between Nasir and Sarak. Thirdly there is the scene between de Rainault and the outlaws in their camp. I can't recall another screen version of Robin Hood with such a scene that explores what can be called the philosophy that lies behind the story of Robin Hood.

When Much asks de Rainault why he hates them he says it is because they are "thieves, murderers", because of the squalor of their lifestyles but most of all because they represent "freedom" and "justice" to the people, and he hates the legend they will become. Robin adds that the real reason is that the sheriff is afraid of them.

I also like that the episode gives a bigger role to Edward's wife Alison (whose name is misspelt in the credits as "Alsion"). There are two beautiful shots of her in the dungeon and she is obviously an ardent supporter of Robin and the outlaws.

Best Moments

There is some nice attention to detail in this episode. Firstly, when Philip Mark first arrives de Rainault's two large dogs slink off whining. Secondly, when Philip Mark and Gisburne are stood in front of the dais after Sarak's duel with the prisoner, de Rainault craftily reassumes his throne of office behind them. Towards the end de Rainault triumphantly snatches the ring of office from Gisburne's hand. Finally of course there is Robin and Marion rubbing noses at the end. Sigh!

Some Questions

This episode sees a transition in how Marion feels about Robin (Robert of Huntingdon). Early in the episode she is clearly worried that the new Robin Hood will face the same fate as the first one, even if there is a new sheriff. Robin is clear that he is committed to be the hooded man, Herne's son. At the end of the episode she seems much more reconciled to be in a relationship with the new Robin despite the obvious dangers. This was the sixth episode in series three but is given as the fifth in my DVD box set. In fact having reviewed it feels more like episode 4 to me for the reasons above.

With Philip Mark killed and de Rainault still in the dungeon I wonder why Gisburne doesn't simply have de Rainault killed but it could be that the presence of the royal envoy prevented this, or that Gisburne did have some scruples after all.

Cast in order of appearance

The Sheriff of Nottingham.........Nickolas Grace
Sir Guy of Gisburne..................Robert Addie
Carter.....................................Neville Watchhurst
Little John...............................Clive Mantle
Marion....................................Judi Trott
Friar Tuck................................Phil Rose
Will Scarlet..............................Ray Winstone
Nasir.......................................Mark Ryan
Edward of Wickham..................Jeremy Bulloch
Matthew..................................Robbie Bulloch
Robin......................................Jason Connery
Alison......................................Maureen Bennett
Jennifer....................................Lorrain Grey
Hubert de Giscard.....................Robert Daws
Philip Mark...............................Lewis Collins
Sarak......................................Valentine Pelka
Slave Girl.................................Nicole Dominic
Steward...................................Gregory Cox
Jeffrey.....................................David Lumsden
Soldier.....................................Graham Pritchard
Old Prisoner..............................Stuart Linden

Series created by Richard Carpenter
Executive Producer & Story Consultant Paul Knight
Executive Producer Patrick Dromgoole
Produced by Esta Charkham
Directed by Christopher King