S3 Episode Guide - Cromm Cruac (Episode 7)

Robin of Sherwood: Series 3, Episode 7

Cromm Cruac

Original Transmission Date: 17 May 1986

Written by Antony Horowitz

The episode starts with the return of the sorcerer Gulnar, last seen in Herne's Son at the start of series 3. He is apparently out for revenge against Robin Hood and the outlaws, and is literally stirring up trouble in a boiling pool of water. Using his magical power, he draws Much to fall into a man trap when hunting deer for the merries.







Robin is worried that Much is much delayed in his return and he and Little John go looking for him. Will Scarlet mutters that Much "is not a child". Next, we see Much in the outlaw's camp being tended by Friar Tuck who insists he needs outside help. Robin suggests Wickham but Tuck says it is too far for Much. They drag Much on a litter, but the outlaws realise they seem to be in a part of Sherwood they don't recognise. As if by magic a cart appears, and the carter says he doesn't know of a Wickham but is on his way home with salt for curing to the village of Cromm Cruac ("a small place cut off like"). The outlaws have never heard of the place, but Tuck has a dim recollection of the name and says he doesn't want to go there. Despite Robin remonstrating with him, Tuck is adamant, so Robin decides that Marion should go with Tuck for greater safety from soldiers.







We next see fun and recreation in Cromm Cruac which this day involves the "fun" of putting a "scold" in a ducking stool to be ducked in the river. Thomas the miller is tried in the village court for "defiling the common spring" and is fined three shillings - a tidy sum in those days. The villagers are gathering blossom for some kind of festival. There is a slowly gathering sense of menace about this place.







The man (Gilbert) who passed sentence on the miller carries a staff headed with deer antlers similar to Herne and seems to be a man of authority in Cromm Cruac. Returning to his hut he is met by Gulnar who tells Gilbert that his "visitors" are coming soon and that Gilbert should make them "feel at home". Gilbert is clearly subservient to and fearful of Gulnar, addressing him as "master". All the Cromm Cruac villagers smile at the outlaws in a disconcerting manner, and "wise" women healers take Much away to be healed. Gilbert opposes Little John going with Much though Little John insists on seeing Much "tonight". As Gilbert shows the outlaws to their lodgings Will Scarlet thinks he sees his dead wife! Gulnar looks on from Gilbert's hut.







We next see Friar Tuck and Marion walking through the forest. Marion realises they are not going to their camp. Tuck asks Marion why she left Robin and the other outlaws and Marion says it was because Much had said he heard a voice and she thought Much was trying to warn them. Marion asks Tuck whether he is afraid and Tuck says he is afraid for all of them, and that is why they are heading for Thornton Abbey where he was taught. In the evening, it's party time at Cromm Cruac with many lit torches and dancing. Robin looks on suspiciously from the huts and then Thomas the Miller draws him aside and warns him they must all leave now while they have the chance.







Robin, Little John and Will Scarlet sit down to eat and Robin passes on the miller's warning and says they should find Much and leave. Little John agrees but Will Scarlet asks where will they go. Just then his "wife" (Will calls her Elena) appears and asks Will to dance. Nazir asks Little John who Elena is and Little John says she is his dead wife. Thomas the Miller tries to escape but is confronted by Gulnar at the boiling pool and Thomas is attacked by mysterious cowled figures. Thomas begged Gulnar not to kill him at which Gulnar laughed and asked him how he could kill him when he is "already dead". A sweating Much wakes up when the miller is attacked.







Little John and Robin both have nightmares overnight and when they wake up they see that Nazir has already left. Nazir, like the miller, is drawn by hearing Gulnar's voice to the boiling pool. He is engaged in combat with an unknown Saracen whom he kills. Pulling aside his assailant's face covering reveals the face of Robin Hood (Robert of Huntingdon). He is then confronted by Gulnar who is clearly exerting magical power over Nazir. Back in the village, Robin and Little John find Much working in the blacksmiths (a whinnying horse is heard - nice touch). Much knows who Robin Hood is but is defensive or even aggressive towards Robin and John. Also, his wounds have miraculously healed. Much says he is happy working at the blacksmiths. Little John and Robin Hood back off.





in the beautiful cloister of Thornton Abbey, (actually Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire), Friar Tuck prepares to meet the abbot to request access to the library. In a lovely touch, Marion taps Tuck gently with her bow and wishes him good luck. The abbot is scornful of the time Tuck spent in the kitchen (rather than the library) and accuses him of abandoning his post as the sheriff's chaplain to join a band of "cutthroats". Turning to Marion the abbot asks who she is and Marion says she is one of the "cutthroats". Relenting and saying he misses Tuck, the abbot invites them to join him in the refectory.







Robin and Little John next find Will Scarlet fishing by the hut belonging to his (dead) wife and like Much he is defensive to the point of aggressive towards them and says he is happy where he is, feeling accepted. Will's "wife" looks at Robin and John with a triumphant smirk as she and Will enter their hut. Back at the boiling pool, Gulnar announces it will soon be the feast of Sylvan when Cromm Cruac will appear. Gulnar pours a libation of blood into the pool (likely to be the dead miller's blood).





In the village Little John finds the apples are too sweet and he and Robin agree there is something wrong about the village, something evil. John goes looking for Nazir but instead sees a vision of Meg being chased by soldiers. Robin goes looking for Thomas the miller but finds his wife at the mill instead: she eyes Robin up and says she is now the miller's widow. Robin rebuffs her advances. She laughs at him and tells him he will never leave. John tells Robin he has found Nazir but he has obviously fallen under Gulnar's spell and is acting as guard over the steam pool.









In the abbey library the abbot tells Tuck and Marion that Cromm Cruac means hunchback devil and comes from the book of the king of Leinster. A group of Irish people settled in a village in the far south of the forest and enjoyed plentiful harvests and food, but on the feast of Sylvan they and their village were consumed with fire as they worshipped their pagan god. They had also sacrificed their children to their pagan god. The abbot tells them there has been no such place as Cromm Cruac for a hundred years! Marion asks when the day of Sylvan is and the abbot quickly closes the book and tells her it is tomorrow.







Later the abbot and Marion are walking together in the abbey cloister and the abbot asks Marion what sort of man Robin Hood is. Marion describes Robin as a "good man, not a cutthroat or a bandit". She tells the abbot that Robin gave up more than all the others to come to the forest, and that he did it for her; that he is "more than a leader" and is the reason the outlaws stay together. The abbot smiles and says that Marion loves Robin and Marion agrees. The abbot gives Marion a jewelled cup of sanctified water brought back by pilgrims from "Solomon's Temple" in Jerusalem and tells her the power of Cromm Cruac is centred in a pool by a waterfall near the village. Tuck needs much help getting on his horse and bidding them goodbye, the kindly abbot points out this is because Satan may have laid claim to Tuck's body, but he holds out hope for Tuck's soul!







In Cromm Cruac Will and "Elena" are taking part in the festivities with much food and blossom decorations in evidence. Gilbert the leader (carrying deer's antlers not unlike Herne) greets them and says "Sauvan, Will" noting that Will looks refreshed. Will says that Elena agrees with him. The miller's wife has found a beau. The blacksmith tells Much he doesn't want him to leave before noon and that they have a long and painful journey to make. Much says he is not going anywhere.







Robin tells Little John he fears they have little time left. They agree that John should try to goad Will back to his normal self and Robin thinks the key to the mystery is in the pool, now guarded by Nazir. Nazir allows Robin to pass but Gulnar uses his magic power to disarm Robin. Little John and Will fight when John tells Will that Elena is really dead.







Meanwhile Marion and Tuck find the village by following the still visible tracks of the cart. The villagers shy away from them and Tuck notes the village is just as described in the book. They find the path to the pool and are confronted by Nazir. Marion talks to Nazir, partly in his own language, while Tuck creeps up and knocks him out from behind. Gulnar orders Robin to look at and dive into the pool where the gruesome Cromm Cruac is emerging.







At the crucial moment Marion arrives carrying the cup of precious sanctified water and shocked at seeing the peril Robin is in she pours the water into the pool as the gruesome Cromm Cruac emerges. This turns the pool to flame giving off red smoke. Gulnar asks what she has done and Marion throws the last of the water into Gulnar's face with devastating consequences: a truly dramatic moment. The blinded Gulnar falls into the pool as Cromm Cruac apparently perishes in the flames.









Will and Elena's hut starts to burn and John holds Will back as a now aged Elena perishes in the flames. The blacksmith confronts Much who has decided to leave, then the flaming smithy collapses on the blacksmith so that he dies. In the rest of the village the younger men fight with Will, John and Much while the women and older men run about in panic as the village burns. Around the pool, Nazir, Robin and Tuck engage the faceless hooded figures in slow motion: Tuck excels at this.







Much, Will and Little John escape the burning village: all the villagers either perish in the flames or die by the sword. At the pool, Marion quietly contemplates the now peaceful pool. Robin helps her to her feet and they embrace. Will says "that's it then" and asks what will they do now. Little John says they they will go back to their home in Sherwood. A quiet end to an episode of high drama.








Cast in order of appearance:

Gulnar.....................................Richard O'Brien
Much......................................Peter Llewellyn-Williams
Friar Tuck................................Phil Rose
Nasir.......................................Mark Ryan
Little John...............................Clive Mantle
Robin......................................Jason Connery
Marion....................................Judi Trott
Will Scarlet..............................Ray Winstone
Driver.....................................Richard Bonehill
Tom the miller.........................Ian Redford
Villager .................................Jon Hastings
Bailiff ....................................Larry Dann
Reeve....................................David Plimmer
Elena.....................................Claire Parker
Meg of Wickham......................Claire Toeman
William the blacksmith.............Graham Weston
Abbot of Thornton Abbey..........John Horsley
Mary the miller's wife...............Caroline Holdaway

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