Robin Hood-Complete Series Two (2006)

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General		Extras
Category	Adventure	Main Menu Introduction Main Menu Audio & Animation Audio Commentary-Episodes 1, 7, 12 & 13 Featurette-Beneath the Hood plus two with spoiler titles
Rating
Year Of Production	2006
Running Time	563:25 (Case: 609)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Multi Disc Set (5)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Graeme Harper Declan O'Dwyer Richard Standeven Matthew Evans
Studio Distributor	Tiger Aspect Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Jonas Armstrong Lucy Griffiths Richard Armitage Keith Allen Sam Troughton Gordon Kennedy Harry Lloyd Joe Armstrong Anjali Jay
Case	Slip Case
RPI	?	Music	Andy Price

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Robin Hood is one of the best known characters in the history of the English language and his story has been converted to film and television on numerous occasions. The most famous versions are probably Douglas Fairbanks in 1922, Errol Flynn in the 1938 classic, the Kevin Costner opus from the early 1990s, the Disney animated version and the 1980s TV series but there are many more. Due to this, it is actually difficult for a new version to make an impact, however, this version is a ripper!

    This latest incarnation of Robin Hood was made for the BBC and has been shown locally on the ABC. This second season contains 13 episodes, which is quite a long series for English shows. This show is a great combination of fast paced action, drama, romance, comedy and much more. It features a wonderful ensemble cast with many good looking young actors and actresses, who as well as looking good also do a great job at their roles. The series was shot on location in Hungary over an extended period and it is obvious that the cast built up great rapport with each other during that time. They really seem to have enjoyed themselves.

    All the famous characters (with the exception of Friar Tuck) are here but they have been modernised and given multi-dimensional personalities. Marian is no longer a Maid and has also become somewhat of a vigilante, helping poor people while maintaining a respectable face to the sheriff. It's great to see a strong and resourceful female character, rather than just a handbag for Robin as she has been in previous versions. Robin himself is also a very interesting character who is sometimes grumpy, sometimes vindictive and sometimes needs his friends to keep him on the right course. The full major character list is

• Robin of Locksley (Jonas Armstrong) - A young nobleman who returned from the crusades accompanied only by his faithful manservant, Much. He is weary of war but still young and adventurous at heart. He returned to find his estate being run by Guy of Gisborne under the authority of the new Sheriff of Nottingham. In Series One he was forced to become an outlaw living in the forest. He is passionate, cheeky, fun-loving and by no means a complete goody-goody.
• Marian (Lucy Griffiths) - A young noblewoman, daughter of the previous Sheriff, Sir Edward. Before Robin headed of on the crusades she was his fiancé but now a number of years have passed and she is not ready to just take up where they left off. She is feisty and tends to get herself into trouble by standing up to the Sheriff. A love triangle has developed between her, Robin and Guy, which is a nice addition to the story. She also does a bit of action and even some martial arts!
• Guy of Gisborne, played by the 'delectable' (according to my wife) Richard Armitage, who is the Sheriff's right hand man but also the object of a lot of his criticism. Guy is loyal to the Sheriff but also finds him annoying to work for. He is at times passionate and others vindictive and cruel. Excellent characterisation. He shows signs of being conflicted during this season.
• The Sheriff of Nottingham (Keith Allen) - Another great characterisation, this character is Machiavellian in his intrigues and the way he uses everyone around him. He is also very amusing but sadistic and single-minded in his pursuit of his own goals. He gets darker in this second series.
• Much (Sam Troughton) - Robin's loyal manservant who travelled to the crusades with him and is now his right hand man and at times his conscience. A lovable character who wants to do the right thing and is perhaps a little too focused on his stomach. One of the characters who adds significant comedy to the show.
• Alan a Dale (Joe Armstrong) - A local scoundrel and outlaw who ends up joining Robin's gang. He is not necessarily bothered by too much in the way of conscience which shows in his story arc in this second series
• Will Scarlett (Harry Lloyd) - A villager who is forced to become an outlaw and joins Robin's gang. He is the social conscience of the gang.
• Little John (Gordon Kennedy) - A big, tough and caring man who has become an outlaw after falling foul of the Sheriff, abandoning his family.
• Djaq (Anjali Jay) - A young Saracen woman who enters the show in Episode 5 of Season 1 and becomes one of the gang. Another strong female character which adds greatly to the story.

    There are lots of elements which make this show great to watch in addition to the cast. These include excellent writing (mostly by Dominic Minghella, brother of Anthony Minghella), wonderful cinematography, great sets and locations and a brilliant score by Andy Price. This second series sees quite a few changes in Locksley including the Sheriff getting even more evil, Guy becoming more conflicted in his loyalties, Robin getting grumpier, a traitor emerging, the death of a major character listed above and another important character introduced. The action also traverses large distances with the Holy Land playing a part, especially in the finale of the season.

    The thirteen episodes are about 43 minutes each. They are spread across four discs with the fifth disc of the set being restricted to extras. They are as follows:

Disc 1

1. Sisterhood
2. Booby & The Beast
3. Childhood

Disc 2

4. The Angel of Death
5. Ducking & Diving
6. For England...!
7. Show Me The Money

Disc 3

8. Get Carter
9. Lardner's Ring
10. Walkabout
11. Treasure of the Nation

Disc 4

12. A Good Day To Die
13. We Are Robin Hood

    The set is nicely packaged in a fold out cardboard box with an outer clear slipcover featuring see-through photos of some of the cast. Each of the discs features a photo of one or more of the main characters. I highly recommend this excellent television production.

Video

    The video quality is quite good without being spectacular.

    The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, 16x9 enhanced, which is the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was quite clear and sharp although the sharpness was affected by some MPEG grain, especially in darker scenes. There was no evidence of low level noise. The shadow detail was good.

    The colour was excellent with vibrant colours and deep greens of the forest.

    There were no noticeable artefacts.

    There are subtitles in English for the Hearing Impaired which were clear, easy to read and exact to the spoken word.

    I did not notice any layer changes. Three of these discs are DVD9 formatted and two are DVD5.
    

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    This DVD contains two audio options (not including commentaries); an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack encoded at 448 Kb/s and an English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s. The surround track is certainly the preferred pick, providing much more presence and atmosphere, although specific directional effects are pretty few and far between.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync.

    The score of this series by Andy Price is a corker with an excellent theme tune and different themes used for each of the main characters. Wonderfully good for a TV show.

    The surround speakers provided lots of atmosphere but little in the way of specific surround effects. Very immersive for a TV production.

    The subwoofer was used quite a bit for the music and action scenes.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    A good collection of worthwhile extras are included, spread across all the discs in this collection. All are 16x9 enhanced with optional subtitles.

Menu

    The menus are well designed, utilising the arrow motif used for transitions during the show along with the target (also from the show). It features an introduction, music and motion along with all the normal functionality you would expect.

Disc 1

Commentary - Episode 1 - Lucy Griffiths, Richard Armitage, Foz Allen (Exec Producer/Creator), Dominic Minghella (Writer/Creator/Exec Producer)

    This is a friendly and lighthearted commentary where everybody has a good time. They tell anecdotes about the production, makes jokes at each other's expense and also provide some good info about making the show and goofs during filming.

Disc 2

Commentary - Episode 7 - Gordon Kennedy, Lucy Griffiths, Richard Armitage, Sam Troughton & Anjali Jay

    Another friendly commentary which is okay, but it's but not as good as the first one. Still worth a listen.

Disc 4

Commentary - Episode 12 - Gordon Kennedy, Dominic Minghella, Richard Armitage, Sam Troughton & Anjali Jay

    Another lighthearted commentary but with some dead spots. Okay though.

Commentary - Episode 13 - Gordon Kennedy, Richard Armitage, Sam Troughton & Anjali Jay

    Another funny commentary including stories and trivia.

Disc 5

Beneath The Hood - Making of Series 2 (27:29)

    Good viewing which covers on-set injuries, guest stars, thinking behind various plot points, new sets and locations and character changes.

Farewell to (SPOILER ALERT: highlight with mouse to read) Marian (18:19)

    If you have not watched this season especially the last episode do not reveal the title of this extra and if you buy the set try not to read the list of extras on the back. It is an interesting featurette on the topic!

The Death of (SPOILER ALERT: highlight with mouse to read) Edward (7:14)

    If you have not watched this season do not reveal the title of this extra and if you buy the set try not to read the list of extras on the back. It is an interesting featurette on the topic!

    This series is available in Region 2 in the same format. The Region 1 release is not scheduled until the end of July. For now Region 4 is the go.

    The video quality is quite good.

    The audio quality is very good.

    The set has a good selection of mostly excellent, well made extra features.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall