Timeless, deathless and something I'll watch with my children

LexiWolfe

I watched this series religiously when I was a kid, and my mother taped as many episodes as she could. Fast forward about twenty years (yes, believe it or not!) and me and the mister spend hours howling with laughter and wondering why the heck our younger siblings and future kids don't have anything half as good to watch as this. Maid Marian is probably the reason I'm so independent nowadays (and, yeah, bossy too). Despite becoming a biker glove fan myself, I still always associate them with King John. And if I ever meet Tony Robinson, I think I may have to hug him just for creating this series.

This series has everything going for it. The actors just throw themselves into their parts like nothing you seem to get nowadays. Whose amazing idea was it to have a laid back Rasta and an overly aggressive Little Person as members of the Merry Band, and make Robin (of Kensington) an absolute wuss?

From the brilliant one liners ('They've got the power, they've got the weapons. All we've got is a Raster, a Wally and a Bearded Avocado') to the memorable songs that I join in with though years have passed since I last saw that particular episode (I dare you not to come away from this review not reminiscing over 'Naked To The Visible Eye' and 'P-p-p-p-p-p- pancake Day!'), Maid Marian and her Merry Men is as much an institute of British humour as Blackadder or Monty Python.

The wonderful thing is that watching it as an adult, it's actually even funnier for the references that I never got, but still thought were funny as a kid. I have every faith that I'll be watching this again and laughing along with my own children in years to come. I love how real the characters are in it as well, and definitive. There's no 'filler characters' you find in a lot of shows these days.

Because of the nature of the show being filmed 'out of its time', despite some of the contemporary references, there are so many generic social and popular culture jokes, that even now it doesn't seem to be as old as it is. Twenty years? Seriously?

There's a different and varied plot for each episode, from the gang to getting together, to a talent show for Worksop, to visitors from Outer Space, and each plot is used to great effect.

I could go on and on about it, but the best thing to be is to crack out the old VCR player, or get on down eBay and get the complete series.

score 10/10

LexiWolfe 25 March 2013

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2772575/