Discovering The BBC’s ‘Robin Hood’ In 2026
by Tito W. James
The BBC’s Robin Hood TV series takes the most enduring aspects of the legendary outlaw to create a fun and exciting action adventure drama. Now we’re in an era where studios seem determined to modernize Robin Hood by stripping away everything that makes the character an appealing folk hero in the first place!
The 2006 TV series benefits from being created before Game of Thrones’s grimdarkification of prestige TV and focuses on Robin Hood as a young idealist. In the first episode, we see him wearing a hood, defending the downtrodden, and shooting arrows with superhuman accuracy. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel if you can deliver the goods, and Robin Hood delivers in spades.
The cast, including Robin (Jonas Armstrong), Little John (Gordon Kennedy), and the merry band of outlaws is superb. The roles for women are expanded and given greater complexity. Marion (Lucy Griffiths) functions as a double agent within Nottingham and dons her own masked alter ego. A new addition is Djaq (Anjali Jay), a Turkish expert in medicine and science.
The heroes are up against an equally compelling set of villains. Keith Allen‘s take on the Sheriff of Nottingham is perfectly sleazy — he’s a recurring villain that you love to hate. Prince John, played by Toby Stephens (Black Sails), appears rarely but makes an impression. The real stand-out is Richard Armitage (Castlevania) as Guy of Gisborne, a lesser known character from Robin Hood lore. In this version, Guy acts as Robin’s foil and romantic rival. Armitage created a villain you can’t help but root for because you respect his intellect.
While the overall series is fun and adventurous in spirit, it doesn’t shy away from darker moments and deeper themes. Because the TV show came out in 2006, the writers use the war in The Holy Land as an analogue to critique the American war in the Middle East and the concurrent Islamophobia. Robin also faces the results of English fighters who were traumatized by the war. These themes remain frustratingly relevant twenty years later.
Not every episode hits the bullseye, but the best episodes weave together multiple plot lines and blend genres in ways that are surprising and satisfying. In Season 2, we get an episode that combines Indiana Jones death traps, a James Bond high stakes casino caper, and a blind zen master. The series is able to blend action, adventure, romance, comedy, and drama into its own unique recipe.
It’s been twenty years since this Robin Hood series premiered and it has aged like wine. It deserves a passionate American fan-base as large as Doctor Who or Sherlock. So if you haven’t discovered the series, now’s the time!
Robin Hood is now streaming on Amazon Prime.