Tony Robinsons revisionist Robin Hood childrens comedy series, out now on limited edition DVD, was a hoot…
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Not being a six-year-old well-versed in the rhetorical techniques of social emancipation, I didnt get it.
(Id seen a flea circus; why mightnt fish find a use for bikes?)
My feminist awakening was obviously going to have to wait.
But not long, it turned out.
One copy of Babette ColesPrincess Smartypantspicked from the Year Three reading table later and I was feeling pretty woke.
More properly known as Howard Lew Lewis, who played one of Marians titular men, Rabies.
Enter, co-creator Tony Robinson in an itchy wig and fake goatee.
Unlike Baldricks laconic delivery, Nottingham was a big talker.
(Marians hair, by the way, was amazing.
Smart, resourceful and in charge, Marian was also a dreamer.
Marian wasnt however, a humourless babysitter.
I just loved the idea of nakedness and Marian actually fancying rather rough boys.
In that, Robinson succeeded.
It was also unabashedly political.
Marian was a right-on social activist, down to her Swampy hair and Citizen Smith lapel badges.
The adult-aimed jokes and references so recurrent in series four were there from the very beginning.
And finally, heres a particularly fun moment in a show packed with particularly fun moments.
See Robin OHood lead contestants Gary and Graeme around Sherwood Forests very own Crystal Maze…