Television series

Robin Hood

Name: Robin Hood
Genre: Drama, Action, Adventure
Released: 2006
Cast: Jonas Armstrong, Gordon Kennedy, Sam Troughton, David Harewood, Richard Armitage

Other titles called Robin Hood: the 1922 film, the 1973 film, the 2010 film.

Vigilante

The BBC's 2006 Robin Hood strips the legend down to its core: righteous fury against corruption. Energetic, anarchic, genuinely thrilling in its best moments, it's a show that understands why Robin Hood matters — not history, but the fantasy of fighting back. Messy but earnest, it's for anyone who wanted Crusade-era adventure television to have actual stakes.

TVMaze rating

3.5

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like swashbuckling adventure with a gritty, modern edge, where the outlaw camaraderie and banter between the merry men carry as much weight as the swordplay and the rebellion against a corrupt sheriff.

Skip it if you want a faithful, costume-drama Robin Hood with lush period detail; this one reshapes the legend with a contemporary, rough-and-ready feel that some will find too loose.

What it asks of you: Thirty-nine episodes of roughly forty-six minutes across three seasons, so it asks for a steady commitment, though each instalment moves briskly and rewards casual, episode-by-episode viewing.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Arrow2012

A master archer wages guerrilla war against a corrupt city. Tighter plotting, higher production values, and the same moral core: what does justice cost when the system has failed?

But Becomes increasingly soap-operatic as it extends to eight seasons. The first two are sharp; after that, commitment required.

Merlin2008

Another BBC fantasy-adventure with a similar energy: scrappy, warm-hearted, genuinely excited about legend. Less political than Robin Hood, but the camaraderie and genuine peril hit similar notes.

But Even more uneven in quality. Swings wildly between inspired and painfully earnest, and some costume choices don't age well.

The Musketeers2014

BBC swashbuckler with the same DNA: ensemble action, political corruption, and the thrill of outsiders fighting the powerful. Tighter production than Robin Hood, same warm anarchism.

But Only two seasons before cancellation. Shorter than you'd want, and the resolution feels rushed.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Robin Hood

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Station Eleven2021

Both understand that resistance to tyranny is also about preserving culture. Robin's band and the Traveling Symphony both know that meaning survives even when kingdoms fall.

Pandemic aftermath, traveling performers, the refusal to let civilization collapse. Shares Robin Hood's belief that stories and community matter more than power and wealth. Haunting, gorgeous, and deeply humane in ways most prestige TV isn't.

But Structurally complex with non-linear storytelling. Meditative rather than thrilling. Requires patience; the payoff is emotional rather than action-based.

Outlaw King2018

Chris Pine as Robert the Bruce fighting English occupation. Same visceral, angry energy as Robin Hood's best moments — less fantastical, more historically grounded, but equally furious about injustice.

But Slow-burn historical drama, not action spectacle. Long and occasionally glacial. Battle sequences are grueling rather than thrilling.

The Great2020

Catherine the Great wages psychological and political war against empire. Same core fantasy: an outsider with power fighting to reshape a corrupt system, but told with theatrical brilliance and genuine wit.

But Brutally cynical. Nothing like Robin Hood's earnestness. Graphic violence and sexual content throughout.

Galavant2015

A musical adventure-comedy about heroes, villains, and the lines between them. Less serious than Robin Hood but genuinely clever, with better songs than it has any right to and real affection for the people it's satirizing.

But Only lasted two seasons. If you're not won over by the musical premise immediately, the whole thing will feel like a slog.

The Man in the High Castle2015

Resistance fighters against totalitarian occupation. Shares Robin Hood's sense of small people refusing to accept injustice, though far grimmer in tone and more intricate in its conspiracies.

But Deliberately paced and often slow. Alternate history can feel airless. The middle seasons lose focus before recovering.

Ivanhoe1952

Romantic, sweeping adaptation of Scott's novel. Sean Bean as a Saxon warrior against Norman oppression. Grand in a way modern TV rarely attempts, with genuine emotional weight and period pageantry.

But Theatrical and earnest in ways that can feel dated. A film, not a series, so no time to develop the world you fell in love with. The romance subplot dominates.

Leverage2008

Both use wit as a weapon and community as the real prize. Leverage's team and Robin's gang are built on the same principle: loyalty and cleverness beat money and power.

Con artists running elaborate heists against rich exploiters. Infinitely inventive, genuinely funny, and absolutely delighted with its own ingenuity. Each episode is a perfectly-wound music box. Five seasons of pure pleasure.

But Utterly formulaic by design. If you don't love the structure by episode three, the remaining 77 won't convert you. Lightweight—deliberately, but weightlessness isn't for everyone.

The Lives of Others2006

Robin Hood is the fantasy of fighting tyranny; this is the reality. Both ask whether resistance is possible when the system is designed to crush you—but this film has no comforting answers.

A Stasi informant in Cold War Berlin begins to question whether he serves justice or tyranny. Quietly devastating meditation on what it costs to resist. Holds more profound truth about power and resistance than a dozen action shows.

But Glacially slow and emotionally bleak. No heroics, no catharsis, no satisfaction of seeing the bad guys defeated. Ends in moral ambiguity. Watching it is work.