'Robin Hood': Series 3 episode guide

Episode 1: Total Eclipse
Saturday 28th March 2009

The Outlaws return from the Holy Land and Robin breaks up the gang – all he wants is to avenge Marian’s death. Robin races to Locksley Manor, alone, to confront Gisborne, and an epic battle commences. The Outlaws arrive as Gisborne throws Robin into the river, far below. Sir Jasper arrives at the castle with a message from Prince John. He blames the Sheriff for the bungled assassination and demands 1,000 crowns a month and the body of Robin Hood, just as Gisborne enters to announce he has killed Hood.

Tuck, a travelling monk, saves Robin from the river. Robin tries to leave but Tuck knocks him out and ties him up, determined that he’ll rest. Tuck tells him that Robin Hood is the only hope the people of England have left. The Sheriff sends Gisborne to Locksley, and Sir Jasper suggests they try to locate Hood’s loot, instead. They torture Much, who says he’ll take him to a fictional loot. Luckily, Little John and Allan are outside the castle and rescue him right under the Sheriff’s nose.

Tuck shows Robin how much the people need him, but all Robin cares about is revenge – even if it means getting killed in the process. Tuck needs a new plan. He needs to take drastic action and risk everything. So Tuck tells Gisborne that Hood’s body is buried at Dead Man’s Crossing, while also telling the Outlaws that Robin lives and wants to meet them at the same place. Tuck watches, secretly, as the Outlaws are captured by Gisborne.

Robin realises he must return to being Robin Hood. He must save his men. Luckily, Tuck has a master plan and, with the help of Tuck and an eclipse, Robin saves his men. He then confronts Gisborne but, instead of killing him, Robin realises a far worse punishment is to leave him living in hell…

Episode 2: Cause And Effect
Saturday 4th April 2009

The Sheriff agrees to sell all local men to Finn, the rightful King of Ireland, who wants them to help liberate Ireland. Kate is a feisty village girl who tries to save her younger brother, Matthew, from the conscription being imposed by the Sheriff of Nottingham, but her sibling still gets caught by Gisborne and his henchmen. Now she has endangered herself, but she escapes and Robin manages to save her.

Kate joins the Outlaws as they try – and fail – to save the conscripts. Robin is caught, shackled and taken to the Castle, though his identity remains unknown. Tuck takes control and concludes they’ll have to launch an ambush, as Robin is transported. Kate, however, sneaks inside the Castle but she’s recognised by Gisborne, who says her brother will hang. To save him, Kate tells Gisborne that Robin is with the conscripts.

Robin leads the village men in a fight for freedom but they get trapped. Gisborne kills Kate’s brother and goes for Robin, but the Sheriff wants him to suffer a slow death and locks him in the vault. Finn is impressed by Robin and wants them to join forces to destroy Prince John. Robin rejects the offer, but Finn still tries to break him out, only to be betrayed by his brother, Tiernan. Kate tells the Outlaws about Robin, who prioritises his rescue. Kate reluctantly realises she must help Robin.

The Sheriff and Tiernan leave to transport the conscripts to the coast. Meanwhile, in the dungeon, the appearance of a mouse shows Robin a loose stone, which he and Finn manage to dislodge in order to escape. They speed to the coast road to help rescue the conscripts where the Outlaws launch an arrow attack. Gisborne and the Sheriff meet Prince John’s men who are expecting payment. Instead, the Sheriff gives them Gisborne. Kate’s paid her debt for turning Robin in; now she never wants to see him again. Robin announces the day is coming when they will fight to overthrow the injustice in England.

Episode 3: Lost In Translation
Saturday 11th April 2009

The Sheriff learns that the Abbot is guilty of an heretical act. Seeing an opportunity, the Sheriff blackmails the religious dignitary and forces him to help bring down Robin Hood. Robin and the Outlaws arrive in Locksley to hear the Abbot demanding that the villagers turn Robin in. Tuck is determined to confront the Abbot but is arrested.

The Sheriff rides in with a tortured Tuck, announcing that if the villagers don’t want the same fate, they must turn Hood in. The Sheriff then sends the Abbot to persuade Tuck to betray Robin. But Tuck remains resolute and asks why the Abbot has abandoned the fight for good. Tuck is amazed by the answer. The Abbot’s heresy is that he is translating the Bible into English – an act which will change the known world. Even for such a prize, Tuck won’t betray Robin. The Abbot has no alternative, Tuck must die. Robin, however, has other ideas…

As Tuck is about to be publicly put on the rack, Robin and the Outlaws orchestrate a dramatic rescue attempt. In the confusion, the Outlaws and Tuck escape. Tuck explains why the Abbot is seemingly working with the Sheriff. Robin, Much and Little John confront the Sheriff and Robin appeals to the Abbot to tell the truth but he refuses and they are arrested. The gang are tied to the stake and the despicable Sheriff holds aloft a flaming torch. Will Robin and the Outlaws manage to escape their terrible fate?

Episode 4: The Sins Of The Father
Saturday 18th April 2009

Gisborne has yet to return to Nottingham. The grasping Sheriff, meanwhile, is after more loot and so hires a new tax collector, Ruthless Rufus, who arrives with his son, Edmund, to witness Robin and the Outlaws attack the Sheriff’s men. To prove his hard-man credentials, Rufus storms into Locksley village and throws his weight around and smashes up Kate’s family’s pottery and kiln. Kate fights back and is forced to accompany bully boy Rufus to Locksley Manor, his new home. Much and Robin arrive and save her, but also succeed in getting her outlawed.

Robin decides they will have to kidnap Rufus, although their ambush doesn’t quite go to plan. Kate and Allan are taken captive by Rufus but Robin captures Edmund. Rufus demands that his son is returned by midday and says if this happens then maybe Robin’s cohorts will still be breathing.

Elsewhere, Kate and Allan are held prisoner in the butcher’s shop – which Rufus has claimed as his own. Robin searches Locksley Manor, while Tuck interrogates Edmund. A meat hook reminds Little John where he recognises Rufus from. Rufus forces Scrope, the Sheriff’s treasurer, to secretly work for him. Scrope persuades the Sheriff to loan his troops to the Earl of Northumberland, allowing Rufus to raid the treasury. The Sheriff discovers he’s been robbed and, without a second thought, kills Scrope and charges off to the butcher’s shop.

Meanwhile, back in the forest, Edmund explains to Tuck that Rufus’s father was killed by the Sheriff and confesses that the butcher’s shop is his father’s hideout – where he’s holding Kate and Allan. A confrontation ensues between Robin and his gang, the Sheriff and Rufus and Edmund, and terrible truths are revealed.

Episode 5: Let The Games Commence
Saturday 25th April 2009

A beautiful and aristocratic woman, Isabella, gallops into the forest, hotly pursued by sinister men on horseback. Just as they are about to pounce, Robin Hood rescues her, but not before she’s shown herself to be no push-over. There is clearly more to her than meets the eye, but is Robin smitten? And is he right to take her at face value and give her the benefit of the gang’s protection?

Elsewhere, Gisborne returns triumphant from the court of Prince John. Armed with a formidable troop of elite soldiers and instructions from his new royal master to kill Robin Hood, Gisborne is contemptuous of the Sheriff – he doesn’t need the patronage of the mere Sheriff of Nottingham, who he reminds is still in Prince John’s bad books for debts unpaid.

Before long, skirmishes break out throughout the forest as Gisborne and his men battle with the hooded heroes. When Little John is separated from the others, he finds himself going undercover with Bertha of Bath; the larger-than-life but questionable promoter of a cohort of gladiators who are on their way to perform in Nottingham. But has Little John bitten off more than he can chew when he poses as a gladiator?

Back in the forest it seems like Gisborne could finally have Hood in his clutches, but at the moment of capture, Isabella reveals that she is his sister and Robin gets away. Gisborne is incensed with Isabella for fraternising with the enemy, but she pleads innocence and throws herself upon his mercy. As a humiliated Gisborne returns to Nottingham Castle to face the Sheriff’s wrath, it becomes clear that all is not well between Gisborne and his little sister…

Episode 6: Do You Love Me?
Saturday 2nd May 2009

The megalomaniacal Prince John, pretender to the throne of England, is travelling the land, greasing the palms of noblemen in a bid to win their loyalty and the throne. Prince John needs all his subjects to love him, and any that he suspects don’t had better beware.

When Prince John arrives in Nottingham he has Gisborne dragged to his camp and makes him an offer he can’t refuse: kill the disloyal Sheriff and then step into his shoes. What could be simpler?

Prince John basks in the adoration of the crowds in Nottingham, but his mood changes when he realises that Robin Hood is still at large. He notices Gisborne’s beautiful sister, Isabella, who immediately flatters the devious Prince and pledges her loyalty to him.

Elsewhere, Robin and the gang realise that Prince John is trying to usurp his brother, King Richard. They set about robbing the gold Prince John’s been amassing, they then have to employ all their ingenuity to undermine the gathering of nobles Prince John is entertaining at Nottingham Castle. Meanwhile, the dastardly Prince has set the Sheriff and Gisborne against each other.

Episode 7: Too Hot To Handle
Saturday 9th May 2009

The heat-wave is becoming unbearable and a drought is taking its terrible toll on the good folk of Locksley. As the last drop of water is consumed, Robin, Tuck and the gang know they must find water fast or everyone will perish.

At Locksley Manor, Isabella is flirting shamelessly with Prince John. A disapproving Gisborne looks on – he’s still agitating about the promise to make him Sheriff. True to form, Prince John is putting his own needs first and reveals his latest devious plot to woo the people. Give them what they want – provide them with water and then they will love him. But, first, the despotic Prince has made sure he controls the “nectar of life” and has siphoned off all the local water supplies.

But Prince John starts to suspect that Isabella is in cahoots with Robin Hood and sets out to trap her. Then he commands her brother, Gisborne, to see if she is in liege with the outlaw. If she is, she’s a traitor and Gisborne must show his devotion to his master and no mercy to her.

Meanwhile, Kate makes a wonderful discovery – hidden barrels of Prince John’s water. The outlaws waste no time in seizing it and giving it to the needy. But Prince John soon arrives and the consequences are dire. Isabella sends a message to Robin saying she has valuable information for him but can she be trusted?

Episode 8: Long Live The King
Saturday 23rd May 2009

In a workshop in London, an artesian is carefully finishing a wax model. A sinister man threateningly looms behind him – could it be the ruthless Lord Sheridan, Keeper of the Crown?

A sombre procession arrives in Nottingham Castle, led by Lord Sheridan, and carrying a coffin that bears the Crown’s insignia. Lord Sheridan announces the terrible news that King Richard The Lion Heart has been killed in battle.

Prince John wails, unconvincingly, and throws himself on the coffin. Then, without further ado, Prince John announces that, in the interests of national security, the Archbishop of Canterbury must now preside over both his brother’s funeral and his own coronation as King of England. Both events are to take place in Nottingham.

Hidden nearby, Robin and the gang look on in disbelief. But the shocking news doesn’t quite ring true. Robin needs to see the face of his beloved King Richard to be sure that he really is dead. By nightfall, the outlaws sneak into the Kirkless Abbey crypt. By candlelight, the gang is mortified to see the body of King Richard. However, Kate soon discovers that all is not quite as it seems. The gang must act fast to reveal a despicable act of treason. However, time is not on their side.

Episode 9: A Dangerous Deal
Saturday 30th May 2009

Robin Hood asks why Isabella has made a pact with the devil, otherwise known as Prince John, and accepted his patronage to become the new Sheriff Of Nottingham. Defiant Isabella insists she works for herself and intends to be the best Sheriff Of Nottingham that England has ever known. Not convinced, Robin offers her a deal to work covertly with him for the rightful King of England, Richard The Lionheart, or discover what it is to be enemies. Isabella has a tough decision to make.

In her first public appearance at a court hearing, Sheriff Isabella shows clemency to a young wench, Meg, who has stood up to the bullying men in her life. Isabella pardons her and makes a pledge to the people that, under her rule, Nottingham will be a fairer, more prosperous and peaceful place for everyone. Furthermore, she announces that she will execute that enemy of the people, her wicked brother, Guy of Gisborne, on Thursday at noon. For now, he can languish in the dungeons.

Suddenly, Isabella’s thuggish husband, Squire Thornton, pushes through the crowd to depose her. As he threatens to make her life a living hell for deserting him, the resourceful and fiendishly clever Isabella tries to outwit him and regain power. Will Squire Thornton finally get his come-uppance? Meanwhile, in the outlaws’ camp, Much is despondent, Kate is acting strangely and Robin can’t see the wood for the trees.

Episode 10: Bad Blood
Saturday 6th June 2009

Deep in the forest, Robin Hood comes upon a very jumpy Gisborne, who has escaped the clutches of his evil sister, Isabella, and the formidable Sheriff of Nottingham. Just as Robin and Gisborne take up arms against each other, tiny arrows pierce their necks and they fall comatose to the ground. They awake at night to find themselves bound and held captive by a mysterious elderly hooded leper, whose revelations will change their lives for ever and bind the mortal enemies in an uneasy truce.

The hooded leper only agrees to give them back their liberty on condition that they work together to save another who is in York and needs their help. Once their bickering subsides, they reluctantly agree to their captor’s emphatic demand.

Then, by the fireside, the mysterious stranger recounts to Robin and Gisborne the truth about their traumatised childhoods – sad and troubled memories that have shackled them together with bad blood. As the leper’s tale unfolds, both men come to understand what happened between their respective parents. Robin’s widowed father, Malcolm, Lord of Locksley, and Gisborne’s beautiful French mother, Ghislaine, and her devoted husband, Sir Roger Gisborne, were all thought to have met untimely deaths.

Robin and Gisborne are dumb struck when the stranger’s narrative finally seems to conclude. But there is one further shocking truth to come. Reeling, Robin and Gisborne stay true to their word and set off together to York to save their half brother, Archer, who, until now, they didn’t know existed. They must move fast, not least because Isabella is on their trail.

Episode 11: The Enemy Of My Enemy
Saturday 13th June 2009

Unlikely allies Robin and Gisborne gallop side by side in Sherwood Forest – but, before long, they are at each other’s throats. Allan spots them fighting and, thinking that Robin is in mortal danger, quickly summons the others. The gang breaks up the tussle and reels in disbelief as Robin explains his and Gisborne’s kinship and their promise to their dying father that they will rescue their half-brother, Archer, from his death sentence at York.

Robin tells the incredulous outlaws that Gisborne is one of them. Gisborne, meanwhile, tries to bring them around to the idea that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”. They may never trust him, but they must unite to defeat the new Sheriff Of Nottingham – Gisborne’s ferocious sister, Isabella.

Robin and Gisborne head for York at breakneck speed. They’ve heard that Archer has brought an arsenal of innovative weapons from the Orient which, if found, could help bring down Prince John. But Isabella is on their trail and has put a price on their heads of 100 crowns each, if they’re taken alive. Can they keep evading her henchmen?

Meanwhile, Archer, their handsome and ever-resourceful half-brother, is playing fast and loose with the Sheriff Of York’s wife, Gweneth. Archer is soon taken before her husband, trying to talk his way out of trouble with claims that, not only does he have weapons from the Orient, but he also knows all about the esoteric science of alchemy, which can lead to untold wealth and power. If Archer’s considerable persuasive and swashbuckling skills aren’t enough to win his freedom, will his brothers be in time to save him?

Episode 12: Something Worth Fighting For (Part 1)
Saturday 20th June 2009

When Robin Hood, Gisborne and the outlaws intercept one of Isabella’s messengers with a missive to Prince John there is both good and bad news. The outlaws rejoice when they learn that King Richard is a month away from home and rallying troops to fight his brother’s attempt to usurp him. But the gang are appalled when they discover that Isabella is confiscating food and snatching men from nearby villages to raise a force of some 300 militia for Prince John’s side. Her next target is Locksley.

Robin, meanwhile, pledges that England will never be slaves to Prince John and he and the gang rush to Locksley where the villagers are under siege. Isabella’s right-hand henchman, Blamire, and his thugs are trying to kidnap the male villagers. There’s a pitched battle and the gallant outlaws succeed in saving the men of Locksley and then give them sanctuary in Sherwood Forest.

Elsewhere, the ever-opportunistic Archer seeks out Isabella, informs her of their kinship and propositions her: her power and his skills could make them an unstoppable alliance. She’s not impressed, however, and has Blamire promptly throw Archer in the dungeons. But has she finally met her match?

In the woods, Tuck preaches that the Lord helps those who help themselves, while Robin worries they are outnumbered and hopelessly ill-equipped to take on the might of Prince John and his allies. But then the most audacious scheme is implemented when Gisborne reveals a secret way into Nottingham Castle – which might just mean that it can be seized and held for King Richard. The stakes have never been higher and there will be gains and tragic losses on both sides before the battle can be won.

Episode 13: Something Worth Fighting For (Part 2)
Saturday 27th June 2009

The real Sheriff of Nottingham is back from the dead and, what’s more, he has amassed a formidable professional fighting force outside of Nottingham Castle, where Robin Hood and his allies are holed up. Tension is high and the Sheriff is gloating and spoiling for a fight. His army has sophisticated, fearsome weaponry and it’s aimed at those sheltering inside the castle walls. The Sheriff wants his town back, and now.

Robin tries to keep spirits up and shouts commands in the castle – every able-bodied person must fight once the battle begins. Devious and deadly Isabella, meanwhile, remains locked in the dungeon. Still reeling from the death of Allan, Robin and Gisborne ride out to meet their nemesis face to face. The Sheriff tells Robin that if he gives Gisborne and Isabella to him, he may spare the bloodshed. The Sheriff goads Robin with the sheer terrifying scale of his new army, which he promises will squash Robin’s outnumbered motley crew.

Robin and Gisborne are not intimated and turn and ride, side by side, back into Nottingham Castle, as the Sheriff catapults a fireball into the castle forecourt. It explodes and there are casualties. Archer, who has been inspired to join Robin Hood’s side, recognises the weapon as a Byzantine fireball which he’s responsible for bringing back from the Orient.

Tuck, meanwhile, shows a surprising knowledge of such substances for a man of the cloth. Both men realise it causes destruction on a scale hitherto unknown – it’s deadly and repels water like oil and now it’s in the hands of The Sheriff. Will the fight for England and King Richard end in tragedy?