The last episode of Robin Hood written by Bev Doyle and Richard Kurti was the great "The Taxman Cometh", so my expectations were high for their sophomore effort. Sadly, "Peace? Off!", while containing some good ideas and fun moments, is a mess.
Robin Hood has always had a tendency to parallel the Crusades with current Middle Eastern issues throughout its stories, but this episode marks the most overt attempt yet. When Prince Malik arrives at Nottingham Castle to begin peace negotiations with Prince John, the outlaws find themselves fearing the arrival of this "Saracen sorcerer" after discovering a ghoulish mask in his abandoned carriage.
Their discovery leads to the series' first dabble with the supernatural (an angle used often, to fantastic success, in Robin Of Sherwood) and for a while the intriguing elements, including a hypnotized Crusader setting fire to churches, all indicate a silly but entertaining story is about to unfold. Sadly, once things are set in motion, it all quickly crumbles into nonsense after 20 minutes.
Basically, Doyle and Kurti's script begins to overload credibility (female ninjas) and contains unforgivable lapses in historical fact. Of course, it's easy to overlook these slip-ups and enjoy the show on a basic level, as it contains some entertaining fight scenes and the best use of Keith Allen's Sheriff in weeks, but is that enough? As a story, "Peace? Off!" just washes over you, testing your patience as its plot thickens into sludge.
As I mentioned earlier, one of the best aspects of Robin Of Sherwood was its pagan mythology, a fresh element that even appeared in Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves. Quite why this new series shies away from a supernatural angle is ridiculous, as kids are far more interested in spooky stories than politics! I don't mean the series should start including witches huddled around cauldrons, but the twelfth century was a more superstitious and frightening place than the BBC's Robin Hood is showing us. Maybe we should get a taste of that occasionally.
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