Under Medieval English law, a peasant who escapes serfdom and lives in a city for "a year and a day" is a free man, given the man lives openly, not in hiding. Surgeon Calend has nearly completed that duration, and only has to remain 'at large' until sunset that day and he will be free.

A Year and a Day

Richard Greene

Archie Duncan

Alexander Gauge

Alan Wheatley

Bernadette O'Farrell

Ian Hunter

John Arnatt

Bernard Knowles

The Goldmaker

Blackmail

Robin tries to help Wat Longfellow (Leslie Phillips), who became an outlaw to escape a life of indentured servitude, win the hand of the independent widow Winifred, but the wily Bailiff Baldwin also desires her.

A Village Wooing

Robin attempts to help Monk Albertus, a scientist who is accused of withholding secrets about a dangerous weapon.

The Scientist

By chance, a stranger hidden in a cart overhears a conversation between Robin and Marian. Is it enough to blackmail the outlaw of Sherwood Forest? Robin impersonates the Sheriff to turn the tables on the blackmailer.

Sir Richard of the Lea has a lot of very nice pewter plate, and when an 'alchemist' comes along and says he can turn it into gold, Sir Richard is taken in. How can Robin outwit the 'goldmaker' without attracting the attention of the Sheriff?

Lady Pomfret's husband hasn't returned from the Crusades for seven years, and under the law he is deemed to be dead. Her cousin LeBlonde has arrived to take possession of her estate, but an imposter, or two, might help in this situation.

The Imposters

Five hundred crowns is a great deal of money, but that's the sum demanded from the villagers by Count Severne to pay a ransom for the return of his son. Edwin, spokesman of the serfs, appeals to Robin for help.

Ransom

Prince John is planning to divorce his wife, Princess Avice of Gloucester, to marry a French Princess, Lady Isabella of Angouleme. Princess Avice ask Robin for help.

Isabella

The Sherriff's brother, Sir Montichet, an unpopular tax collector is killed. Mark, an opportunist thief sees the murder, and is blamed for it. Robin welcomes him into his band, but the Sheriff plans to hang eight villagers unless Mark gives himself up.

The Hero

Sir William tries to acquire Tom the Miller's flour mill by underhand means, ascribing a series of misfortunes  to the 'Little People'. Friar Tuck doesn't believe this falsehood, and asks Robin for help.

The Haunted Mill

Sir Dunstan of Travers, a guest of Maid Marian, discloses to her his vow to wear a black patch over one eye until he has captured Robin Hood. She hurries off to warn Robin, and almost falls into a cleverly laid trap.

The Black Patch

To help the villagers of Lotham, who are being very heavily taxed, Robin supplies table silver to the silversmith and Master of the Nottingham Mint, to melt down into coin for the starving villagers. Unknown to Robin, the Sheriff already suspects the silversmith is in sympathy with King Richard. When the villagers try to spend them at the market, they are denounced as counterfeit and Friar Tuck is arrested and put on trial for forgery.

Outlaw Money

Robin realizes with winter coming on that there is a shortage of honey for the Merry Men. He decides to join Tuck on a journey to Canterbury to so he can locate a supply of honey and allow Tuck to complete his religious pilgrimage. At Canterbury, they find a local maid, Alice, accused of witchcraft, saving her from drowning by the Count Duprez's soldiers. Robin and Friar Tuck uncover a plot by the Count against Lady Margaret.

The Friar's Pilgrimage

Sir Simon, and agent of Prince John, goes undercover as a cobbler named Jack. He pretends to  be mistreated by the Sheriff, in a plan to join Robin's band, and to turn the outlaws against Robin. 'Jack' lays black rumours of Robin robbing clerics and taking money from the King's ransom and betraying Tom of Guant, now residing in the Sheriff's dungeon.

The Trap

Lady Rowena is being forced to marry a local nobleman, De Vere. Sir Hubert is determined to storm the castle single-handed, to save Rowena, his true love. Robin is soon at work on his behalf.

Hubert

Marian's cousin Sir William Fitzwalter arrives in Sherwood with a message from Queen Eleanor regarding the King's ransom in Austria, but Marian has a forbidding dream of warning and Robin must determine the truth behind his claims and Marian's fears.

The Dream

After being embarrassed by his fellow outlaws over his romantic feelings for Joan, Little John leaves the Blue Boar Inn in ill humour and is caught by the Sheriff's soldiers. He is captured and taken to the Sheriff who sentences him to be hanged.

The Blackbird

Robin's men are annoyed when he gives refuge to Pick, a confidence trickster, who specialises in a shell trick, which makes him rather unpopular with the men. Robin uses him in a plan to collect some jewels for King Richard's campaign in France.

The Shell Game

Tom Joyner, a serf, is supposed to be dying, and Sir Charles intends collecting the tax to which he is legally entitled if one of his villagers dies. Imposing the tax, means Sir Charles is entitled to any of Tom's goods and chattels, which will leave the serf's family penniless. Tom, however, was only stunned and Friar Tuck devises a plan to thwart the rascally Lord Bailiff.

The Final Tax

The young Prince Arthur of Brittany,  who is the rightful heir to the throne of England, has fallen into the clutches of his uncle, the evil Prince John. Prince John and the Sheriff devise a way to keep Robin and his band out of the way, while they put into action an ambush plan, involving phoney outlaws, that will lead to the deaths of prince Arthur and Lady Marian. Robin and his men set out to develop a plan to rescue the young boy.

Ambush

Robin and Friar Tuck escort Prince Arthur and the Duchess Constance to Chateau Marmont in France for safety. There they make a discovery, of a French 'Robin Hood' called Jacques Chapeau. Jacques captures the prince, intending to use him as ransom for his brother imprisoned in Paris.

The Bandit of Brittany

Lepidus, the Alchemist, still held prisoner by the Sheriff, has promised to make gold for him in return for his freedom. The Sheriff, dubious of his claim after being kept waiting for six weeks, threatens that he will hang him in seven days time unless his alchemy begins to work. As Robin is away in France it is up to Marian to come up with a plan to satisfy the Sheriff and save Lepidus from being hanged.

The Goldmaker's Return

While waiting for a boat to take them back to England, Robin spots Sir Roderick, an emissary of Prince John, disguised as a wine merchant, collecting gold for the Prince. Robin and Friar Tuck contact the French underground via the waitress at the "Black Rabbit" Inn, Michelle, for help in uncovering the plot. Robin decides to take Sir Roderick's place, and seize the gold for King Richard, but the plan goes wrong.

Flight from France

While fishing in a secret pool—a tributary that leads directly to Sir Cedric's private lake—Robin and Marian see Sir Cedric's men arresting a poor, hungry serf for poaching eels from Cedric's lake. Marian goes to Cedric to plead for the man's release, while Robin decides to take a different tactic, one involving Cedric's obsession for fishing.

The Secret Pool

'The Flying Four' are a Bavarian acrobatic team, and they come through Sherwood Forest on their way to Nottingham Fair. Naturally, they are waylaid by the outlaws, but when they are found to be harmless, they are treated as guests. It is then that the Men of Sherwood get their Great Idea. Three of Robin's men travel undercover as part of the group of. A greedy Gypsy fortune teller betrays them to the Sheriff of Nottingham, who immediately arrests them. Robin, on his return from France, must break them out before they are executed.

Fair Play

Master Judd, a wealthy London merchant and his beautiful daughter Bess are on their way to Sir Harold of Nottingham with a dowry of one thousand gold crowns. Garth, one of the outlaws, reports their presence to Robin, who arranges to relieve them of their gold - a crime which incurs the Sheriff's wrath and spells further trouble for outlaws.

The Dowry

Joseph of Cordoba and a young friend, Esther, escape from York with the York Treasure, a sum of money raised by friends to pay the passage of a shipload of refugees landing at Grimsby. When Joseph is wounded, Robin, Little John and Esther head for the coast with the hate-mongering Malbete in pursuit.

The York Treasure

The Count of Severne tells the Sheriff that his gold has been taken by Robin Hood. He also suspects Maid Marian. The Sheriff disbelieves this, but agrees to put the Count's suspicions to the test — he borrows a baby girl to abandon in Sherwood Forest and trap Marian when the outlaws pass the baby to her.

The Borrowed Baby

Robin and his archenemy, the Sheriff of Nottingham, set aside their differences temporarily to work together to rid Nottingham of the Duke DeMoreville, a murderous psychopath whom the terrified citizenry refers to as "The Hangman of Leicester", who is sending five black pearls to Prince John for the Sheriff's head.

The Black Five

Count Olivier has levied a new tax, taking so much food from the people of Upper Minton that they may starve. Robin captures the food from the tax collector and must return it to the villagers without the Count knowing.

Food for Thought

The outlaws of Sherwood are desperately in need of money. Marian's uncle,, the Earl of Rochdale, is quarreling with the Earl of Northgate, and Marian suggests an archery match to decide the matter. She hopes Robin will be able to shoot for her uncle, but first they must hoodwink the Sheriff. Robin obtains  a letter of safe conduct signed by the Sheriff, by Loud Lawrence impersonating the Earl.

Too Many Earls

Robin and Friar Tuck go on a mission to Scotland, to collect five hundred gold crowns owed to King Richard by the treacherous King William the Lion, but they find the Scots suspicious.  They encounter the outlaw Duncan of Stoneykirk, who wants a share of the money after saving Robin.

Highland Fling

Robin and Friar Tuck go with Marian to an island off the coast of Ireland, where they suspect her uncle, Sir Edward de Courcy, is being held prisoner. They find the local people terrorised by the pagan priest, Rolfe, and the power of Thor. Marian is taken prisoner to be sacrificed with her uncle unless Robin and Tuck can discredit Rolfe.

The Mystery of Ireland's Eye

Robin and Friar Tuck are escorting Marian back home from Ireland, after rescuing her uncle. They are making their way to Cork harbour and a boat back to England, when a storm forces them to stay in the barn of a Pat and Maeve Nolan. When the couple's home is burnt down, the trio are accused and to stop them being hanged, Robin claims kinship with "the little people" – leprechauns, and he and Tuck are given 24 hours to bring back proof of their existence, with Marian as hostage.

The Little People

During King Richard's crusade, Ali ben Azra, one of the hated Saracens is captured and brought to England. In their turn, the Saracens capture Lord Rossmore and hold him hostage against Ali's safe return. Plans are made for the exchange, but Sir James Rossmore, nephew of Lord Rossmore, has other ideas. He has devised a plot that will enable him to inherit his uncle's fortune, placing the blame on the innocent Ali ben Azra. Robin decides to intervene.

The Infidel

Ned Carter is travels from London to Nottingham, carrying a list of people loyal to King Richard. He stops at the place of the local tailor Ezekiel, but by accident, the cloak with the hidden list comes into the possession of the Sheriff of Nottingham. Ned and Ezekiel seek Robin's help to keep the list out of the hands of the Sheriff.

The Frightened Tailor

According to Robin's father's will, when the Locksley Hall bell rings on Lady Day, if the tenant farmers of his estate have performed their tasks for three years, they will own their lands in perpetuity. However Sir Charles, the current occupant, has found a loophole to break the agreement, and so Robin has to sort out the situation.

The Path of True Love

Once again, Sir William tries to part Tom the Miller from his flour mill, this time by charging a toll to use the road to the mill. When Robin hears about this, he thinks of a way to get the grain to the mill without anyone setting foot on Sir William's land.

The Road in the Air

Little John has fallen for a Gypsy dancer, Carlotta, who is staying at the Blue Boar Inn. She also dances at the Sheriff's castle, and Robin wants to know the route of the next tax shipment bound for the coffers of Prince John. Little John asks the girl to obtain the information.

Carlotta

The legendary character Robin Hood and his band of merry men in Sherwood Forest and the surrounding vicinity. While some episodes dramatised the traditional Robin Hood tales, most episodes were original dramas created by the show's writers and producers.

A Year and a Day

Seasons4

Season 2 Episodes39

Cast7

Crew1

Discussion

Episode Summary