nickgodfrey

Frasier by this point had become something of a let down. Once Daphne's appalling family were made flesh and blood, it was all down hill from there. Occasionally though, there were flashes of the old brilliance that harked back to the shows early, golden years. This episode is one such flash.

Frasier ends up at a science fiction convention to pick up some X-Men comics for his son and recognises an actor he admired from his and Niles' youth. The actor is Jackson Hedley (the marvellous Derek Jacobi), a Shakespearian stage actor now reduced to playing an android on a tv show. Enter Frasier and Niles to revive the man's ailing career and "put him back on the stage where he belongs."

Of course as with other episodes when Niles and Frasier combine their enthusiastic and well meaning, but ultimately disastrous, efforts, this starts to also go horribly wrong, simply because, well, Jackson cannot act.

Derek Jacobi is the star here and he is brilliant. One of the greatest Shakespearean actors on the stage, is reduced to hamming it up with a serious of exaggerated wheezes, cackling voices and loud shrieks. This is scenery chewing at its finest and he must have had great fun doing it.

It actually would have been nice to see more of this character, as I'm sure he had more of a story in him and would have been far more entertaining and interesting than Daphne's atrocious (and unfunny) clan.

Definitely one of the better of the later Frasier's and one of my personal favourites.

Great tv from my youth and certainly the best representation of the classic legend.

Filmed between 1984-1986 for only 3 seasons, the show was on Saturday evenings on ITV and me and my brother never missed it.

The first 2 seasons featured Michael Praed as Robin of Loxley, Judi Trott and Marion, Ray Winstone as Will Scarlet, Clive Mantle as Little John, Phil Rose and Friar Tuck, Mark Ryan as Nasir and Peter Llewelyn Williams as Much.

Jason Connery took over the Robin role (as Robert of Huntingdon and Robin's successor and Herne's son) for the 3rd series and I remember at the time being really disappointed that Praed left and there was a new Robin.

Looking back now though I think Connery did a fine job and it couldn't have been as easy role to go into. In fact, some of my favourite episodes are with Connery, particularly 'The Sheriff of Nottingham' featuring a great performance from Lewis Collins.

The cinematography, music, scriptwriting and acting are all top notch. It's a gritty and sometimes dark telling of the old English legend - no tights worn here. Great action scenes with sword fights and arrows flying.

Two of the best characters are played by Nickolas Grace as the conniving, scheming Sheriff of Nottingham along with hapless Sir Guy of Gisborne played by Robert Addie. Grace is brilliant as the bug-eyed, sneering Sheriff, constantly deriding Guy on his constant failures to apprehend Robin and his merry men.

The whole cast are great in fact with Ray Winstone tearing up the scenery as the hot-headed Will Scarlet and Clive Mantle solid as the giant Little John.

And how cool is Nasir?

I saw this on You Tube a few years back and once was enough. Violence doesn't bother me but what bothers me is violence for the sake of it.

I'm not going to bother going in to detail because the film doesn't deserve it but what you get is a schoolgirl gang rape (fortunately you don't see it but it's bad enough listening to it) and an extremely nasty end rape scene. A cold film with cold characters who I wanted to see splattered all over the screen but nothing happens to them.

I'm guessing the director wanted to make a splash with his first film (hopefully his last) but it's a soulless dud.

Not worth anybody's time.