A reboot of cult kids TV classic Maid Marian and Her Merry Men could be in the works at Netflix
Sir Tony Robinson, best known for his role as Baldrick in Blackadder and presenting Channel 4 history show Time Team, created the BBC One children’s show Maid Marian and Her Merry Men, which ran from 1989 to 1994.
Robinson, who also starred in the show as the Sheriff of Nottingham, was speaking on the Celebrity Catch Up podcast when he revealed that he had been talking to streaming giant Netflix about the possibility of bringing the show back.
“We were talking about the possibility of doing a West End musical of Maid Marian last year and the year before,” Robinson said.
“But in a way Covid knocked it on the head, and it wasn’t going in the right direction anyway.
“But I’m now talking to Netflix about the possibility of some kind of revamp of Maid Marian in the future, which would be very exciting.”
Exciting indeed. The show starred Kate Lonergan in the lead role of Maid Marian, who led the Merry Men in a modern twist on the classic Robin Hood story.
Famous for its spoofs of contemporary pop culture, the show featured many musical elements, including this famous song about Pancake Day.
The show also starred Wayne Morris as Robin of Kensington – no longer the leader of the troupe, instead a yuppie tailor – Danny John-Jules as Barrington, Mike Edmonds as Little Ron, Forbes Collins, as King John, and Ramsay Gilderdale as Guy of Gisbourne.
However, if the show were to return, it would probably be with a new cast.
“I’d kind of like to start again,” Robinson said. “I would like to discover that voice of the television Marian from scratch. I’ve got some ideas which I’ll keep absolutely under wraps.
“As soon as I told you some of the people we had in mind for the cast you’d get where I was going – but I’m not going to!”
Given that Robinson has only revealed that he was speaking to Netflix about rebooting the show, any sort of confirmation is likely a long way off, but we’ve no doubt that any return to Sherwood Forest would be rapturously welcomed.
