Maid Marian

I believe this programme was once voted childrens programme of the year, or something like that, and it certainly earned this award. It is indeed debatable whether or not children could ever fully appreciate the programme's humour.

Created and written by Tony Robinson (Blackadder's Baldrick), this was like Robin Hood, except the hero was Maid Marian, a woman. The characters included ye Goodies, ye Baddies and the Peasants. Ye Goodies consisted of: Robin, a cowardly tailor from Kensington who fancied himself as a bit tough; Maid Marian, the true leader of the Merry men; Barrington, a super-cool rasta, played by Red Dwarf's Danny John-Jules; Rabies, the stupid and dirty oaf, who was said to have been born in a pigsty and raised by pigs; and Little Ron, the very little yet very violent and tough Merry man.

Then there were the Baddies. These consisted mainly of: King John, a childish bully; The sheriff of Nottingham (Tony Robinson)who was the Merry men's most cunning foe; Gary and Graeme, his two guards and Guy of Gisborne, the King's nephew who was 27 years old, but had the mind of an obnoxious 6 year old. Various Peasants sprung up throughout the show's run.

The Merry Mens' (ye Goodies') main mission was to free the oppressed peasants of Worksop from King John. The Merry Men and the Baddies, who always tried to outsmart each other, were both equally as useless as far as I could tell.

The show had a catchy theme tune and involved at least one cool song per episode. These were normally sung by Barrington or Robin. The programme lasted for four serieses, between 1989 and 1994, and a Christmas special. It was a work of sheer excellence, I reckon.

KIDS' PROGRAMMES OF THE 1980S PAGE