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The Queen Mother Eleanor (Jill Esmond) travels the country to raise
funds for King Richard's crusade - much to the dismay of the Sheriff of
Nottingham, who has no desire that the money she has raised ever leaves
the country. But he plays along nevertheless and makes a large donation to
the Queen - and at the same time urges her to not pass through Sherwood
Forest ... to which the Queen even agrees, but Maid Marian (Bernadette
O'Farrell) persuades her to do so nevertheless, as she is sure the Sheriff
will try to rob her.
So while the Queen sends all of her guards on the route the Sheriff has
suggested, only she, her right-hand man Bruno (Gerald Cross) and Maid
Marian take a stroll through Sherwood. But Bruno is a traitor and has told
the Sheriff about the Queen's plans, so the Sheriff has a few of his men
dressed up as Robin Hood's merry men and lie in waiting ... but they are
spotted by Friar Tuck (Alexander Gauge) who reports the whole thing to
Robin Hood (Richard Greene), who has the perfect plan ... why not use the
foresters, the sworn enemies of Robin Hood, to engage in battle with the
Sheriff's men dressed as outlaws, while the Queen can safely pass. Of
course the plan works, and Bruno is even found out as a traitor.
As such, the episode is an ok entry in the series, but it raises an
interesting question (which by the way is explained in no other version of
the story neither): How come fundraising for the crusades - which doesn't
concern the poor in the country in the least but is just the private sport
of a unworldly monarch - and sending it out of the country is
alright while collecting taxes is dead wrong ? Then again though one must
bear in mind that the whole Robin Hood-legend has little to
do with historical facts in the first place but is supposed to be an
entertaining adventure yarn ...
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