The BEST episodes directed by David Bell
#1 - Robin and the Beansprout
Maid Marian and Her Merry Men - Season 3 - Episode 5
It is tremendously cold, and the gang await a hot meal; unfortunately, it is Thursday, and Robin has forgotten to do the cooking. His excuse bears remarkable similarity to 'the Pied Piper of Hamlin,' and Marian forces him to go to Worksop to buy a Chinese Takeaway. Bereft of funds, Robin does an Elvis impersonation, and to prevent its perpetuation, Gladys and Snooker give Robin a box of food; unfortunately for Robin, it is not until he returns that he discovers the box contains one single beansprout. Guy has had a bath, and the King orders that he be clothed and fed; so, the Sheriff goes to Worksop and steals all of Gladys' and Snooker's food, while he sends the guards off to find a fur. The food mission is accomplished, but a breakdown in communication leads to the guards bringing back an enormous fir tree. The Sheriff orders that they get rid of it, so they throw it off the battlements, and it coincidentally lands exactly where Robin had thrown the beansprout; believing he had landed
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#2 - Robert the Incredible Chicken
Maid Marian and Her Merry Men - Season 1 - Episode 2
King John and the Sheriff are let down from the torture machine in the morning, and vow revenge against Robin and the band. The Sheriff and his guards then spend the day scouring Sherwood Forest for any sign of them. Meanwhile, Marian has spent the day trying to teach her men the survival and attack skills they require, including weights and archery. By chance, one of Robin's stray arrows exactly pierces the Sheriff's hat, and Marian manages to convince the Sheriff that Robin was in fact a master archer and had just fired a warning shot. After hearing of this, King John orders an archery contest in Worksop to lure Robin from hiding. Robin, upon being forbidden from competing by Marian, constructs a chicken costume in order to avoid being recognised, but all three of his arrows fail to hit the target and he is arrested. Marian arrives, and upon scoring 180 with her three arrows, King John concludes that she is Robin, and threatens to kill her; however, she uses the prize, a silver arrow
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#3 - They Came from Outer Space
Maid Marian and Her Merry Men - Season 3 - Episode 4
The sudden appearance of a comet across the skies of Worksop triggers a number of events: general panic amongst the peasants, including Hayley chundering; Snooker falls off a ladder and ends up covered in glue and leaves; Guy reveals to Marian that his only friend is an invisible alien named Plopbop; and the guards rush back to Nottingham Castle warning of alien invasion. Upon hearing this, King John orders a protective arsenal from alien invasion, and naturally the only way to finance it is to tax the peasants some more - upon realising that there is no money left in Worksop, the King decides that they should steal all the peasants clothes. The Merry Men find Snooker out of Worksop after his accident, who looks rather like an alien after his accident. Together, they all return to Worksop, only to be met by 21½ naked peasants, and Marian vows to return their clothes to them. The meet Guy in the forest, convince him that Snooker is Plopbop, and trick him into leaving the castle key outs
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#4 - The Great Mud Harvest
Maid Marian and Her Merry Men - Season 3 - Episode 6
The Sheriff and his men finish collecting tax from the peasants and return to the castle, where the Sheriff reveals to the guards that the job's done and he doesn't need them anymore, so he gives Gary the sack; King John then uses exactly the same excuse to fire the Sheriff, and he begs for his job back, promising to find more money. He sets off from the castle with Greame to find more wealth, and take a trunk of the King's money to the bank. Gary tries to tag along, but is repeatedly told to go away by the Sheriff, but not before he suggests they disguise themselves. The Sheriff and Greame hire an elephant costume to pass through Worksop, but on the walk it gets ripped and the trunk comes off. The Sheriff heads back to Worksop to get Gladys to sew it up so they don't lose their deposit, while instructing Greame to take the King's trunk to the bank; a misunderstanding leads to Greame taking the elephant's trunk, and leaving the money. Meanwhile, in Worksop, Marian's relief food for Wor
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#5 - The Miracle of St. Charlene
Maid Marian and Her Merry Men - Season 1 - Episode 4
The Merry Men are frustrated that ambush attempts are hindered by their inability to cross a river, and decide to build a bridge across it; however, they only get half-way before giving up and going fishing, leaving Rabies to complete it. Meanwhile, King John's uncle has died and bequeathes King John his hot-water bottle. So angry is King John with his uncle's lack of gratitude that he orders the Sheriff to sell the hot-water bottle to the peasants of Worksop for 50 gold pieces. Despite claiming that the hot-water bottle always stays hot, the Sheriff is unable to get 50 gold pieces from the penniless peasants. The Sheriff decides to take a shortcut home, but fails to remember the river in the way, and poor judgement on the half-bridge leads to the Sheriff falling in the water and losing the hot-water bottle, which the Merry Men catch while fishing. Marian is unimpressed, but Robin is keen to give it to the poor. He finds Gary and Greame, who had also fallen in the water, and considerin
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#6 - The Sharp End of a Cow
Maid Marian and Her Merry Men - Season 1 - Episode 5
For his failure to capture Robin, the Sheriff is sacked, and King John assumes all his responsibilities and goes to Worksop in an attempt to find Robin. Unfortunately, Robin was already heading to Worksop to buy buckets and horns to act as a warning device for attacks. Marian sends Barrington and Little Ron to Worksop to fetch him, and the latter is captured by King John after a chase through the town. Meanwhile, the ex-Sheriff has disguised himself as Marian in an attempt to infiltrate the gang's hideout, but falls into Barrington's pit trap. He momentarily confuses Rabies, but Marian does not fall for the charade and orders him to be tied up in their hideout. She then disguises herself as the Sheriff disguised as her, and leads King John into her traps, ensuring Little Ron's safe release. While making her demands to King John, the real Sheriff escapes from his ropes, and ensures King John's unconditional release and the reinstatement of his job.
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#7 - The Beast of Bolsover
Maid Marian and Her Merry Men - Season 2 - Episode 1
King John is becoming increasingly frustrated with the escalating frequency of ambushes of his guards by the Merry Men. Immediately preceding the latest ambush, however, the Merry Men are beaten to it by a new trio of bandits, led by the Beast of Bolsover, who moves into the Merry Men's hideout and refuses to return their personal belongings until they have been paid 25 gold pieces, or one of them beats him in a fight. He had already knocked out Little Ron, and so a fight was not an option. A good piece of fortune leads to the Merry Men capturing the Sheriff, and Marian goes to the castle to demand a 25 gold piece ransom, but is frustrated to learn that King John would rather see the Sheriff's death than pay the ransom. The discovery that the Sheriff has amnesia, however, leads the Merry Men to convince the Sheriff that he is, in fact, one of the Merry Men, and they get him to fight the Beast of Bolsover, to keep him busy while the Merry Men steal their things back. In a freak accident, Rabies drops Robin's wardrobe out of a tree onto the Sheriff and the bandits; the Sheriff gets his memory back, and arrests the Beast and his accomplices.
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#8 - The Worksop Egg Fairy
Maid Marian and Her Merry Men - Season 2 - Episode 2
King John has a sudden craving for eggs, and orders the Sheriff to go and find one for him; conveniently, Gladys' hen has just laid its first egg in years, which the Sheriff proceeds to steal. The peasants go to Marian for help, and she and the Merry Men ambush the Sheriff and the guards in a clearing and demand the return of the egg. A small game of rugby ensues, and the egg is broken, leaving both parties with a problem: the Sheriff and guards, despite their best efforts, are unable to salvage the egg to King John's lunch, while the Merry Men are unable to return the rare egg to Worksop. Upon quizzing them, Marian discovers the Worksop philosophy on eggs: that they are bottom-warmers sent by the Worksop Egg Fairy after she has finished dancing, and that the fairy does not allow the people to feed their chickens, lest they be turned into egg people. Robin decides that, to get another egg, the town must play music, to entice the Egg Fairy to come down and dance. It is at this time that the Sheriff and the guards, disguised as monks, are passing back through Worksop from Lincoln, each concealing a large number of eggs under his cassock. Some violent pushing and shoving from the townspeople ensures that every egg is broken, and that the Sheriff and guards return to King John's punishment. Meanwhile, the confusion surrounding the sudden appearance of broken eggs up their cassocks allows Marian to confuse the peasants and force them to feed their chickens, which immediately leads to another egg.
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#9 - Little Brown Noses
Maid Marian and Her Merry Men - Season 2 - Episode 3
The Sheriff has stolen Gladys' hen, Colin, and refuse return until a fine of 200 gold pieces is paid. Gladys seeks the help of the Merry Men, who, at Robin's suggestion, decide to start a charity for Colin's Release. Their first initiative, a sponsored rob, proves unsuccessful, and succeeds only in obtaining the colourful clothing of Guy of Gisborne, the irritating nephew of King John, who is less than enthused about the prospect of Guy coming to the castle, only swayed by the prospect of 200 gold pieces' rent. Marian decides that a charity tele-thon in Worksop would be the best way to raise the money, and goes to work setting it up, much to the dismay of action-starved Little Ron. Little Ron disguises himself as Guy of Gisborne, and goes to the castle, where he fools the Sheriff into giving him first-class service. He orders vast amounts of food, and finishes by casually ordering an alive chicken, which the sycophantic Sheriff gets for him without question. When the real Guy arrives,
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#10 - Driving Ambition
Maid Marian and Her Merry Men - Season 3 - Episode 2
Upon coming to the conclusion that Worksop is boring, Marian decides that they should hold a song contest; Rose, seeing a chance to capitalise, convinces Marian that it is a bad idea, and then steals it. Disgusted, Marian vows to take no part in the contest, leaving Barrington without a partner. Meanwhile, in Worksop, King John has miserably failed his driving test, and the Sheriff decides to bribe Snooker so that he passes next time, but a cash flow crisis halts this plan in its tracks, until Guy accidentally bets the Sheriff 1000 pounds that he will not win the song contest. The Sheriff talks to Rose and they agree to fix the contest so that Guy wins, but the Merry Men have a similar plan to ensure Barrington' and Robin's victory, and ambush them on the way. At the contest, Robin develops a sudden case of stagefright, but at the last minute, Marian comes back and vents her rage against Rose through some harsh lyrics. The plan goes awry, however, when Rabies decides that he preferred
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#11 - A Game Called John
Maid Marian and Her Merry Men - Season 1 - Episode 3
It is pancake day, and the Sheriff and King John go to Worksop to get a frying pan, which they take from a peasant. While there, however, King John is mortified to discover that the peasants do not know who he is, and makes it the Sheriff's responsibility to bring about his fame. The Sheriff decides that he should invent something and name it in King John's honour, and a sudden inspiration leads him to invent the game known now as snooker, and name it John. After one failed attempt without cushions, the Sheriff and his men go to Lincoln to buy green felt for the John table. Meanwhile, the Merry Men have been ordered by Marian to rob a knight before they can have anymore pancakes. Upon ambushing the Sheriff, Robin discovers that the Sheriff too is hungry, and invites him around for breakfast. Marian is not happy, but then decides to bill the Sheriff for everything he eats. So scared is the Sheriff of Robin that he and the guards use the green felt they have purchased to make uniforms fo
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#12 - The Whitish Knight
Maid Marian and Her Merry Men - Season 1 - Episode 6
King John receives a postcard from his brother, Richard, the true king of England, who is due back from the Crusades in a matter of hours; John is fearful for his job, and the Sheriff - fearful for his job - decides that a hospitable 'welcome-home' reception is necessary. He and the guards go to Worksop to loot food for the banquet, and also take all the children back to the castle - in the confusion, Little Ron is taken back with the children.Meanwhile, Marian has decided to disband the Merry Men when she realized that they were not appreciated, but after the children were stolen, the peasants came back for help, and she rescinded her decision. Under the guise of a pizza salesman, the Merry Men are able to free the children, and steal the Royal Tea Set from the castle. King John and the Sheriff go after them, and eventually everyone ends up at the Merry Men's hideout. By endangering the Tea Set, Marian is able to get King John to bow to her requests, until the sudden appearance of the mysterious Whiteish Knight halts proceedings. The Whiteish Knight is revealed to be King Richard, who rules that King John had run England well, and vowed to return to the crusades. Realising that England would remain under corrupt rule, Marian decreed that the Merry Men would continue to fight injustice into the future.
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#13 - Rabies in Love
Maid Marian and Her Merry Men - Season 2 - Episode 4
Rabies' strength in arm wrestles is well known in Worksop, but when a strong woman challenges and beats him, he curiously finds himself in love, which dampens his ability to be useful. Meanwhile, King John is already sick of Guy, and orders that the Sheriff get him married off to the first rich girl he can find - coincidentally the same woman, Fergie. Upon hearing word of this, Rabies springs back into action, and the Merry Men crash the royal wedding, and put a stop to it through some general violence. Eventually, after Guy's engagement is broken off, Marian gets Rabies a date with Fergie, but it seems his eye is now on roof-repair specialist Margaret the Thatcher.
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#14 - Rotten Rose (2)
Maid Marian and Her Merry Men - Season 2 - Episode 6
Robin is in the torture chamber, and Marian is on Guy's leash in the castle grounds, while the guards clean the courtyard. Guy's lackadaisical security of King John's keys leads to Marian obtaining them, however when she goes to rescue Robin, he still believes Marian has betrayed him and refuses to leave, an act which lands the two of them in chains, and marked for execution at midday. Meanwhile, Nettle, whose mistrust for Rose caused her to spy around the castle, returns to the Merry Men to give them the news, and to propose a plan to sneak into the castle courtyard under cover of the cleaning bins and ambush the execution.At the execution party, Robin is finally made aware of Rose's treachery. She the reveals her grand plan: so psychotically fanatical is she about Robin that she wants his body stuffed for her Robin Hood Museum. The pair are led out for beheading, but just as Sheriff raises the axe, Little Ron, Rabies and Barrington intervene, and together the Merry Men tie up their enemies and escape, but not before Marian chains Rose up in the torture chamber and allows Guy to sing to her in the most disgusting possible way. Upon return, Robin is ashamed of what happened, but some encouragement from Marian convinces him to stay with the Merry Men.
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#15 - The Big Baby
Maid Marian and Her Merry Men - Season 3 - Episode 1
King John is in an exceptionally crabby mood, and orders that the Sheriff gets him a present; he and the guards go off to get a life-sized jelly baby in King John's likeness, which is promptly stolen by the Merry Men. Upon return to the castle, the Sheriff explains the absence of the present by pretending that it is the imaginary public holiday of Bloopie, which works until he accidentally reveals that gift-giving is customary. However, he decides that, by convincing the peasants that it is Bloopie, they can get gifts from them by pretending King John is 'Father Bloopie.' The Sheriff goes to Worksop and convinces the peasants to return to the castle, but Robin's arrival at the village on a jelly-baby related voyage makes the ruse known to the Merry Men. Using the jelly-baby, some convincing lying, and Barrington's exceptional impressionism, the Merry Men are able to infiltrate the castle, and then rescue the peasants by using the jelly-baby as a battering ram; they then return to Worksop to eat.
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#16 - Keeping Mum
Maid Marian and Her Merry Men - Season 3 - Episode 3
Marian's mother is coming for a visit, and to keep with her expectations, the Merry Men transform their hideout into a dental surgery. The boys all enjoy Mum's embarrassing stories and flapjacks, and Marian takes Mum into Worksop. The Sheriff and his guards see Mum as they pass through Worksop on their way to collect the visiting Countess of Luxembourg, and the Sheriff decides to seize the opportunity. While Marian's back is turned, he chats Mum up through song, and asks her out; naturally concerned, Marian goes to meet 'Arnold,' where he reveals his identity and captures her. Mum returns to the Merry Men and together they spring into action, ambushing Gary and Graeme with a six-month checkup, and replacing the Countess with Mum, who is then led into the castle. King John uses the opportunity as a chance to get rid of Guy through marriage, but when he leaves, Mum chats up the Sheriff, and convinces him to elope with her. The Merry Men ambush him and are able to get into the torture ch
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#17 - Rotten Rose (1)
Maid Marian and Her Merry Men - Season 2 - Episode 5
As usual, Robin is being mobbed by peasant groupies, while Marian complains and gossips with Nettle. She notices her old school friend, Rose Scargill, amongst Robin's admirers, and comments about how annoying she was, when Rose suddenly approaches and wants to catch up. After a conversation, Rose invites herself back to the hideout to try out a bow and arrow, but it quickly becomes apparent that she is trying to get closer to Robin. Feeling betrayed, Marian takes Rose back to the village, but has to pull her aside when she spies the Sheriff approaching, giving Rose a lesson in the reality of their situation. With this information in mind, Rose goes to the castle and makes a deal with the Sheriff for the capture of Marian and Robin. Despite Nettle's best efforts and mistrust, Rose lures Marian into an ambush; then, approaching Robin with the news of Marian's capture, leads Robin straight to the castle, where he is captured. Upon arrival in the torture chamber, Marian is not present; she is, in fact, on a forced date with Guy, who has developed a crush on her. Robin looks out the window and sees Marian with Guy, and believes he has been betrayed.
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#18 - How the Band Got Together
Maid Marian and Her Merry Men - Season 1 - Episode 1
Maid Marian, after a minor altercation with Little Ron on a bridge, arrives in the village of Worksop in an attempt to sell her tadpole. She unsuccessfully tries to sell the tadpole to Robin, a cowardly tailor who has just finished making the Royal Underpants, before accidentally wandering into the tomato-fire at the local stocks, in which Rabies and Barrington are being punished by the Sheriff of Nottingham for minor crimes. An altercation ensues with the Sheriff, the result of which sends Marian's tadpole into Rabies' nose. To protect herself from the Sheriff and his guards, she holds a sword to Robin's throat, threatening the cleanliness of the Royal Underpants which he still holds. The Sheriff allows them to escape, but orders an ambush from his guards, which ultimately comes unstuck when the guards unsuccessfully try to pass Little Ron on the bridge. When out of harm's way, Marian reminds Robin that they are now outlaws, and suggests they make the most of the situation by forming
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