Tony Robinson talks up kids' comedy comeback

Tony Robinson says he’s planning a reboot of his  kids’ comedy Maid Marian And Her Merry Men – and not for the first time.

The Blackadder star told today’s Sun that he has sold the rights to the show he created to a TV production company and ‘we are in the process of creating a version of the original for television.’

But he has been talking about the idea for at least three years, since a planned stage show hit the buffers pre-pandemic.

In October 2020, he told the Celebrity Catch Up podcast: ‘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.’

And a few months later, he told the PA news agency: ‘We’re talking about the possibility of rebooting the series for a modern audience. It would be very, very different, it would be more Fleabag than the initial Maid Marian And Her Merry Men. But those talks are taking place.’

And last year he told Metro he was working with a producer on a comeback, but urged fans to be patient, saying: ‘You want these things to move much faster than they do, but I'm fairly optimistic that we'll see a Maid Marian show within the next five to six years.’

The original ran on BBC One from 1989 until 1994, retold the legend of Robin Hood, placing Maid Marian as leader of the medieval gang and demoting the famous outlaw to the role of an incompetent, vain tailor.

Sir Tony, now 76, played the Sheriff of Nottingham with Kate Lonergan as Maid Marian, Adam Morris as Robin of Kensington  and Danny John-Jules as Barrington.

Earlier this year, Sir Tony made a return as Baldrick to read a bedtime story for Comic Relief.

Maid Marian And Her Merry Men is available on ITVX, but only to £5.99-a-month premium subscribers.

Published: 1 May 2023