MI:5, Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes, Dr. Who, Primeval, Chris Ryan's Strikeback, and of course Robin Hood.
BBC Dramas for some reason just seem to have better acting, better story telling, and a much cleaner look than their American cousins (some being Bastard cousins in the case of the Life on Mars remake). Not sure if you can attribute that to a severely reduced number of episodes per "series" or the fact that in many cases you don't have a team of writes kicking out stories, but rather one or two really good writers who can craft a series' arc and development.
Robin Hood is a great example. With three series and only 40 episodes the show accomplished pulling off a sweeping tale of intrigue in what would amount to not even two full US seasons. The best part was there were still stories to tell. But, thanks to the lead actor Jonas Armstrong wanting to branch out and do other projects it was ended after three series with a rather unique spin on the Robin Hood tale.
That got me thinking what are some of my favorite band of merry men doing with their post RH acting careers?
Jonas Armstrong -- Robin Hood -- Wanted to end the series so he could focus on other projects. According to IMDB there haven't been a whole lot of others since Robin Hood ended in 2009. He has done the Clive Barker film "Book of Blood" which was pretty good for what it was. 3 episodes of the show The Street, and two movies one in post production and one in pre production. So, right now it looks like that next big project hasn't come.
Sam Troughton -- Much -- Sadly, nothing since Robin Hood ended. But, if you need a fix you can always pick up movies like Vera Drake and Alien -Vs- Predator or Messiah: The Promise, a mini-series that is a personal favorite of mine,
Gordon Kennedy -- Little John -- Again not a whole lot. According to IMDB Gordon has done a handful on one off appearances in TV shows like Skins and Doctors. Plus, he has a TV movie Red Faction: Origins in pre-production that will also star T2 star Robert Patrick and one of my favorite people on the planet -- Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto from Torchwood)
Joe Armstrong -- Alan A Dale -- I know it's only been two years since the show ended but this seems to be a trend amongst the cast....only a few TV guest spots. The most notable of which is an appearance on Hustle sometime this year.
Richard Armitage -- Guy of Gisborne -- Hands down the best post Robin Hood career of anyone in the cast. 25 episodes of MI-5, 6 episodes of Strikeback (with a 2nd series being ordered). Plus his movie career looks to be in pretty good shape since he is going to be in Captain America: The First Avenger and the two film adaptation of The Hobbit. Gotta say things look pretty good for Guy.
Lucy Griffith (Marion), Keith Allen (The Sheriff), and Harry Lloyd (Wil Scarlett) all have series appearances under their belt with Harry Lloyd being the only one with a "regular" appearance with 5 episodes of Taking the Flak.
All in all the post Robin Hood haze seems to have cleared with Richard Armitage being the clear cut winner! It's sad though since I loved the group as a whole...oh!! lets not forget Anjali Jay (Djaq) who only has one episode of a show called the Fixer. :-(
2 comments:
Joe Armstrong is currently in the critically acclaimed West End play "Flare Path." He has also done two other plays -- "Orphans" and "The Empire" since the end of "Robin Hood."
Sam Troughton is now a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and is starring as Romeo in "Romeo and Juliet" among other things.
Must think beyond TV. ;)
Point taken! Always glad to see actors returning to live performance...which seems to be a dying breed. Most guys seem to want to move from one TV/Movie project to the next.
Hopefully both will still be going strong when I make it to London later this year. Really need to add a West End show to my list of "things to do" when in London!
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