Television Update











Lucy Griffiths (Maid Marion) and Jonas Armstrong (Robin).

So far, the highlight of the fall television season has been the stylish four-part adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, which I mentioned in an earlier post. Since then, the "must-see t.v." has been the new 13-part Robin Hood, starring cheeky Jonas Armstrong as Robin, gleefully evil Keith Allen as the Sheriff of Nottingham, and luscious Lucy Griffiths as Maid Marion. Allen's Sheriff is my favorite bad guy since the Mayor on season 3 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The other much-hyped new show is the Dr. Who spin-off, Torchwood. ("Torchwood" is an anagram of "Doctor Who.") It's pretty awful. Speaking of Buffy, the Torchwood producers need to hire Joss Wheedon to save their pretentious, humorless show. John Borrowman's character, mysterious past and all, is unappealing and uninteresting. The plots are full of holes. The writing is terrible.