Welcome to RichardArmitageOnline.comThis is an unofficial website about the work of the British actor Richard Armitage, star of BBC Spooks, Robin Hood, North and South and The Vicar of Dibley.
There's information here about his television, film and theatre work, including pictures and video clips of many of his TV and film roles. You can also read his comments about his characters, taken from published interviews. Navigate to any of his roles from the menu at the top of the page, or go to the Television Career, Film Career, Theatre Career or Voice Career pages and follow the links from there. Also see... - Latest News (below)
This site is an Amazon Associate, and all commission earned from sales referred from the site will be donated to charity. If you follow any of the links on this site to Richard Armitage's DVDs at Amazon UK I hope you enjoy looking around and will visit again soon. Annette
Latest News
Repeats of Robin Hood's final episode The last episode of the series was shown on Saturday 27th June, but it was unexpectedly switched to BBC Two at the last minute to make way for coverage of Wimbledon. It's being repeated on BBC Three on Monday 6th July at 8pm, and on BBC One on Saturday 11th July at 5.15pm. And the last two episodes will be repeated on BBC HD on 11th July, starting at 7pm. Episode 13 can also be seen on the BBC iPlayer until Saturday 4th July (UK visitors only).
Robin Hood cancelled It's been announced that there will be no further series of Robin Hood. Writer Sally Wainwright had been asked to look at re-inventing the show for a fourth series, and there were tentative plans to film it in Scotland if it was recommissioned. But falling ratings during the third series (which has just finished on British TV), as well as the departures from the show of Jonas Armstrong, Richard Armitage, Keith Allen and Joe Armstrong at the end of this series, have led to the decision not to recommission it. It's been enormously popular overseas - having been sold to over 50 countries, it's one of BBC Worldwide's biggest earners, along with Spooks and Doctor Who. But ultimately, this wasn't enough to save it from cancellation. BBC America have announced that they will be showing the third and final series this autumn, and other countries should also be showing it in due course.
The Great Sperm Race repeated More4 will repeat The Great Sperm Race, narrated by Richard Armitage, on Saturday 11th July at 10.35pm, and then again at 2.25am the same night.
TV Quick and TV Choice awards 2009 The shortlists for these awards, voted for annually by viewers, have now been announced. Richard Armitage is nominated for Spooks in the Best Actor category. Spooks is nominated for Best Drama Series, and Robin Hood is nominated for Best Family Drama. You can vote here. Voting closes on Friday 10th July, and the winners will be announced at a ceremony on Monday 7th September at The Dorchester Hotel in London.
Moving On repeat Drowning Not Waving was to have been repeated on Monday 29th June, but it was postponed because of the late-running of Wimbledon coverage. It will now be shown on Monday 6th July on BBC One.
The extras include a 30 minute feature, 'A Legend Reborn', in which most of the actors, including Richard Armitage, talk about the series and their characters. In a 7 minute feaure, 'A New Look', series 3's costume designer Howard Burden talks about how he designed the new costumes for Robin, Guy, Tuck and Isabella. In 'Trebuchet: Creating Choas', set designer Stephen Campbell describes the trebuchets that were built for the final episode. There are also video diaries by Lara Pulver and Clive Standen, both of which cover the day when the climactic episode 13 fight scene in the tunnel was rehearsed and filmed. And there are short character profiles of Tuck, Kate, Isabella and Archer, with comments from several of the actors. The Region 1 DVD is due to be released in North America in early 2010.
Robin Hood series 3 final episode in the TV magazines The last episode of the series was shown on Saturday 27th June, and it was featured in many of the TV magazines this week (27th June - 3rd July). The TV Times had a short interview with Richard Armitage, which included a spoiler about the last episode. TV and Satellite Week had a general feature about the dramatic finale, while Total TV Guide and TV Easy both had short features on Jonas Armstrong, who is leaving the show. And many of the magazines chose Robin Hood as a Pick of the Day for Saturday.
Spooks 7 in Australia The seventh series of Spooks has now started on ABC1 on Monday nights at 9.35pm. The Sydney Morning Herald's The Guide welcomed the new series, and then gave the thumbs up to the second episode too, calling it "taut and twitchy as ever".
A four hour long abridged recording of Georgette Heyer's novel, it can be ordered at Amazon UK Written in 1957, Sylvester is one of the most popular of Heyer's Regency romances. Witty and romantic, its heroine is Phoebe Marlow, who flees her home to avoid marrying Sylvester, the wealthy Duke of Salford. But the pair are fated to meet again. book. Listen to the first chapter... See the Sylvester page for further information.
Spooks 7 in France Canal + has started showing the seventh series of Spooks on Sundays at 20.45, two episodes each week. Spooks 7 in New Zealand The seventh series of Spooks has just started in New Zealand. It's showing on Mondays at 9.30pm on TV One. The New Zealand Listener picked it out in its TV Week feature, and quoted the comment in a British newspaper, The Guardian, that this series could be the show's best ever. And the Herald on Sunday (31st May) printed an abridged version of the interview that Richard did with the Daily Telegraph last year when Spooks was shown in the UK.
Glasgow's Sunday Post also had an article, while Newcastle's Sunday Sun had an article about Richard Armitage and Joanne Froggatt, his co-star from Robin Hood who appears in another of the Moving On dramas. Both articles also used quotes straight from the BBC's Press pack and other interviews. Many of the Sunday papers on 17th May chose Moving On as a Pick of the Day. The Sunday Times said that "Christine Tremarco and Richard Armitage are an excellent pairing". For Scotland on Sunday, it was the 'Best Drama' of the week. "The daytime schedules have traditionally served as a dumping ground for television's least accomplished offerings. But this new short run of TV plays by up-and-coming dramatists could easily warrant a more prestigious prime-time berth. Executive produced by Jimmy McGovern, touching on topical issues such as the plight of the Gurkhas and featuring performances from the likes of Dervla Kerwan and Ian Hart, it's an accomplished venture which recalls the halcyon days of Play for Today." Several of the TV Guides in the Saturday papers on 16th May also chose Moving On as a Pick of the Day on Monday, when the series started, welcoming the fact that it raised the standard of drama on daytime TV. The Sun's TV magazine had a small feature about the series. In the weekly magazines, there were features about Moving On in Total TV Guide, TV & Satellite Week, What's on TV, TV Choice, TV Quick, TV Times and Woman this week. Most included quotes from Richard Armitage taken from the BBC Press Pack about the series. Again, many chose it as a Pick of the Day.
The Witchfinders is now available and can be ordered on CD from Amazon UK or directly from Big Finish, or purchased from Big Finish as a download. As well as the story, it contains an interview with Richard about Robin Hood. Listen to an excerpt from The Witchfinders... Richard's second audiobook, The Siege, should have been released by now, but has been delayed. It can be ordered at Amazon UK, or from Big Finish, where it's also be available as a download. See the Robin Hood series 3 Audiobooks page for more details about the audiobooks and the interview with Richard Armitage on The Witchfinders CD.
Drowning Not Waving was the third in a series of five dramas broadcast in May called Moving On. Each was a stand-alone story, but all dealt with characters who were moving on in their lives. Richard played John Mulligan in Drowning not Waving, by new writer Sarah Deane. He described John Mulligan as "an enigma", someone from a sink estate who has risen to become a successful property developer, with designer clothes and a flash car. John offers to help an old friend, Ellie Morgan (played by Christine Tremarco), but is he too good to be true? Although the series was executive-produced by award-winning writer Jimmy McGovern, its purpose was to showcase up-and-coming writers and directors, many of whom are new to TV. The scripts attracted a formidable cast, which included Sheila Hancock, Richard Armitage, Ian Hart, Dervla Kirwan and Lesley Sharp. Themes explored include the property slump, gun violence and transvestism. Read more about Moving On, and Richard Armitage's thoughts on his character and what attracted him to this role.
Sarah Deane interviews The Liverpool Echo has published an interview with Sarah Deane, the writer of Drowning Not Waving. She describes how the idea for the drama came from her own life, when she was faced with the prospect of losing her home. In the case of Ellie Morgan, the protagonist in Drowning Not Waving, help appears in the form of John Mulligan, played by Richard Armitage. Sarah Deane explains that she wrote the part with Richard in mind, although she didn't tell anyone this. As she reveals in an interview with RichardArmitageNet.com, on reading the script the casting director, Michelle Smith, decided that he would be the ideal actor for the part, and so he was cast. She also talks about the writing process for Moving On, and working with Jimmy McGovern, the executive producer for the series, who guided the five writers as they produced their scripts.
There's another big fight in this episode. "The stunts and fighting are all a bit Indiana Jones this year. They're more spectacular. I particularly enjoyed the end fight with the Sheriff [in episode 6]," he said. He's currently filming the next series of Spooks. "I love both roles. In Spooks, instead of grabbing a sword, it's a gun. But still, lots of fights and escaping messes!"
Spooks series 8 A BBC Press release has confirmed that the eighth series of Spooks is now being filmed. There's no official word on the fate of Harry Pearce, last seen being bundled into the boot of a car by Russian FSB officers, but Peter Firth has been seen on the set of Spooks filming the first two episodes. As with the previous series, there will be eight one hour episodes. It's due for broadcast on BBC One in the autumn.
Watch a clip of Richard presenting the award... See also Richard Arnold's report for GMTV as he interviews the stars arriving for the ceremony, including Richard Armitage. The seventh series of Spooks was nominated for Best Drama Series, but the award went to Kenneth Branagh's Scandanavian detective drama 'Wallander'. Spooks previously won this award in 2002, and was also nominated in 2004 and 2005. Spooks was also nominated for two BAFTA Television Craft Awards, presented on Sunday 17th May. Paul Leonard-Morgan was nominated in the Original Television Music category, while the Spooks sound team was nominated for the Sound (fiction/entertainment) award. Neither won, although Spooks won two craft awards last year, having been nominated several times in various craft categories over the previous years. The BAFTAs, awarded annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, are the most prestigious awards in the British television industry.
TV magazines on Robin Hood The British TV magazines continue to comment on Robin Hood. Richard Armitage was absent from episodes 3 and 4, Guy of Gisborne having been dragged off to what he thought was certain death at the hands of Prince John. In reality, Richard Armitage was still filming the end of the seventh series of Spooks last summer when Robin Hood's filming began. The Radio Times (18th-24th April), commenting on episode 4, ends, "But somehow, without bad old Gisborne around, it all lacks a certain something." Sir Guy returned to Nottingham in episode 5, broadcast on 25th April. The week the new series began, the Radio Times had an article about the filming of the series in Hungary, and Richard Armitage was interviewed briefly in the features in TV Quick and TV Choice. Several magazines also published articles about it, including TV Times, TV & Satellite Week and What's on TV. A letter published in What's on TV (18-24th April) thanking the magazine for publishing a picture of Gisborne in the earlier edition gave it the opportunity to print another photo of him!
Spooks on iTunes Series 7 of Spooks is available for download at iTunes in the UK. Each episode costs £1.89. Interview with Richard Armitage on Digital Spy 'Tube Talk' on the Digital Spy website ran video interviews with Robin Hood cast members each day during the week before Robin Hood's new series started, and Saturday's interview was with Richard Armitage. It was filmed on the set of Robin Hood in Hungary last summer. He discusses Gisborne's character in the new series, and also talks about Spooks, which he'd just finished filming.
The cast were speaking last summer during the filming of the show in Hungary. It's the last series for Jonas Armstrong, who plays Robin Hood. When asked about the ending of the series, Richard said that he'd just read the script for the last episode. "It's like being hit round the head with a plank," he said. "It's incredibly moving what happens at the end of this. It's a fantastic series finale. I think he's going to be greatly missed, but what the series will lose by his departure, they gain with his incredible storyline. I was really choked."
Halifax Evening Courier Regional newspaper The Halifax EveningCourier has an article about a local schoolboy, James Buckley, who appears in the fifth episode of the new series of Robin Hood. He plays an orphan who travels to Nottingham and joins Robin's Outlaws. The article includes photos of him with cast members on the set during his two weeks in Budapest last summer - including one with Richard Armitage.
"This year we chose to make Gisborne look wasted, bedraggled, yet at times heroic – it's brilliant to play a character that can both attract and repel," he said. "He is darker and more disturbed this series. I suspect the viewers will not like him, but they may understand why they hate him!"
New TV narration work Richard Armitage narrated a documentary about human conception called The Great Sperm Race on Channel 4 in March. See The Great Sperm Race page for excerpts from it. Also in March, he provided the narration for a three part series of New Homes from Hell 2009, broadcast on ITV1. The series recounted the disasters that people have had with properties. See the New Homes From Hell 2009 page for some excerpts from the series.
He was featured very briefly in a report from the event on BBC Breakfast on 25th February (with thanks to Yorkshirewench for the video clip). Also seen in this clip are Robert Glenister (see below), and Julie Graham, with whom Richard appeared in Between the Sheets in 2003. And he and Robert Glenister (who appears in several episodes of Spooks as the Home Secretary) were interviewed by The Stage for its weekly podcast as part of its coverage of BBC Showcase. They discussed Spooks, and Richard also spoke about the new series of Robin Hood. Listen to the podcast at The Stage's website (the interview begins at approximately 13' 30"), or read a transcription of some of Richard's comments.
Richard Armitage tops poll of romantic novelists Richard has been voted into first place in The Romantic Novelists Association's annual Valentine's poll. Each year, romantic novelists are invited to vote for the man they consider to be the sexiest. In 2008 Richard was fourth in the poll, but this year he beat the likes of Johnny Depp, George Clooney and Daniel Craig to come top, polling 20% of all the votes, more than twice as many as any other man. Further information... The story was picked up in a number of national newspapers, including the Daily Mail, Guardian and Daily Express.
Spooks series 8 The BBC has announced that it has commissioned Kudos Film and Television to produce an eighth series of Spooks. Filming will begin in March 2009. Its press release describes the current series as "its most critically-acclaimed ever". Richard Armitage is quoted as saying, "I'm thrilled with the response we've had to this series and I can't wait to find out what the next series has in store. If the climactic episodes at the end of series seven are anything to go by, I think series eight will be spectacular. I am excited about taking Lucas into deeper and more dangerous territory, and seeing if he can survive!"
Forthcoming workTied to the new series of Robin Hood will be six new Robin Hood audiobooks, two of which are read by Richard Armitage. The first was released in April. In July, an audiobook of Georgette Heyer's Sylvester, read by Richard, will be released. He is now filming the eighth series of Spooks, returning as MI5 officer Lucas North. It will be broadcast on the BBC in the autumn.
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and make a purchase (whether of the DVDs or anything else), some money is donated to charity. 
Robin Hood series 3 DVD The Region 2 DVD of the series has now been released and is available at 
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Moving On DVD A DVD of the series of 
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Richard Armitage at the BAFTAs Richard Armitage and Sarah Alexander presented the award for Best Comedy Performance to David Mitchell for 'Peep Show' at the British Academy Television Awards, held at the Royal Festival Hall in London on Sunday 26th April. 
Richard Armitage at BBC Showcase BBC Worldwide's annual