On his way to join King Richard in the Holy Land, the Earl of Steyne is ambushed by Baron Onslow, and killed. Onslow changes clothes with the dead Earl, and posing as him, rides to Nottingham, with the Earls' letter of introduction from Robin to the King. The Juggler Ali overhears Onslow plotting with the Sheriff to kill King Richard. Ali's partner Sybella, who has an amazing memory but can hardly speak English, tries to warn Robin.

Lord Giles of Richmond, in Nottingham to supervise the collection of outstanding taxes, sees an opportunity to increase his own wealth, when he sees Lord Eilmer, an elderly, harmless eccentric, carrying out scientific experiments in the market-place. The Sheriff puts forward a plan to have the Lord Eilmar accused of being a sorcerer, and his lands given over to Lord Giles. Marian tries to help, but Eilmar is arrested and Robin comes to his aid.

Robin is out hunting with Derwent when he sees his old friend Will Scarlett stalking a deer. Will is accompanied by Lady Maud, daughter of De Sarigny, and in possession of an advanced Saracen crossbow that can outshoot a longbow. Accused of kidnapping Lady Maud, he is captured by the Sheriff and sentenced to hang. Scarlet bargains for his life by demonstrating the crossbow.

Sir Nigel, Lady Marian's cousin, returns from the Holy Land with two friends and intends to marry her to obtain her land. Discovering Marian is in league with the outlaws, he threatens to expose her to the Sheriff unless she agrees to marriage. Robin and Sir Nigel's friends have to convince the Sheriff that he is mentally unbalanced with the fever.

The Sheriff of Nottingham is preparing to leave for three months' duty in London, and a deputy is to replace him. Sir Alan-a-Daleis missing from Robin's camp and presumed held captive by the Sheriff. Robin and Will Scarlet intercept the Deputy Sheriff and free a prisoner, the mysterious Ralph of Plumtree, who insists on impersonating the Deputy Sheriff to discover if Sir Alan is a prisoner. The Deputy Sheriff lays a trap for both Robin and Marian.

A boy steals a loaf of bread from the Sheriff's men. Friar Tuck gives him sanctuary in the local church, but after 40 days, under the law of sanctuary, the boy will have to leave the country. The Sheriff learns that in London there is a great demand for flour, and high prices are being paid for it. This gives him an idea that will improve his finances - he demands 500 loaves to free the boy.

At the 'Blue Boar Inn', Robin meets a strange knight playing a harp — Sir Alan-a-Dale, who is unaware that Prince John has accused him of murder and declared an outlaw. But when a crossbow bolt flies through the window, narrowly missing the knight, Robin thinks he should make his presence known. The Sheriff is hot on Sir Alan's trail, and in warning Sir Alan, Marian is wounded by a crossbow bolt, threatening to reveal her identity to the pursuing Sheriff.

Friar Tuck is in trouble with his Abbot. He has been unable to collect money for the church. Tuck arbitrates the dispute on Love Day, a day in the year when ecclesiastical law takes precedence. Sir Geoffrey returns from the Crusades and finds the Sheriff has moved the stream that forms the boundary marker of his estate, so that his land now forms part of the Sheriff's own land. Robin and Will Scarlett come to his aid, and manage to breach a dam.

While Lord Ambrose is away at the Crusade, his bailiff Sir Watkyn of Parstock, has been extorting heavy taxes from the tenants and serfs on his estate. Friar Tuck seeks Robin's help, but is arrested as an outlaw. Robin contacts Father Ignatius, Lord Ambrose's priest, and with his aid puts paid to Watkyns' underhanded schemes.

Needing to win an archery tournament against Lord Repton, the Deputy Sheriff parleys a truce with Robin to be his archer for the day. His opponent is Mark Crispin, champion bowman of England.

Martin, a former Crusader friend of Robin's who saved his life seven years before at the crusade, masquerades as one of Robin's gang. He begins robbing innocent travellers entering Sherwood forest, including Friar Tuck, and fatally wounds John Dale in his home. Martin wants to join Robin's band, and when he learns that Friar Tuck and Marian know Robin, he has the upper hand. Robin has to make him leave, bearing in mind the debt he owes this man.

The Deputy Sheriff suspects Friar Tuck of being in league with the outlaws, so he tries to turn the Archbishop against him. He hatches a plot for the Friar to take an oath in front of the Archbishop to prove that he doesn't consort with the outlaws. Tuck must takes an oath in front of the Archbishop not to reveal the identity or the location of the Sheriff's latest prisoner — an envoy of King Richard about to be hung. Tuck cannot break his oath and tell Robin to save the man, so he uses his cunning instead.

A charm pedlar arrives in Nottingham. To Robin he seems harmless, but Friar Tuck discovers the man is a trickster, selling the villagers useless potions. Robin thinks of a plan to stop the pedlar's activities. Robin, at the behest of Friar Tuck, disguises himself as a fellow con-man to investigate the peddler's activities and finds himself rounded up with the charm peddler in the Sheriff's dungeon, both to be hanged.

On returning to Sherwood Forest, Little John is angry to discover that his place as Robin's right-hand man has been taken by Will Scarlett. To make matters worse, Will beats John in a wrestling match, and the big man strides off into the forest angrier than ever. The Deputy Sheriff hears of it and plans to take advantage of Little John's discontent.

In order to gather first-hand knowledge of outlaw life for a journal he is writing, Sir Geoffrey Claire and his manservant Herbert pose as notorious outlaw Jim Stark and his lieutenant, and join Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest. The situation gets a bit complicated, when the real Jim Stark appears.

Duncan of Stoneykirk, the wild Highland clansman, is back in Sherwood Forest. He was rather troublesome on his last visit, not only to his enemies, but also to his friends. He still has an eye for Marian, only this time he has a plan to win a bagpiping contest against Tam McKinnon at the castle of Sir Fulke, or so he claims. Robin, dressed in highland garb and beard, accompanies him, and Duncan's intention is revealed.

Still hanging around Robin's camp, Duncan of Stoneykirk turns his attentions to Lady Marian until his lassie Jessie arrives to take Duncan back home. With Duncan refusing to leave Robin, Robin tries to woo Jessie to make him jealous, but it is Marian who is jealous. Robin arranges an archery contest between Marian and Jessie for five gold crowns to set Duncan on the road to Scotland.

The Deputy Sheriff tells Robin, during a truce, that he will hang two serfs everyday until Robin gives himself up. Robin calls on Marian's guests, two lords who outrank the Deputy Sheriff, Alford and Beaumont to make the Deputy Sheriff show his true colours by dressing them as serfs and hanging them first.

The Deputy Sheriff's is attacked by a masked man and his gold chain of office stolen in Lower Fitzwalter, a village of freemen. At the blacksmith of William, the Deputy Sheriff invokes "hue and cry" under the rule of Frankpledge and, if the attacker cannot be found, nine men from the village will hang.

The Deputy Sheriff informs Marian that her father has died in the Holy Land and Prince John has nominated Sir Guy Quentin to take over her estate. Friar Tuck informs Marian her father is alive and she can appeal to the courts. Marian's sixty-year-old uncle Sir Percy pre-empts this by challenging the much younger Sir Quentin to a duel. Robin has other ideas, and tries to convince Sir Quentin that Sir Percy is a fearsome fighter.

Boland, a former Crusader, defeats Will Scarlet and then Robin Hood in a sword fight and is only prevented from killing him by Maid Marian's prowess with the bow. Boland offers his services to the Deputy Sheriff, who makes him his lieutenant and takes sword-fighting lessons so he can kill Robin Hood himself and so take the glory to become Sheriff. Robin Hood accepts the challenge in the hope of revealing the Deputy Sheriff's true colours.

Will Scarlet witnesses the murder of an envoy. He and Robin capture Wilfred who had led the envoy into the trap. They discover that the killer was Sir Hartley who intends to kill Constance, Duchess of Brittany, who is taking the King's son, Prince Arthur, to Northumberland to be received as the rightful heir to the throne. Fearing trouble from Prince John, she wants Robin and his men to escort them.

A pedlar sells Little John 'The Pharaoh Stones' — three dice-like stones, which, he claims, tell the owner his fortune. Little John puts them to the test, and is convinced of their mysterious powers. The outlaw band also become convinced, but the stones bring more than their fair share of trouble to the Greenwood.

Sir Bligh Denton, a wealthy merchant, learns that his daughter Judith's suitor, Sir Peter Marston, plans to visit her. Robin, escaping from the Sheriff's men, enters the house and is mistaken for the man. To avoid capture by the Sheriff, Robin is forced into a proxy marriage, performed by Friar Tuck, to Judith.

Friar Tuck's identical twin brother Edgar returns to Nottingham. The Deputy Sheriff imprisons Tuck and plots a scheme where his brother Edgar is to impersonate him, for the purpose of staging a sermon. He is to confess publicly that he (as 'Friar Tuck') has aided the outlaws, and is to denounce Maid Marian to the Bishop.

Robin becomes the latest victim of Sir Hugo DeBask, a lord who arrests travellers through his estate and sets them to work on his lands if they can't pay the fine he imposes at their trial. Looking for him, Marian also falls into the trap. Escape comes from an unexpected quarter.