Robin Hood aired in the UK in 2006, and is currently showing in the USA on BBC America. Armitage plays the tall, dark and handsome villain, Sir Guy of Gisborne, with fascinating complexity. One moment you are repulsed by him; the next moment you feel sympathy. He gives one of the strongest performances the production and has earned many new fans. The Robin Hood DVDs are available at Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com. The video picture quality is stunning and there are "extras" on the DVD.

Robin Hood may get uneven reviews (mostly for the earliest episodes), but it is settling in and proving to be a vastly entertaining romp. Villains Armitage and Keith Allen (as the Sheriff of Nottingham) often steal the show, and Armitage has made many female viewers' hearts go pitter-pat. Highly recommended—he gives a nuanced and compelling performance, and looks fabulous in black leather! View video clips of Armitage from Robin Hood >>

Frozen is a small, quirky independent film which stars Shirley Henderson ("Harry Potter") as a working class woman mourning the sudden and mysterious loss of her sister. The film is a bit of an oddity—a bit enigmatic and with no simple answers, nor does it have a neatly tied up ending.

Armitage has a supporting role as one of Henderson's friends. His part is not especially large, but is an interesting and important one and he gives a solid performance, as always.

This DVD is marginally recommended for fans of independent films. Armitage's performance alone might not make it worth a purchase, but it is an intriguing film in its own right. Read some other reviews for this film before making a decision on whether to buy.

NOTE: This DVD is in the PAL format, but has no region setting. (Region setting of "0.") This means that it may play on many North American DVD players without having to perform any hacks.

View video clip of Armitage from Frozen >>

Sparkhouse: This is one of his best parts to date, second only to his John Thornton in North & South. Sparkhouse is a loose retelling of Wuthering Heights, set in contemporary times. It was voted one of the most popular miniseries on the BBC in 2002. It's in three parts, and is a little less than three hours in length.

I absolutely adored him in this. I don't think I would have felt any differently about his character had I seen Sparkhouse before N&S. He's such an absolute sweetheart—painfully shy, lonely, loyal, incredibly naive in some ways but not in other ways. He starts out scruffy and geeky in the beginning, but later begins to "blossom" into a more confident and attractive young man. He's not the star in this miniseries, but has a vital supporting role and gets plenty of screentime, especially during the last half of the story. A must-have! Highly recommended.

View video clips of Armitage from Sparkhouse >>

Cold Feet (Season Five): Cold Feet is sort of like a UK version of Friends. It follows the lives of several 30-something couples, and is a semi-comedy.

Armitage plays Lee, a "flirty" water aerobics teacher who is dating the nanny of one of the couples. For most of the 6-hour-long episodes, Armitage has perhaps one or two scenes per episode, but near the end of the series his character's prominence is beefed up a little.

This is a cute show—it didn't knock my socks off, but I found it amusing. If the subject matter doesn't sound all that interesting to you, I'm not sure if you'll want to get it just for Armitage. His role isn't that big.

View video clips of Armitage from Cold Feet >>

Macbeth (from the DVD Shakespeare Retold): I simply cannot recommend this DVD highly enough, but it's not completely due to Richard Armitage. He has a supporting role (of Macduff) in a modernized re-telling of Macbeth. Unfortunately, Armitage's part isn't very big, but is important to the story.

This is a worthwhile DVD to buy, simply because all the Shakespeare plays (four in total) are so fun to watch. Especially Taming of the Shrew. (Rufus Sewell is brilliant!) If you enjoy Shakespeare, you'll want this DVD anyway.

NOTE: This DVD is in the PAL format, but has no region setting. (Region setting of "0.") This means that it may play on many North American DVD players without having to perform any hacks.

Between the Sheets: Another 6-hour miniseries, which has a story revolving around a female sex therapist and a married couple she is counseling.

Armitage plays the live-in boyfriend of the therapist. He has been accused of taking advantage of an underage girl. Did he do it or not? Tensions develop between him and the girlfriend. Armitage does get a lot of screentime in this series, and plays a somewhat complex and interesting character.

There's a lot of nudity in Between the Sheets, and you will see more than a few glimpses of Armitage's backside. You have been warned!

I wasn't all that crazy about this miniseries overall, but apparently others have really enjoyed it and would recommend it.

View video clips of Armitage from Between the Sheets >>

Malice Aforethought (DVD also available in the USA.) This two-part miniseries was shown on PBS's Mystery in the USA.

Richard Armitage has a supporting role as a rather jealous, surly guy. His part isn't very big, but he does well with it. Since he doesn't get a large amount of screen time, you might want to rent this DVD first (if you are in the USA) rather than buying it. I liked Malice Aforethought (I tend to like stories such as this), but can't guarantee that everyone else will.

Ultimate Force (Season Two). This is one of those ultra-macho series which has lots of gun battles and fist fights and explosions. If you think you would enjoy a "slam bang" type action show, then Ultimate Force is reasonably entertaining, with the exception of something that happens late in the series (which involves Armitage's character, even!). This incident defied all logic and reason and left me with my jaw agape in astonishment.

Armitage has a significant (but not starring) role in this series, and is in five out of the six episodes. Recommended, but with some reservations. Also note that there is nudity and some brief sex scenes in this show (along with violence and gore), therefore it is not suitable for young children.

NOTE: This DVD is in the PAL format, but has no region setting. (Region setting of "0.") This means that it may play on many North American DVD players without having to perform any hacks.

View video clips of Armitage from Ultimate Force >>

North & South (DVD also available in the USA.) I know, I know—if you are reading this page you've most likely already seen this miniseries and want to learn about what else this actor has starred in! But I didn't feel right leaving it off of this list. It's definitely Armitage's best role so far—some will say it's the role of a lifetime!

View video clips of Armitage from North & South >>

The Golden Hour.

Armitage was cast as the lead actor in this 2005 medical drama soon after he was seen in N&S. The series only lasted for one season, with a total of four episodes. Apparently it failed to gain enough of an audience to be renewed for a second season.

He plays a doctor who leads a team of emergency medics. The show started out slow (with not enough screen time for the star), but by the last episode, it was beginning to gain a little steam. Too little, too late, unfortunately.

This DVD was not made available until recently. As I suspected (and predicted on this page), it seems as if Mr. Armitage's increasing popularity prompted the DVD's release.

View video clips of Armitage from The Golden Hour >>