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Richard Armitage hardly had time to catch his breath after filming the recent series of Spooks, in which he played MI5 spy Lucas North, before he was on a plane to Hungary to reprise the role of Sir Guy Of Gisborne, in ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One's third, action-packed series of Robin Hood.

"I literally finished Spooks on the Friday and I was filming in Hungary on the Monday morning, so I didn't have time to unpack my bag! They literally grabbed me off the plane and took me on set!"

Gisborne had better watch his back. After murdering Marian, the love of Robin Hood's life, at the end of the last series, Robin is hell-bent on revenge and nothing is going to get in his way.

"People asked me why I killed Marian, and I know they sometimes get carried away but they did think that I had decided to do it rather than the writers deciding to do it!," laughs Richard. "I think people were truly baffled and had no idea the future was going to hold for the series without Marian. And, if I'm honest, I felt the same, so it was really exciting to get back in and see what they were going to do with that – particularly when Marian had been loved and admired by both Robin and Gisborne.

"I felt like Marian had become the reason that Gisborne was still alive and was still functioning, and I wondered how on Earth he was going to exist now."

So, does Richard think perhaps Gisborne and Robin could have been allies in another world, or were they always destined to be enemies?

"I definitely think they could have been allies," says Richard. "And that's part of the problem – that they both know it. If it was out-and-out hatred, it would be easier, but it's a deep hatred which is actually laced with a bit of admiration for each other. They hate the fact that they feel like that."

Gisborne and Robin's conflict fuels the action throughout the series, but does Richard believe Gisborne is afraid of his enemy, or would he secretly like to be more like him?

"I always played with the idea that Gisborne wanted everything that Robin had, and has. Because they grew up together, Gisborne feels if he'd had the same opportunities as Robin, he could have been the hero and he could have been loved – and I believe that's what he wants.

"But Robin's adored and he's the popular one. He's a rebel because he's an outlaw, so all of those elements infuriate Gisborne – and fuel his desire to be the antithesis of that; to be Robin's nemesis.

"But I believe he's afraid of him. I think he understands his brain and his skill with the bow and he doesn't underestimate him at all."

Later in the series, Guy and Robin are forced to reach an uneasy truce, although Richard says viewers will have to wait and see exactly what happens.

"It's actually not the first time," says Richard. "It happened in series two when they were forced to work together to find the sheriff. This time they are thrust into a situation where they're reliant on each other's knowledge and forced to achieve something together, in order for them both to survive.

This third series also sees the arrival of Gisborne's younger sister, Isabella, played by newcomer Lara Pulver, although Richard doesn't want to reveal too much.

"Just when he thought he had got rid of all his demons something from the past comes back to haunt him!," laughs Richard. "He has denied her existence because something happened between them which is so terrible that he's blocked it out of his memory. But she comes back and opens all those floodgates again and reminds him of what he did. She turns out to be a real thorn in his side.

"By rights, they should be allies – they should be strong together – but I think she's just as ambitious as he is and also, until now, Gisborne has been able to invent himself and tell the world exactly what they want to hear. He's had no family to challenge that."

Richard thoroughly enjoyed working with his on-screen sibling: "It was interesting because they cast Lara without me being involved, but we look alike! And we do think alike and we move in a similar way – it was very good casting," says Richard. "I really believed she was my sister. We got on extremely well and I enjoyed our scenes together.

"Gisborne is fun to play, although it gets to you after a while because you do forget how to smile, and you see everyone else around you having a really good time," laughs Richard. "I've spent three years with a face on me like thunder!

"But it is great getting into that costume and the hair and make-up. 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 is darker and more disturbed this series. I suspect the viewers will not like him, but they may understand why they hate him!"