One feels, after enjoying yet another episode in Peter Capaldi's already successful tenure via the previous episode, 'Into the Dalek,' this episode seemed to be a backstep in this new Doctor's already promising future. I suppose that the writers and Peter Capaldi himself are just finding their footing, but the portrayal of Capaldi's Doctor in all three episodes so far have been different. Perhaps he is balancing his emotions and seeing what quite works, but at times I thought him to be misdirected and vague. During one scene in the dungeon, the Doctor even threatened to go full Tucker on Robin Hood (which wouldn't have been a bad thing.)
I am uncertain as to why the Doctor truly believed Robin Hood to be a myth, despite having frequently rubbed shoulders with other legends and even exuberant fictional characters who are definitely not real. Or are they?
Gatiss' writing shows that the Doctor, who stepped out of the limelight this week to allow the supporting characters a chance, is in fact wrong and in the end, he comes across as being rather idiotic and childish, much like he was in parts of 'Into the Dalek.' Was the inclusion of Robin Hood's actual existence just so the audience could receive an interesting analogy of the Doctor's own life?
Who cares, because really 'Robot of Sherwood' was thoroughly entertaining, funny in places and generally kid friendly, with a superb performance from Ben Miller as a Sheriff of Nottingham who didn't breach into panto, and Tom Riley delivering Robin Hood a la Errol Flynn. Even the title is entertaining.
I am decidedly not going to nitpick at an episode of Doctor Who that many people have worked hard on, and to a great visual effect, because in the end people need to remember that not only is this a fictional series that's been running now for over fifty years and will frequent changes, but also that it is primarily a children's program. This story remembered that.
Being Scottish, I am not particularly affluent with the lore of Robin Hood beside seeing a couple of adaptations and knowing the basics through osmosis, but Gatiss' script captured the image of the setting and characters nicely, in an almost caricature form. Everyone I could remember was there (plus a couple of others who didn't need to be but weren't shoehorned in as previously expected) and in the end it was a very fun and watchable experience.
The villain, despite being just anonymous robots similar to those appearing in the classic Sylvester McCoy episodes 'Battlefield' and the golden arrow concept from 'Silver Nemesis,' were pretty cool looking, with their cruciform lights highlighting people's foreheads representing a grisly off-screen death. I would hardly say they were iconic Doctor Who monsters, but it doesn't really matter because they were cool and menacing and everything a regular Doctor Who villain should be.
Was the bad-guys rebuilding circuit-boards to pilot their spacecraft familiar? Is it the same plot as 2008's 'The Fires of Pompeii?' Again, it can be overlooked because this show's been running for over fifty years now, and having an original idea and an original villain is challenging. So far in this series, we've seen Steven Moffat bring back his Clockwork Robots and spaceship concepts from 2006's 'The Girl in the Fireplace,' for 'Deep Breath,' and we've seen 'Into the Dalek' being reminiscent of both 2005's 'Dalek' but also 2011's 'Let's Kill Hitler,' through the miniaturising concept, but this was mostly borrowed from 'The Fantastic Voyage.'
Talking of homages and pastiches, there were several other in-house references such as the throwbacks to the Jon Pertwee era of Who with Capaldi's Third Doctor-esque karate chops and references to a Mini-Scope, which was a plot device at the centre of 1973's 'Carnival of Monsters.' Another nice inclusion was the image of Patrick Troughton (The Second Doctor) as Robin Hood during the picture montage of famous Robin Hood's throughout history.
Fair enough, 'Robot of Sherwood' wasn't a script on a par with Gatiss' 'An Adventure in Space and Time,' which aired during the fiftieth anniversary celebration, but it was enjoyable and light, and was a welcome change from the dreary (but similarly highly entertaining) darkness from the previous two episodes.
Keep it up, Doctor Who, the viewers are counting on you.
I am uncertain as to why the Doctor truly believed Robin Hood to be a myth, despite having frequently rubbed shoulders with other legends and even exuberant fictional characters who are definitely not real. Or are they?
Gatiss' writing shows that the Doctor, who stepped out of the limelight this week to allow the supporting characters a chance, is in fact wrong and in the end, he comes across as being rather idiotic and childish, much like he was in parts of 'Into the Dalek.' Was the inclusion of Robin Hood's actual existence just so the audience could receive an interesting analogy of the Doctor's own life?
Who cares, because really 'Robot of Sherwood' was thoroughly entertaining, funny in places and generally kid friendly, with a superb performance from Ben Miller as a Sheriff of Nottingham who didn't breach into panto, and Tom Riley delivering Robin Hood a la Errol Flynn. Even the title is entertaining.
I am decidedly not going to nitpick at an episode of Doctor Who that many people have worked hard on, and to a great visual effect, because in the end people need to remember that not only is this a fictional series that's been running now for over fifty years and will frequent changes, but also that it is primarily a children's program. This story remembered that.
Being Scottish, I am not particularly affluent with the lore of Robin Hood beside seeing a couple of adaptations and knowing the basics through osmosis, but Gatiss' script captured the image of the setting and characters nicely, in an almost caricature form. Everyone I could remember was there (plus a couple of others who didn't need to be but weren't shoehorned in as previously expected) and in the end it was a very fun and watchable experience.
The villain, despite being just anonymous robots similar to those appearing in the classic Sylvester McCoy episodes 'Battlefield' and the golden arrow concept from 'Silver Nemesis,' were pretty cool looking, with their cruciform lights highlighting people's foreheads representing a grisly off-screen death. I would hardly say they were iconic Doctor Who monsters, but it doesn't really matter because they were cool and menacing and everything a regular Doctor Who villain should be.
Was the bad-guys rebuilding circuit-boards to pilot their spacecraft familiar? Is it the same plot as 2008's 'The Fires of Pompeii?' Again, it can be overlooked because this show's been running for over fifty years now, and having an original idea and an original villain is challenging. So far in this series, we've seen Steven Moffat bring back his Clockwork Robots and spaceship concepts from 2006's 'The Girl in the Fireplace,' for 'Deep Breath,' and we've seen 'Into the Dalek' being reminiscent of both 2005's 'Dalek' but also 2011's 'Let's Kill Hitler,' through the miniaturising concept, but this was mostly borrowed from 'The Fantastic Voyage.'
Talking of homages and pastiches, there were several other in-house references such as the throwbacks to the Jon Pertwee era of Who with Capaldi's Third Doctor-esque karate chops and references to a Mini-Scope, which was a plot device at the centre of 1973's 'Carnival of Monsters.' Another nice inclusion was the image of Patrick Troughton (The Second Doctor) as Robin Hood during the picture montage of famous Robin Hood's throughout history.
Fair enough, 'Robot of Sherwood' wasn't a script on a par with Gatiss' 'An Adventure in Space and Time,' which aired during the fiftieth anniversary celebration, but it was enjoyable and light, and was a welcome change from the dreary (but similarly highly entertaining) darkness from the previous two episodes.
Keep it up, Doctor Who, the viewers are counting on you.