I've seen a lot of hate going around for this episode but I don't think it is deserved. This is because of the lighthearted approach taken for the episode that doesn't seem fitting with Peter Capaldi's 12th Doctor at all; I suspect it may have been a holdover script for Matt Smith's 11th Doctor. It wouldn't shock me if it were so, but I don't believe that anyone's ever said it. Still, what matters is that this is a good episode even if not a great one. It is consistent and loads of fun. What more can you want from the lighthearted episodes?
The story sees the Doctor and Clara arrive in Sherwood Forest in the year 1190 where they meet Robin Hood and team up with him to defeat the evil Sheriff of Nottingham. It turns out that the Sheriff has been working with some robots that crashed their spaceship and need gold to restore it and escape back out into space. It's a little bit daft, to say the least, but that doesn't stop it from being lots of fun. Mark Gatiss' script carries it along nicely and the guest actors are good too. Tom Riley is a tremendous Robin Hood but it's Ben Miller's evil Sheriff who steals the show. He doesn't get a lot to work with but makes the best of it and gives a memorable performance throughout. "It's about time that Ben Miller was in Doctor Who" said Steven Moffat. I'm inclined to agree with him.
The humour in this episode is where it falls flat for me. Peter Capaldi is a very funny man when he wants to be but he doesn't quite make it here because the humour is too camp for him to pull it off. Tom Riley is able to manage it but doesn't get enough material to be anything special. At one point we see the Doctor beat Robin Hood in a sword fight with a spoon and later we see them competing at archery. Then they spend the next ten minutes shouting at each other, which is funny for about a minute but lasts ten times that long and ends up being painful to watch. And let's not forget that all the problems are resolved by firing an arrow of gold in a way that the laws of physics don't allow for.
To conclude: Fun but far too camp. Its cast saves it but maybe it's time for Mark Gatiss (esteemed creator of the New Dalek Paradigm) to give Doctor Who a rest? Just focus on Sherlock please. 6/10
The story sees the Doctor and Clara arrive in Sherwood Forest in the year 1190 where they meet Robin Hood and team up with him to defeat the evil Sheriff of Nottingham. It turns out that the Sheriff has been working with some robots that crashed their spaceship and need gold to restore it and escape back out into space. It's a little bit daft, to say the least, but that doesn't stop it from being lots of fun. Mark Gatiss' script carries it along nicely and the guest actors are good too. Tom Riley is a tremendous Robin Hood but it's Ben Miller's evil Sheriff who steals the show. He doesn't get a lot to work with but makes the best of it and gives a memorable performance throughout. "It's about time that Ben Miller was in Doctor Who" said Steven Moffat. I'm inclined to agree with him.
The humour in this episode is where it falls flat for me. Peter Capaldi is a very funny man when he wants to be but he doesn't quite make it here because the humour is too camp for him to pull it off. Tom Riley is able to manage it but doesn't get enough material to be anything special. At one point we see the Doctor beat Robin Hood in a sword fight with a spoon and later we see them competing at archery. Then they spend the next ten minutes shouting at each other, which is funny for about a minute but lasts ten times that long and ends up being painful to watch. And let's not forget that all the problems are resolved by firing an arrow of gold in a way that the laws of physics don't allow for.
To conclude: Fun but far too camp. Its cast saves it but maybe it's time for Mark Gatiss (esteemed creator of the New Dalek Paradigm) to give Doctor Who a rest? Just focus on Sherlock please. 6/10