Writers: Mark Gatiss
Director: Paul Murphy
The Story: In a sun-dappled Sherwood Forest, the Doctor discovers an evil plan from beyond the stars and strikes up an unlikely alliance with Robin Hood. With all of Nottingham at stake, the Doctor must decide who is real and who is fake. Can impossible heroes actually exist?
The Verdict:
After Dinosaurs, deranged Cyborgs and battle-damaged Daleks, this week’s Doctor Who brings us to the slightly more light-hearted setting of Sherwood and it’s seemingly fictional inhabitants. The first two episodes of Doctor Who‘s ‘Capaldi-era’ have so far given the refined Scotsman a fantastic start as the twelfth incarnation of the last Timelord. However, the third episode in the rebooted show’s eighth series reigns in the darker tone of the first two, and trades it for a swashbuckling Saturday night adventure story.
Although this drastic shift in tone may seem slightly jarring to some, it actually compliments the overall series incredibly well by demonstrating Capaldi’s fantastic range to adapt and diversify his character to different surroundings and storylines. Of course, this is a requirement of any actor cast to play The Doctor, however it is performed with particular grace by Capaldi (especially given the darker nature of his take on the terrific Timelord). With each different interpretation of The Doctor, will obviously come comparisons to prior versions of the character that may have acted as an influence. And with that in mind, it should be increasingly apparent that, where David Tennant echoed Peter Davison and Matt Smith echoed Patrick Troughton, Capaldi is clearly taking more than a few cues from William Hartnell (despite claiming to emulate ‘every version’ of the character). This is definitely not a bad thing, and in fact it is actually quite refreshing to see a Doctor very unlikely to be swayed by the fluttering eyelashes of a beautiful young woman.
Steven Moffat’s fellow Sherlock co-creator and well known frequent collaborator Mark Gatiss, is once again on writing duty for Robot of Sherwood. After last years extremely entertaining (and occasionally disturbing) The Crimson Horror, Gatiss is on fine form yet again with this episode. The script utilises some brilliant comedy moments (such as a hilarious arrow-orientated shoot-off between The Doctor and Robin Hood), whilst also embracing the impressively quick-witted Capaldi and his great comic timing previously hinted at in the past two adventures. It also quickly becomes clear that the standout scenes of the episode are the ones between The Doctor and the wonderfully charismatic and charming Robin Hood (played by Tom Riley). Gatiss’ script contrasts the two legendary characters in a very humorous manner by playing Capaldi’s grumpy old man persona off against Riley’s exuberant young troublemaker. Having said that, the episode does end with a beautifully poignant comparison between The Doctor and Robin Hood as legends woven throughout time by stories and folklore, which concludes the story perfectly.
On another note, Clara seems to have completely stepped out of her shell as a 50th anniversary gimmick into a fantastic companion who perfectly compliments the 12th Doctor as his binary opposition. In fact, Coleman’s performance as Clara in this story seemed to emulate the curious, wide-eyed early days of Rose Tyler and Amy Pond. Eagle eyed fans of the series will also notice a few Whoniverse Easter eggs lurking in Robot of Sherwood, such as an Ice Warrior namedrop, a brief Patrick Troughton image, and yet another reference to the mysterious ‘promises land’ previously mentioned by Deep Breath’s half face man.
If I were to have any complaints about this weeks episode, it would have to be the fact that it doesn’t really forward the overall story arc of series 8 in any way. However, it does add some more layers to Capaldi’s intriguingly tricky and dark Doctor, whilst allowing him to take part in some exciting action in an otherwise simple episode. Next week it looks like we are in for a treat with Steven Moffat’s creepy-looking Listen, which will see the return of Samuel Anderson as Danny Pink for his much-anticipated meeting with The Doctor (and his killer eyebrows).
Best Bit:
Although the majority of Robot of Sherwood revolves around exciting action sequences, the best bit for me is undeniably the concluding dialogue between The Doctor and Robin Hood. The conversation discussing fiction, fantasy, legend and heroes perfectly sums up the Doctor whilst also capping off the episode and Robin’s legacy within the series.
Best Line(s):
Robin Hood: Draw your sword and prove your words
The Doctor: I have no sword, I don’t need a sword…because I am The Doctor and this is my spoon!
And…
The Doctor: I honestly believe that he may die of sheer fright like some tiny, shivering little mouse…
The Doctor: Oh, I think he’s soiled himself
[usr=4] THN’s Doctor Who Series 8 Blog returns next Saturday.
