Robot of Sherwood
This topic contains 237 replies, has 56 voices, and was last updated by 
Dentarthurdent 1 year ago.
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After going ‘into darkness’ last week we get a more light-hearted romp for the younger viewers this time courtesy of Mark Gatiss, which is exactly why Doctor Who is so great. What we get is a beautiful battle of hero egos. Clara, once again, is there to keep them all in check.
Gatiss has gone big, to almost pantomime proportions, and there are lots of great lines.
Stop laughing. Are you all simple or something?
Shut it, Hoody
Can you explain your plan without using the words ‘sonic screwdriver’?
After Lincoln, the world!
In an unusually sun-dappled Sherwood Forest the Doctor encounters Robin Hood, a man he does not believe existed. They soon discover that robots from outer space are in league with the dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham and strike up an unlikely alliance.
With half of England at stake, the Doctor must decide who is real and who is fake.
When did you start believing in impossible heroes?
I don’t know where this is going but we get more mechanical men searching for ‘The Promised Land’.
Anonymous @
‘An intriguing gallimaufry.’ Is that a block of cheese?
OK – with the first glimpse of a very “men in tights” Robin, I thought I wouldn’t enjoy this, but I ended up revising that opinion pretty quickly because it was too much bloody fun to resist.
As depictions of Hood go, this was knowing (and I’m sorry @theKrynoid man, but wash your mouth out – no one can be as bad a Kevin Costner).
In fact it reminded me of the portrayal of Robin from the time travelling BlackAdder: Back and Forth. The unnecessary laughter, the character who is slightly in love with his own mystique. That version was, of course, played by the late (sadly) Rik Mayall.
But as a central conceit – meeting a mythical figure who turned out to be his own caricature – it played out really well. I loved the Doctors determination to prove that this was a Fiction. Who wouldn’t, with tights like that. Like others I liked the highlighting of the Hood and Doctor “myths” – last year I wrote a blog on Big Finish and in the comments put (on the tricky subject of Who’s non-existent canon):
“I’ve always approached the Doctor as a modern myth, as I said, and myths can get confusing. It’s kind of like asking for confirmation about whether Robin Hood was a nobleman who rebelled, or a peasant who fought back. The interpretations serve their own purposes.”
The Robots – hmm. One parallel for Deep Breath is that these seem to be time travelling robots like those. They had chronicles of Earths history, myths and legends (he shows Robin). Have to think about that.
“You can take the girl out of Blackpool…”
I’m liking Clara more and more (and I liked her last year). The added bolshiness that’s growing as her confidence does reminds me of Sheridan Smith’s Lucie Miller from the Eighth Doctor Audio Adventures (who was also a resident of Blackpool).
I laughed out loud at the scene in the dungeon, and the guards assessment that she was the ringleader (presumably based on the observable evidence that she was the voice of reason as the two idiots behaved like toddlers). Again – another good confrontation between her and the villain, with her prising the back story from the Sheriff (which was a pretty good turn by Ben Miller).
Anyway – that’s my first assessment. Loved it. Back this afternoon with more thoughts.
Unfinished mask by Millenium FX…
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