Doctor Who and Robin Hood?

Back to the Shack

The picture above should be the emblem for fiscal conservatives.  Mark Gatiss is the author of Robot of Sherwood.  Thus far on this series 8 journey I haven't really talked about the writers, which is lazy on my part, but there is really no way of talking about this particular romp without mentioning Gatiss.  Other than Night Terrors, all of Mark Gatiss's scripts have been period pieces, calling back to classic Who, such as, but not limited to Victorian Times and World War 2.  If  I were a betting man...and I am, but not a good one, I would bet that Mark Gatiss's favorite episodes are The Talons of Weng Chiang, The Visitation, and Ghost Light.  

Watching Robot of Sherwood, I couldn't help but think that this would have been a great story for Peter Davison's Doctor, dialing back the jealousy and anger a bit.  And I don't just mean that because Peter Capaldi told the Sheriff of Nottingham that he wanted "Enlightenment". One can tell that if Mark Gatiss had his way, he would much prefer the episodes to extend to 4-6 part sagas.

Series 8 deals with themes that I found quite disturbing, so having something like this episode is needed.  Doctor Who is marketed to kids as well as adults, so every episode can't be gory, doom and gloom, and heavy dramatic themes all the time.  Is Robin Hood a legend?  Is he real?  Is he a hero?  Clara could not wait to find out.  Perhaps the Doctor is disturbed with the fanfare that Clara has towards Robin Hood, knowing that she also admires him, which he pretends not to notice.  Keep in mind during this part of the season, the Doctor is searching for the answer to the question of if he is a good man or not.  Just imagine if you were doubting yourself about anything, and someone much younger than you was looking to you for guidance and clarity.  Taking on the role of responsibility for another's admiration can be undesirable when you're involved with your own soul searching.  You also have your people frozen in time somewhere.  There is that.

You Can Take The Girl Out of Black Pool

Mark Gatiss did a good job of writing Clara in this episode.  Yes, she's totally fan girl-ing about meeting the Emerald Archer, but so was I to be honest.  But Clara never allowed this to cloud her judgement once she, the Doctor, and Robin Hood were locked in a room together.  While the Lord of Gallifrey and the Prince of Thieves were territorial pissing, Clara kept her head about, reminding the boys that the plot needed some progression, and working together to figure out a way out would be best.

The scene with Clara and Anthony Ainley...I'm sorry.  I had a slight Whovian slip.  I meant to say when Clara and the Sheriff of Nottingham were sparing verbally, Jenna Coleman held her own quite well against the actor Ben Miller.  Her entire function in the scene was to find out what the Sheriff's role was in this whole Robots in the middle of the 1200's or so thing.  Clara even scolded the Sheriff for getting fresh.   And she didn't even get grabbed by the neck or get cussed out or anything.  You go, Oswald.

The Time Lord vs. The Myths of Time

Robin Hood, played by Tom Riley, gave an interesting take on being slightly disturbed that his legacy not only continues, but becomes folklore status.  Many of you know that a scene was cut out of the show, a beheading of the Sheriff, revealing that indeed the Sheriff was a robot as well, which answers the question why the episode is called Robot of Sherwood and not Robots of Sherwood.  There is a scene when the Doctor finds space tech-type technology room and is excited as a pig in a cow slaughter house.  Tom Riley played the scene not as an excited personification of a anachronistic figure, but more disturbed and confused.  In that scene one could see that he was questioning everything that he ever held true in a subtle way.  And when the Doctor questioned Robin Hood's existence, Robin became rather cross with the Time Lord.  I know this episode caught a lot of flack with hardcore fans, but after three viewings, I enjoyed this episode, save for the bits when Robin and the Doctor are bantering and yelling in the dungeon.  Even a Polly Anna fan like myself can't justify it.