‘ROBOT OF SHERWOOD’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

The Twelfth Doctor and Clara meet Robin Hood

This is one of my favourite episodes from Series 8 of ‘Doctor Who’! ‘Robot of Sherwood’ by Mark Gatiss is full of swashbuckling proportions and humour that appealed to me when I first saw it on TV.

The story raises the question on whether Robin Hood was real or not. He turns out to be real in this episode and this is what I liked, as ‘Doctor Who’ takes a legend and makes him become a real person.

Clara asks the Doctor to take her to see Robin Hood, even though he denies he doesn’t exist. But when they visit Earth in the 12th century, the first person the Doctor meets is…Robin Hood himself!

Tom Riley delivers a brilliant performance as Robin Hood in this episode. He’s charming; he’s funny and very heroic. I enjoyed the bantering shared between the Doctor and Robin Hood in this episode.

Clara is overjoyed to see her hero and shares some nice scenes with him. I enjoyed it when Robin Hood got to show off his archery skills and the truth gets revealed on his existence in history in this.

Ben Miller also delivers a superb villainous performance as the Sheriff of Nottingham. I like the balance of calm and anger in Ben’s performance with the Sherriff, especially in his scene with Clara.

The Sherriff has robots at his side which is intriguing. He plans to use his castle which is a spaceship to attack the city of London. It was epic and great when the Sherriff and Robin Hood fight at the end.

There are also Robin Hood’s Merry Men in this. There’s Ian Hallard as Alan-a-Dale, who I’ve met at the ‘Pandorica 2015’ convention and Trevor Cooper as Friar Tuck, who I’ve met at two conventions.

There’s also Matthew Dale as ‘Big John’; Rusty Goffe as Little John and Joseph Kennedy as Will Scarlet. Robin Hood and his Merry Men love to laugh loads, which really gets on the Doctor’s nerves. 😀

Peter Capaldi delivers a great performance as the Twelfth Doctor in this episode. I loved it when the Doctor fights Robin Hood with a spoon as it was so funny and it makes him almost Jon Pertwee in that role.

The Doctor tries to keep on dismissing the possibility that Robin Hood and the others aren’t real and comes up with alternative explanations. I loved it when he tells one of the robots he’s ‘already free!’

Jenna Coleman is lovely as Clara in this episode. I love the red period costume Clara wears in this episode. She looks like a princess and almost like Maid Marion. I wanted to fall in love with Clara. 🙂

Clara is happy to meet her childhood hero and she gets to be really clever in this episode. She expertly knows the Robin Hood’s legend. I liked it when she referees between him and the Doctor.

The robots in ‘Robot of Sherwood’ look very impressive and scary. The voices are chillingly done by Richard Elfyn. They look so good when dressed up as knights and shooting lasers out from their eyes.

The action scenes are pretty good and echo the best out of the legend of Robin Hood. These include the archery contest scenes as well as the climatic swordfight between Robin Hood and the Sherriff.

At the end, everyone lives happily ever after and both the Doctor and Robin Hood are great heroes. I liked that scene when they say goodbye to each other and the Doctor leaves Robin a gift at the end – which is Sabrina Bartlett as Maid Marian.

‘Robot of Sherwood’ is definitely one of my favourite episodes from the new series of ‘Doctor Who’ with Peter Capaldi. I enjoyed the take on making Robin Hood an actual person as well as the legend.

The DVD/Blu-ray special features for this episode are as follows. There’s an audio commentary with director Paul Murphy. There’s also the ‘Robot of Sherwood’ – Doctor Who Extra’ behind-the-scenes featurette.

‘Robot of Sherwood’ rating – 10/10

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The previous story For the Twelfth Doctor was ‘Chime Time’ (Comic) For Clara was ‘Chime Time’ (Comic)	The next story For the Twelfth Doctor is ‘Once Bitten’ (Comic) For Clara is ‘Once Bitten’ (Comic)
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