This episode is certainly more fun and light compared to the past two. Lets start with the Doctor. I felt the doctor didn't have much to do in this episode. He spend most of the episode questioning the existence of Robin and the Merry Men. He was quite aggressive towards them too! He acted very childish in the cell, bickering with Robin Hood, but I did find the laughing bit funny in all honesty. There was no address to the Good Man question, just a few hints, for example the Doctor stopping and thinker after Marion kisses him. The similarities between Robin and the Doctor was only used to bookend the episode, and wasn't used to its full potential, as both are heroes and legends. The bridge duel was funny, but the movement of Capaldi, and the quirk of using a spoon felt as if it was written for Matt Smith. |
Clara steps up to a larger role in this episode than last weeks. But never mind where Oswin's Eggs are, where did Clara get her dress from? And if its from the TARDIS, why does the Doctor own it? Anyway, Clara is very manipulative with the sheriff, with a clever method to learn his plan. She is also quick to bring up Robin's frequent laughter, saying that he laughs because inside he is sad. And I particularly loved her comment about the overuse of the Sonic Screwdriver. |
As mentioned earlier, there are a lot of similarities between Robin and the Doctor. I thought Tom Riley played this role brilliantly. However I did feel the Merry Men did nothing, and it just felt they were added as they are part of the tale. The end scene was well done with Robin using the same trick on the Sheriff as the Doctor used on him at the start, but due to the cut scene (more on that later), it may have looked to some like Robin was just killing a human, which would be dark for Doctor Who. |
I loved the villains in this episode, and thought the robots looked great. Ben Miller as the Sheriff was good, but felt a little over the top. However, this does create a lot of humour in the episode, especially when he hurts his hand punching a robot, and when he pointed at places on a map and saying ''mine, mine, mine''. There was a scene where the Sheriff is revealed to be one of the robots when beheaded, but this was cut due to recent news stories. I know that it is morally right to cut it for this reason, but I felt the episode lost something as it is not made clear he is a robot, apart from one throwaway line. |
The basic plot of the episode did feel very similar to 'Deep Breath', with robots attempting to repair their ship to reach the promised land. I thought the inclusion of Patrick Troughton as Robin Hood from the 1953 TV series in the archive was genius! But am I the only one that thought 'the promised land' in the archive looked similar to Gallifrey? This just stokes the rumour that Missy is actually a Time Lord. And speaking of Gallifrey, why isn't the Doctor looking for it after the events of 'The Day of the Doctor? |
Overall, I thought this episode was a VAST improvement on 'Into the Dalek', but this episode has divided opinion. Some say its good fun, others say its too fun. I personally liked it and made a break to the darker episodes of Series 8. But its back to normal for next week. You better Listen...
Until then,
See Ya!
Until then,
See Ya!