Throwback review: Robot in Sherwood, a fun episode for all
Today we do our throwback review for Robot in Sherwood, only three episodes into Capaldi’s era!
In this episode of Doctor Who, we explore the Twelfth Doctor back when he was still a brand new Doctor! Still getting his footing, not quite sure who he was yet. And it shows! In this brilliant, funny, and daring on nonsense (in a good way!) episode, we got to see our “rough and tough” Doctor out of his element.
Also, if you didn’t know, I love Mark Gatiss.
Review:
I absolutely love this episode. It’s always been one of my favorites since it aired in 2015. It’s not the most critically acclaimed episode, but looking back, knowing everything we know now, it’s even better.
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First, we can talk about the fact that we were still being introduced to the Twelfth Doctor. We didn’t really know who he was yet, and neither did Peter Capaldi, if you think about it. He was still learning how his Doctor would act in certain situations, as were we. And what better way to learn about your Doctor than in an absolutely absurd setting?
I believe that was Gatiss’s attempt here. The storyline itself was a little odd and not explained very well — only in the scene with the Sheriff of Nottingham. The backstory for how the robots got to Sherwood wasn’t there. How did they do it? Why did they pick Sherwood? (Maybe I’m just nitpicking here.)
However, it makes more sense now than it probably did at the time, since there were so many unanswered questions. Now at least we know what the Promise Land is, so we’re not plagued with the story arc question. I’m sure at the time it seemed like a distraction, but now we can enjoy it!
Peter’s acting
As always, we have to look at the acting! Peter’s acting was brilliant in this episode, and it was great to see such a juxtaposition between his dark attitude and the lightness of the Merry Men. However, it still came across funny as hell! Bantering! I am totally against bantering! His facial expressions as he talks to the Merry Men have been made into many gifs.
But the pinnacle of the episode and Peter’s acting has to be in the dungeon scene. His constant fighting with Robin Hood makes for a hilarious scene. Especially when they’re trying to get the guard to come in. There hasn’t been an episode that showed off Peter’s comedic acting quite a well as Robot in Sherwood during his time on Doctor Who. Looking back, I wish they had stretched him to be funny — especially after his character softened a bit!
