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Fun to see Doctor Who back in medieval times. I sort of got a "The Time Warrior" vibe from the story. Past setting with a castle but with some time meddling going on by an outer space visitor. What a strange tone this story had, though.
It was going for funny, and it certainly had that, but I think maybe it was too off the wall for a Doctor Who story. I don't know, I don't think funny really suits Twelve. He can do something that's funny to us, but an overall comedic plot kind of flies in the face of his very serious character. It was amusing watching him be a curmudgeon about the whole "Robin Hood is just a legend" thing. You know, this is twice now that Clara has called him out for being a little closed-minded. This week, he's 100% sure Robin Hood never existed and last week, he was pretty certain a good Dalek could never exist. Is Twelve getting cynical in his old age?
Anyway, the plot. "Robot of Sherwood." I could have sworn it was "Robots of Sherwood", but I've been avoiding looking at any episode lists so what do I know. It does make the plot a bit misleading, though. "Robot" implies just one, but there was clearly more than one robot in the story. Personally, I was kind of hoping that Robin was a robot and that's how we ended up with the Robin Hood legend, because an alien from space made it happen. That's very Doctor Who-ish to me. But, then again, that seems like the obvious move, so I can see why Mark Gatiss went in a different direction. The true Robin Hood just fades away in history as heresay and that's a bit sad, but here we are, still talking about him and making TV shows and movies about him, so maybe it's not so bad to be a legend. The Doctor certainly has no qualms about being a story. I think he prefers it when details about him become muddled.
As for the bit with the Sheriff of Nottingham using the robots to take over England, meh. That bit was predictable. There's always someone in the past who takes advantage of the crashed alien. You had a bit of it in "The Time Warrior" with Linx giving Irongrod those guns and making him a mechanical knight. Or is the robot of the title actually the ship? Speaking of the ship, is it a distant cousin to the clockwork droids from "Deep Breath" or something? It's destination was the Promised Land. Is it some utopia for robots? And I have a really hard time believing that an arrow of solid gold would be enough gold for the ship to take off. Also, if it was an arrow of solid gold, wouldn't it be really heavy and/or soft? Maybe it's better not to think about these things...
So, Robin Hood. An actual guy. Watching him and the Doctor try to one up each other was cute. Obviously both of them were trying to show off to Clara. But he was laughing too much for my tastes. Few shows can handle a comedic plot really well and I don't think Doctor Who is one. It's more action and adventure with some laughs, but not all laughs all the time. The archery scene nearly become something out of Robin Hood: Men in Tights. I guess I was expecting more meat to the story when really all it wanted to be was a fun romp with swords and robots.
Random: I love that Twelve scribbles. His chalkboards are all over the console room. Gives him an unique quirk. Maybe Twelve draws, too, if he scribbles? I know that Peter Capaldi can draw really well. Clara is so totally the ringleader. I was expecting it, but it was still great when it happened. She's the adult in the relationship. Random sword (spoon?) fight between Robin and the Doctor. I guess it's like when two superheroes meet; they always have to have a fight before they end up working together. Poor Peter Capaldi. He got pushed into a river this week and last week he landed in a pool of gunk. So the Doctor does switch up his look. No cardigan this week, just a lovely wine coloured shirt. I was kind of hoping he would mention Cleopatra when Clara asked him where to sword fight. That was Four's answer when he was asked. And the Doctor mentioned a miniscope! "Carnival of Monsters" reference! Twelve continues to be cute to me. He looks so perplexed when Marian kisses him on the cheek.
Next week, is that Danny in the orange spacesuit? I thought it might be him, but maybe I was just seeing things. Next week looks suitably creepy. Things under the bed. Good to know Doctor Who is still traumatizing children. ;-)
While I'm still not sure what to make of Twelve, I am loving Peter Capaldi. I managed to watch the Doctor Who Extra for "Into the Dalek" and I just love the fact that he was hanging around on set, watching them film the Daleks, and he didn't have to be on set until the afternoon. He was even taking pictures on his phone. Yup, that man is a fanboy. :-) It's probably too late to do this, but I would love if they gave him a video camera and he could run around filming behind the scenes stuff for the DVDs. When David Tennant did it, it was so awesome and I'm sure Capaldi would be just as good at it.
It was going for funny, and it certainly had that, but I think maybe it was too off the wall for a Doctor Who story. I don't know, I don't think funny really suits Twelve. He can do something that's funny to us, but an overall comedic plot kind of flies in the face of his very serious character. It was amusing watching him be a curmudgeon about the whole "Robin Hood is just a legend" thing. You know, this is twice now that Clara has called him out for being a little closed-minded. This week, he's 100% sure Robin Hood never existed and last week, he was pretty certain a good Dalek could never exist. Is Twelve getting cynical in his old age?
Anyway, the plot. "Robot of Sherwood." I could have sworn it was "Robots of Sherwood", but I've been avoiding looking at any episode lists so what do I know. It does make the plot a bit misleading, though. "Robot" implies just one, but there was clearly more than one robot in the story. Personally, I was kind of hoping that Robin was a robot and that's how we ended up with the Robin Hood legend, because an alien from space made it happen. That's very Doctor Who-ish to me. But, then again, that seems like the obvious move, so I can see why Mark Gatiss went in a different direction. The true Robin Hood just fades away in history as heresay and that's a bit sad, but here we are, still talking about him and making TV shows and movies about him, so maybe it's not so bad to be a legend. The Doctor certainly has no qualms about being a story. I think he prefers it when details about him become muddled.
As for the bit with the Sheriff of Nottingham using the robots to take over England, meh. That bit was predictable. There's always someone in the past who takes advantage of the crashed alien. You had a bit of it in "The Time Warrior" with Linx giving Irongrod those guns and making him a mechanical knight. Or is the robot of the title actually the ship? Speaking of the ship, is it a distant cousin to the clockwork droids from "Deep Breath" or something? It's destination was the Promised Land. Is it some utopia for robots? And I have a really hard time believing that an arrow of solid gold would be enough gold for the ship to take off. Also, if it was an arrow of solid gold, wouldn't it be really heavy and/or soft? Maybe it's better not to think about these things...
So, Robin Hood. An actual guy. Watching him and the Doctor try to one up each other was cute. Obviously both of them were trying to show off to Clara. But he was laughing too much for my tastes. Few shows can handle a comedic plot really well and I don't think Doctor Who is one. It's more action and adventure with some laughs, but not all laughs all the time. The archery scene nearly become something out of Robin Hood: Men in Tights. I guess I was expecting more meat to the story when really all it wanted to be was a fun romp with swords and robots.
Random: I love that Twelve scribbles. His chalkboards are all over the console room. Gives him an unique quirk. Maybe Twelve draws, too, if he scribbles? I know that Peter Capaldi can draw really well. Clara is so totally the ringleader. I was expecting it, but it was still great when it happened. She's the adult in the relationship. Random sword (spoon?) fight between Robin and the Doctor. I guess it's like when two superheroes meet; they always have to have a fight before they end up working together. Poor Peter Capaldi. He got pushed into a river this week and last week he landed in a pool of gunk. So the Doctor does switch up his look. No cardigan this week, just a lovely wine coloured shirt. I was kind of hoping he would mention Cleopatra when Clara asked him where to sword fight. That was Four's answer when he was asked. And the Doctor mentioned a miniscope! "Carnival of Monsters" reference! Twelve continues to be cute to me. He looks so perplexed when Marian kisses him on the cheek.
Next week, is that Danny in the orange spacesuit? I thought it might be him, but maybe I was just seeing things. Next week looks suitably creepy. Things under the bed. Good to know Doctor Who is still traumatizing children. ;-)
While I'm still not sure what to make of Twelve, I am loving Peter Capaldi. I managed to watch the Doctor Who Extra for "Into the Dalek" and I just love the fact that he was hanging around on set, watching them film the Daleks, and he didn't have to be on set until the afternoon. He was even taking pictures on his phone. Yup, that man is a fanboy. :-) It's probably too late to do this, but I would love if they gave him a video camera and he could run around filming behind the scenes stuff for the DVDs. When David Tennant did it, it was so awesome and I'm sure Capaldi would be just as good at it.
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