16 September 2014

Right on target (Review: 'Doctor Who' 34.3, "Robot of Sherwood")

Mark Gatiss wrote two stories for the second half of Season 33, "Cold War" and "The Crimson Horror"; with this story, he's definitely going to be asked back.
  • The new title sequence is definitely growing on me.
  • This is the first non-Moff Capaldi episode and it's always a risk with the first season of a Doctor when others write for him. In this case Gatiss did a great job, with a very funny episode (with a lot of jokes both subtle and less so)(, although there perhaps could have been a bit more steel and alien-ness.
  • Clara was really good in this episode; as I've mentioned previously, she's improved a lot this year. Her scene in the castle
  • Ben Miller was a great Sheriff with some lovely lines; his ability to play snarky has been showcased in many things I've watched and he was allowed to do it without going to Keith Allen levels of ham.
  • We had a great Robin Hood here, while a bit deliberately one-note and Errol Flynn-esque, that served for some great 'bantering' with the Doctor.
  • The scene with the archery was great and ended just when it should.
  • The robots were good, but any weapon that takes that long to charge up isn't a great one.
  • I like the extra features that have been added to the console room; it really fills it out.
  • Nice Troughton cameo!
  • I see we've got our arc words going now.
Conclusion

That was really enjoyable, although I admit it's a bit lightweight. But nothing wrong with lightweight.

9/10

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