 "Robot of Sherwood" is the third story of Season Thirty Four (New Series 8). It has been written by Mark Gatiss and directed by Paul Murphy. Joining Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman in this story are guest stars Tom Riley and Ben Miller.
This story explores two legends: the life of Robin Hood and the search for the cryptic Promised Land that was introduced in the first story of this season, "Deep Breath".
In an interview for the Doctor Who Magazine, writer Mark Gatiss stated that his intent with the story was 'to do The Doctor and Robin Hood in 45 minutes. The premise is inherently funny, but I didn’t think of it as the funnier episode when I was doing it. It’s still asking big questions. But it’s definitely more frivolous'.
Playing the part of Robin Hood is Tom Riley whose previous acting credits include roles in Twenty Twelve and Monroe. He also played opposite David Tennant in the film St Trinian’s 2: The Legend of Fritton’s Gold and won plaudits for his portrayal of Leonardo Da Vinci in Da Vinci’s Demons.
Ben Miller, who plays the part of the Sheriff of Nottingham, is best known as one half of the comedy duo Armstrong and Miller with Alexander Armstrong (who previously appeared in the 2011 Christmas Special "The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe" and was the voice of Mr Smith in The Sarah Jane Adventures).
Commenting on his role as the Sheriff of Nottingham, Ben Miller has stated: ‘As a committed Whovian I cannot believe my luck in joining the Twelfth Doctor for one of his inaugural adventures. My only worry is that they'll make me leave the set when I'm not filming’. As well as achieving fame as half of comedy duo Armstrong and Miller Ben Miller has had success in dramas, including Primeval and as the central character in the first two series of the BBC’s Death in Paradise.
Steven Moffat, lead writer and executive producer on the casting of Ben Miller has revealed: ‘Mark Gatiss has written us a storming villain for his new episode, and with Capaldi in the TARDIS, we knew we needed somebody special to send everybody behind the sofa. And quite frankly, it's about time Ben Miller was in Doctor Who’.
Also starring in this story are: Trevor Cooper (who played Takis in the 1985 Sixth Doctor story "Revelation of the Daleks"), Ian Hallard (who appeared in the Fiftieth Anniversary BBC Two drama about the origins of Doctor Who, An Adventure in Space and Time), David Benson (who played Orson Welles in Mark Gatiss' 2002 Doctor Who audio drama "Invaders from Mars"), Roger Ashton-Griffiths (who played Mace Tyrell in the popular drama Game of Thrones) and Sabrina Bartlett (who played Hannah in Channel 5's unscripted drama Suspects).
Ian Hallard also appeared, with David Benson, in the Big Finish Productions audio story "Invaders from Mars", which was also written by Mark Gatiss. David Benson later appeared in the audio story "Wildthyme at Large" - a story which also featured Robin Hood.
Writer Mark Gatiss has written many previous Doctor Who stories including "The Unquiet Dead", "Cold War" and "The Crimson Horror". He also wrote and was an executive producer on the acclaimed one-off Fiftieth Anniversary drama, An Adventure in Space and Time.
Director Paul Murphy has previously directed a variety of different television series, including Trollied, Casualty, Waterloo Road, Trexx and Flipside, and Hollyoaks. Although this is Paul Murphy's first Doctor Who story he has worked on BBC Wales' Wizards vs Aliens.
The read-through for this story took place on 20 March 2014 at the BBC's Roath Lock studios in Cardiff. Filming then began on the 25th March. Location filming taking place in Fforest Fawr, in the Brecon Beacons National Park, on the 15th April 2014 and then at Caerphilly Castle on the 17th April. Both Fforest Fawr and Caerphilly Castle have previously served as locations for Doctor Who The former doubled for Germany as a setting for scenes from "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End", and the latter for "The Vampires of Venice" and "Nightmare in Silver". Filming of this story was completed on the 3rd May 2014.
On the 4th September 2014 the BBC announced that a beheading scene, from the story's climatic battle between Robin Hood and the Sheriff, had been edited out due to the recent murders of two American journalists by a terrorist group. In the original scene, Robin Hood would have decapitated the Sheriff of Nottingham, revealing that the Sheriff was a robot. The place where the scene was cut can clearly be seen in the finished programme, when the tapestry behind The Doctor and Clara vanishes before Robin Hood cuts the rope and rises to the wooden gantries. However, the admission of the Sheriff that he was 'half man, half engine' and the scene showing his hands in the vat of molten gold makes up for the editing.
The Twelfth Doctor is seen again writing obscure calculations with chalk (see "Deep Breath" and "Into the Dalek").
It is revealed that at some point, Clara learned about The Doctor's origins, not only that he stole a TARDIS (as witnessed by one of her fragments in "The Name of The Doctor"), but that he came from a wealthy family.
The Doctor uses Venusian aikido to disarm Robin Hood, complete with a 'Hai' the same as the Third Doctor commonly did (see "The Mind of Evil", "Inferno" and "The Claws of Axos").
The Doctor is heard claiming to have practised swordfight with Richard the Lionheart, Cyrano de Bergerac and Errol Flynn.
Once again The Doctor likens a foolish person's thought processes to a pudding (see "Deep Breath").
After having previously learned, in the 2013 Eleventh Doctor story "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS", that Clara is from Lancashire we learn in this story that she came from Blackpool when she is heard to say 'You can take the girl out of Blackpool'. Clara also previously mentioned this seaside town in "The Rings of Akhaten". Blackpool is also where Jenna Coleman, who plays Clara, was born.
The Sheriff of Nottingham is heard expressing his desire to gain control over Derby and London. Clara also suggests Worksop.
The Sheriff is heard quoting William Shakespeare when he refers to the land as ‘this sceptred isle’. The description of England comes from Act 2, scene 1 of Richard II when he demands to know ‘Who will rid me of this turbulent Doctor?’. His words attributed to England’s King Henry II who is said to have bellowed ‘Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?’ in relation to his former friend, Thomas Becket.
The TARDIS is shown healing herself after being hit by Robin Hood's arrow.
Arrows have been fired at the TARDIS before. In the 2007 Tenth Doctor story "The Shakespeare Code" an arrow hit the TARDIS in London in 1599 and, in the 1988 Seventh Doctor story "Silver Nemesis", an arrow fired by Lady Peinforte hit the TARDIS while visiting Windsor in 1988.
The archery tournament and the Golden Arrow is a staple of the Robin Hood legend, including the Child Ballads A Gest of Robyn Hode (one of the oldest surviving tales of Robin Hood that was printed between 1492 and 1534) and Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow.
It is revealed that the robot's spaceship was heading for 'the Promised Land' just like the Half-Face Man's spaceship when he claimed that he was waiting to reach the Promised Land (see "Deep Breath").
The Doctor observes that the crashed spaceship is from the 29th century. The Eleventh Doctor visited the Starship UK, which was launched in that same period to escape the solar flares threatening the Earth (see the 2010 Eleventh Doctor story "The Beast Below").
This is not the first time that The Doctor has encountered a spaceship disguised as a castle (see the 1980 Fourth Doctor story "State of Decay").
The Doctor previously encountered a spaceship that needed gold to repair the engines, in his fifth incarnation when the Djinni used the gold The Black Guardian horded from the Caliph and compressed it to make a warp manifold, the fifth segment to the Key to Time, in the Big Finish Productions audio story "The Destroyer of Delights".
In this story The Doctor offers to take Clara to see the Ice Warrior Hives on Mars or the Tumescent Arrows of the Half-Light. The Doctor claimed to have taken a Polaroid picture of the latter.
During the duel with Robin Hood The Doctor keeps Robin at bay with a spoon! This is not the first time The Doctor has found an alternative use for a spoon. In the 1988/89 story "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy" the Seventh Doctor played the spoons with considerable skill and The Doctor's expertise in swordsmanship is long established, previously seen in stories including the 1972 Third Doctor story "The Sea Devils" and the 1978 Fourth Doctor story "The Androids of Tara".
The Doctor suggests to Clara that they are inside a Miniscope upon encountering Robin Hood and his Merry Men in Sherwood Forest. The Third Doctor found himself in a Miniscope in the 1973 story "Carnival of Monsters". In that story The Doctor, and his travelling companion Jo Grant, find themselves trapped inside one and we discover that The Doctor had previously tried to get them banned. We also learn they were devices intended for entertainment - externally they were very small but due to their futuristic design they were able to maintain many different landscapes and locations, as well as captives, internally.
One of the images brought up on the computer screen, showing various versions of Robin Hood, is of Patrick Troughton, the actor who portrayed the Second Doctor, and also the first actor who played Robin Hood on television.
A different account about the appearance and the fate of Robin Hood was referred to in "The Thief of Sherwood" - a short story in the 2004 Big Finish Productions Short Trips anthology Short Trips: Past Tense.
In London of 2050, K9 would encounter a virtual reality simulation of Robin Hood in a recreation of Sherwood Forest that was inside a museum. The view held at this point was that there was indeed a real Robin Hood, a sentiment affirmed by K9 who claimed to have met him in his original incarnation (see the Australian spin-off television series K9 story "The Last Oak Tree").
In this story both King Richard the Lionheart and his brother, Prince John of England, are mentioned. In 1190, King Richard is fighting the Crusades, where he met the First Doctor in the 1965 story "The Crusade". The Doctor also meet the android Kamelion masquerading as the then King John in 1215 in the 1983 Fifth Doctor story "The King's Demons".
The Doctor and Robin Hood escape the cell by feigning a possession in the same way that Ben and Polly did in the 1966 Second Doctor story "The Smugglers".
There are several instances which can be considered references to Maid Marian and her Merry Men (the children's sitcom, created and written by Tony Robinson, that began in 1989 and finished in 1994). Although this series is not mentioned by name. For instance: unlike in most instances, Little John is again portrayed as being of a smaller stature rather then bigger; also when Clara is taken from the cell, as The Doctor and Robin Hood are arguing thus mimicking when Maid Marian would often take the leading role whilst others argued.
Clara is heard calling Robin Hood 'Prince of Thieves', a nickname popularised by the film, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
The Doctor is seen using a device able to take a sample and examine a specimen of human blood. He administers such a test on Alan-a-Dale and makes a prognosis of several diseases and reports that he has about six months of life expectancy.
This is the first story since the 2013 Eleventh Doctor story "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS" to have no scenes set on present-day Earth.
This story contains a number of errors. Namely: When first meeting Robin Hood Clara is seen closing the door of the TARDIS. But when The Doctor and Robin Hood duel it can be seen open; During the duel scene, Robin Hood is seen slicing off one of The Doctor's coat buttons but later in the story all of his buttons are intact.
The script for the story was one of five scripts leaked online from a BBC Worldwide server in Miami, where they had been sent in preparation for broadcast in Latin America. Also a rough version of this story was leaked online. The leaked version was black-and-white, and its visual and audio effects and music are preliminary and incomplete. It does contain the Sheriff beheading scene (about one minute of footage) that was cut before the story was broadcast. This leak followed the leaks of the previous two stories; "Deep Breath" and "Into the Dalek". The BBC released a statement urging fans not to spread spoilers from the pirated copy.
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The Firsts:
The first Doctor Who story to be directed by Paul Murphy.
David P Davis' first involvement in the show as Script Editor.
The first story since the 2013 Eleventh Doctor story "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS" to have no scenes set on present-day Earth.
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(Position = 9 out of 12)
