Doctor Who visited someone Medieval this time out, the legendary Robin Hood.
Paying homage to other Robin Hood tales
We certainly had it all: merry men, the evil sheriff, and plenty of swashbuckling. Writer Mark Gatiss is a fan of the classic 1938 film, so it was probably no surprise that the log over the water scene and the tournament scene were both highly similar to that film.
Eventually, a Whovian spin was put on things with the Doctor whipping out his trusty spoon and sonic screwdriver respectively. On the other hand, Gatiss wasn’t overly fond of a too realistic and gritty Robin Hood, as was seen in the recent BBC series. The only tie in there was the lair of Robin Hood with the cave in the background, which seemed to be the same one used by the BBC series.
Recurring themes
There were definitely things we have seen before this episode. Some things the Doctor points out himself, other things had to be observed. For starters, the Doctor was writing away on chalkboards the same way he did right after his regeneration on Vastra’s bedroom floor. What all the scribbling means, no one yet knows. Another recurring theme seems to be that of the radiation leak. Last week the Dalek was leaking radiation internally, causing the “good Dalek.” This week, there was a radiation leak accounting for the green forest in the fall. Surely all this radiation exposure can’t be good for a mere human like Clara.
As for things brought up by the Doctor, he seems to draw a parallel of the clockwork ship cloaked out of time in Victorian London to the robot’s ship cloaked out of time in 1190-ish Nottingham, England. The only thing missing this episode was a check in from Missy, the psycho Mary Poppins.
Clara lives her fantasy
Clara lives out her fantasy of wanting to meet Robin Hood. It is interesting to see Clara, who is normally very stoic and in control, go all fangirl over this mythical figure. At the same time, when the level of alpha male gets too annoying, Clara lets both the Doctor and Robin Hood have a piece of her mind. She ends up taking an active part in having Robin help rescue the Doctor.
What makes a hero
The Doctor and Robin Hood eventually come to an understanding after working as a team to defeat the robots. They are a lot more alike than either of them cares to admit. They both wear facades to hide their pain. Robin acts merry to hide his loss of Marian. The Doctor wears the mask of sarcasm and negativity to perhaps stop anyone from getting too close. In the end, neither wants to be considered a hero, but if their actions can inspire others to do the right thing, then they are fine with that. A glimmer of the old Doctor is the return of Marian to Robin in the end.
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