Deep Breath: 7/10
Into the Dalek: 8/10 Robot of Sherwood: 8/10
Unbelievably silly, but was ultimately rather enjoyable.
It had some funny dialogue and I found hilarious how much Robin and his Merry Men got on the Doctor's nerves.
Also quite liked the twist that there was another ship trying to reach "The Promised Land". It means there's more to the arc than just wondering who Missy is? Obviously lots of spaceships across time and space have been trying to reach "Heaven" (assuming, of course, that The Promised Land and Heaven are one and the same)
I think I preferred Into the Dalek a bit more than Robot of Sherwood, but they're still worthy of a solid 8/10.
Deep Breath: 8/10
Into The Dalek: 8.5/10
Robots of Sherwood: 9/10
As I said on the episode thread, just loved it. I think Mark Gattis' comparison to Androids of Tara was spot on. Summery, fun and Peter and Jenna are nailing it. Still smiling.
Well that was just....urgh....that's the only way I can describe it really. It's a comedown from last week but still not as bad as the first episode....
I have no problem with comedy caper or pseudo historical episodes (Unicorn & the Wasp is one of my favourites) but this just didn't work. I don't know whether its because Robin Hood as an actual thing has never appealed to me, but something just felt very off tonight.
Clara was back to plain annoying, Jenna's accent going all over the place once again and to be honest she didn't really do a thing it has to be said. We've got a companion who's very hands off. It doesn't feel right.
Capaldi was unlikable in this. He was once again just Malcolm Tucker minus the swearing, it's not right for Doctor Who at all. There's nothing about him that makes me think he is the Doctor. Even in a comedy episode he was still very grumpy. The spoon scene made him look stupid and not funny stupid either.
Ben Miller was...Ben Miller, he's the same in everything but did okay with barely a thing to work with. Tom Riley was good as Robin, he was charming and fun - what the Doctor should be really - but overall Mr Hood just doesn't have the gravitas behind him for me compared to other historical figures we've had in the past.
The directing was okay for a change after the Wheatley fiasco of the last two eps, but again the music felt a bit lacking in oompth. My main issue apart from Gatiss never quite getting 'Who' in my opinon was the pace. It was straight into things quite well and then we had a scene like the dungeon one that did nothing and was just boring. The ending as a result became rushed. These longer scenes that they've brought in for S8 aren't doing it for me. I'd rather it be fast throughout.
For three episodes in, S8 isn't working for me. Peter and Jenna are a problem and don't work well together for me. Nothing's really working. Everything just feels off....I want to like it, but I just can't....
Deep Breath: 6/10
Into The Dalek: 8/10
Robot of Sherwood: 7/10
With some nice performances, great direction and some funny lines. Robot of Sherwood works, but the main problems are that the polarising aspects of light and dark moments don't compliment eachother even though seeing the deaths in such a gruesome way is refreshing. The villain was underused and when they were defeated it felt as if we hadn't seen enough of them, though the ending was fairly well handled. Still, it had a decent amount of every aspect an episode needs to succeed, so it does succeed.
Deep Breath - 9/10
Into the Dalek - 8.5/10
Robots of Sherwood - 7/10
While I still enjoyed it, it didn't really do it for me, although I was fairly distracted with family crowding around! May revise on a rewatch tomorrow. I felt like it was rather too much of a shift from the tone of the previous two episodes.
Deep Breath: 7/10
Into The Dalek: 8/10
Robot Of Sherwood: 5/10 (and one of those points is for Clara's hairstylist and another for her costume designer!)
Deep Breath - 7.5/10
Into The Dalek - 8/10
Robot Of Sherwood - 8.5/10
A fun, enjoyable romp with its darker moments. This kind of episode always sits well with me like Dinosaurs on a Spaceship and The Crimson Horror. The direction was noticeably better than the previous two episodes and it felt like Who again. Capaldi was a bit too serious and grumpy, for example his dislike of people laughing!? The rest of the cast put in good performances. Keep it up Gatiss!
Deep Breath - 8/10
Into The Dalek - 9/10
Robot Of Sherwood - 7.5/10
Thought it was a quite good episode, a bit silly at times and I constantly kept thinking 'Ben Miller, will he turn out to be the Master' lol. The only thing that got a bit boring was the Doctor and Robin Hood's constant bickering! But I enjoyed the episode.
my gosh i cannot believe it but third 10/10 in a ROW...For me Sherwood just had a different vibe to Deep Breath and ITD but was perfect for what it was a real just insane fun romp to filter the darkness that came before it (but still wholeheartedly fun too!) and sure to be insanely darker (but definitely potentially insanely fun) episodes to come along the way!
so series 8 has me with...
Deep Breath - 10/10
Into The Dalek - 10/10
Robot of Sherwood - 10/10
Love the blend of Doctor 12/Clara it just works so beautifully..as i loved 11/Ponds and 10/Tate, 9/Rose it just WORKS as a dynamic and it is electric and refreshing to see them blossom every week! Cannot wait to see where they head across the series this really is magic!
SERIES 8
Deep Breath - 7/10
Into the Dalek - 7/10 Robot of Sherwood - 7/10
Mark Gatiss episodes have always been massively varied in quality for me. Stories like The Unquiet Dead and The Crimson Horror are among my all-time favourites, Victory of the Daleks and Night Terrors are episodes I can't muster much enthusiasm for, and then there's episodes like Cold War which I wouldn't mind skipping altogether. As such, it's always a bit of pot luck when getting an episode from him. In terms of quality though, I'd probably compare Robot of Sherwood most with his Series 2 effort, The Idiot's Lantern. There's nothing at all wrong with either episode and they're both a great bit of fun, but neither quite deliver as much as they could have done and you're not in too much of a hurry to watch it again.
It was nice to have such a simple premise behind the story - something that wasn't particularly taxing in any shape or form. It was a no-shame fun-fest from start to finish. The cast channeled that idea superbly. Jenna Coleman doesn't stop getting more beautiful whilst still being given much to do (at least compared to Series 7), Tom Riley delivered a brilliant performance as Robin Hood, Ben Miller was wonderfully sinister as the Sheriff even if a bit underused (and a shame to lose his more impressive final scene which'll hopefully make the DVD), but it was Peter Capaldi who shone here. He was given the chance to show a different side to his Doctor - a sense of humour, but also full of sass. It was a welcome deviation from the darker two weeks that came before.
The episode looked beautiful and was stunningly shot. There is something about Series 8 so far that feels more real than Series 7 - which felt very artificial and full of sets that were so blatantly sets, for some reason. I think there was a welcome sense of ridiculousness about what was going on here, and though the plot was a little thin it was covered up by some pretty good character interaction. I think perhaps the episode should have decided a bit more clearly if it wanted to tell a robot story or whether it wanted to tell a story about Robin Hood's legend - the mix was interesting but meant neither idea was explored very much. With robots in the first episode, and the fairly robotic Daleks in the second episode I think I would have liked this more if we'd been given a more historical-figure oriented episode. However it was a step in the right direction as I have missed these historicals - the last proper one I believe was Vincent and the Doctor and it's helped to keep the series feeling a little grounded. Doctor Who might have the chance to explore all of time and space, but sometimes its the adventures a little closer to home that make the day.
Robots of Sherwood was fun. It wasn't groundbreaking, nor was it remotely perfect, but it had a very strong identity about it and a superb cast to carry it. It's delivered another consistently-good-but-not-outstanding episode for Series 8, with some intriguing arc hints as well. I enjoyed it for what it was, and only by doing so have I realised how long its been since I've been able to do so with Doctor Who. The show is so much better when the episodes are only concerned with their own story, and not trying to outdo each and every episode before them. I have higher hopes for this series than I ever imagined now, and I just hope that the quality keeps up and hopefully nudges out something a little bit more impressive here and there along the way.
PROS AND CONS
+ The cast was all-round superb.
+ Outright fun. A simple premise and not at all taxing.
+ The episode looked beautiful.
+ Capaldi was given a chance to show a different side to his Doctor.
- Episode was a bit lost in terms of being a robot story and a historical figure story.
- Plot was a bit thin.
- One or two scenes did seem to cater a bit more for Eleven than Twelve.
- Not particularly groundbreaking.
ROBOT OF SHERWOOD COMPARED TO OTHER EPISODE 3'S
The Unquiet Dead - 9/10
School Reunion - 8/10
Gridlock - 8/10
Planet of the Ood - 9/10
Victory of the Daleks - 6/10
The Curse of the Black Spot - 7/10
A Town Called Mercy - 8/10 Robot of Sherwood - 7/10
MARK GATISS EPISODES
The Unquiet Dead - 9/10
The Idiot's Lantern - 7/10
Victory of the Daleks - 6/10
Night Terrors - 7/10
Cold War - 6/10
The Crimson Horror - 9/10 Robot of Sherwood - 7/10
Deep Breath 9/10
Into the Dalek 9/10
Robot of Sherwood 8.5/10
I loved it. I thought it was charming, sweet, silly and very funny. I was reminded of Monty Python and the Holy Grail a few times during the episode. For me it's the best Gatiss episode since The Unquiet Dead.
Compared to other Episode 3's:
The Unquiet Dead - 8.5/10
School Reunion - 9/10
Gridlock - 10/10
Planet of the Ood - 7/10
Victory of the Daleks - 3/10
The Curse of the Black Spot - 4/10
A Town Called Mercy - 4/10
Robot of Sherwood - 8.5/10
I've been very generous on the whole this season and I see no reason to stop this now. Much like Into the Dalek, Robot is worse on rewatch and doesn't fill me with glee, but it was an extremely enjoyable episode, with tons of fun and funny moments, 12 and Clara as ever are the anchors and even though it was silly, borderline stupid, and the plot is weak again, it's still immense fun and shouldn't be judged too harshly.
I have to be honest though, I don't know where the show would be without Jenna Coleman killing it, she's single-handedly elevated my opinion of the episode every week so this far this season.
Gatiss' strongest effort (admittedly not down to him but the acting as some of the dialogue was dreadful) and the best episode 3 to date but only just and only taken in the right mindset. I think you have to go in expecting funny, silly, nonsense and have to be prepared to enjoy it.
Comments
Into the Dalek 8/10
Robot of Sherwood 6/10
It tried too hard and not hard enough at the same time.
Into The Dalek: 8.5/10.0
Robot Of Sherwood: 8.5/10.0
Into the Dalek: 8/10
Robot of Sherwood: 8/10
Unbelievably silly, but was ultimately rather enjoyable.
It had some funny dialogue and I found hilarious how much Robin and his Merry Men got on the Doctor's nerves.
Also quite liked the twist that there was another ship trying to reach "The Promised Land". It means there's more to the arc than just wondering who Missy is? Obviously lots of spaceships across time and space have been trying to reach "Heaven" (assuming, of course, that The Promised Land and Heaven are one and the same)
I think I preferred Into the Dalek a bit more than Robot of Sherwood, but they're still worthy of a solid 8/10.
Into The Dalek: 8.5/10
Robots of Sherwood: 9/10
As I said on the episode thread, just loved it. I think Mark Gattis' comparison to Androids of Tara was spot on. Summery, fun and Peter and Jenna are nailing it. Still smiling.
Into the Dalek 8/10
Robot of Sherwood 8/10.
Into the Dalek 5/10
Robot of Sherwood 4/10
Well that was just....urgh....that's the only way I can describe it really. It's a comedown from last week but still not as bad as the first episode....
I have no problem with comedy caper or pseudo historical episodes (Unicorn & the Wasp is one of my favourites) but this just didn't work. I don't know whether its because Robin Hood as an actual thing has never appealed to me, but something just felt very off tonight.
Clara was back to plain annoying, Jenna's accent going all over the place once again and to be honest she didn't really do a thing it has to be said. We've got a companion who's very hands off. It doesn't feel right.
Capaldi was unlikable in this. He was once again just Malcolm Tucker minus the swearing, it's not right for Doctor Who at all. There's nothing about him that makes me think he is the Doctor. Even in a comedy episode he was still very grumpy. The spoon scene made him look stupid and not funny stupid either.
Ben Miller was...Ben Miller, he's the same in everything but did okay with barely a thing to work with. Tom Riley was good as Robin, he was charming and fun - what the Doctor should be really - but overall Mr Hood just doesn't have the gravitas behind him for me compared to other historical figures we've had in the past.
The directing was okay for a change after the Wheatley fiasco of the last two eps, but again the music felt a bit lacking in oompth. My main issue apart from Gatiss never quite getting 'Who' in my opinon was the pace. It was straight into things quite well and then we had a scene like the dungeon one that did nothing and was just boring. The ending as a result became rushed. These longer scenes that they've brought in for S8 aren't doing it for me. I'd rather it be fast throughout.
For three episodes in, S8 isn't working for me. Peter and Jenna are a problem and don't work well together for me. Nothing's really working. Everything just feels off....I want to like it, but I just can't....
Into the Dalek: 6/10
Robot of Sherwood: 8/10
Into The Dalek: 8/10
Robot of Sherwood: 7/10
With some nice performances, great direction and some funny lines. Robot of Sherwood works, but the main problems are that the polarising aspects of light and dark moments don't compliment eachother even though seeing the deaths in such a gruesome way is refreshing. The villain was underused and when they were defeated it felt as if we hadn't seen enough of them, though the ending was fairly well handled. Still, it had a decent amount of every aspect an episode needs to succeed, so it does succeed.
Into The Dalek: 9.5/10
Robot of Sherwood: 9/10
Into The Dalek: 8/10
Robot of Sherwood: 8.5/10
An unexpected rating given the writer, dialogue, tone, tropes, cliches....
Into the Dalek - 4/10
Robots of Sherwood - 7.5/10
Into the Dalek - 8.5/10
Robots of Sherwood - 7/10
While I still enjoyed it, it didn't really do it for me, although I was fairly distracted with family crowding around! May revise on a rewatch tomorrow. I felt like it was rather too much of a shift from the tone of the previous two episodes.
Deep Breath 7/10
Into the Dalek 7/10
Robot of Sherwood 8.5/10
Fun romp, one of Gattiss' best, shame about the cut bit, as it left Ben Miller with a bit of a rubbish demise.
Into The Dalek: 8/10
Robot Of Sherwood: 5/10 (and one of those points is for Clara's hairstylist and another for her costume designer!)
Into The Dalek - 8/10
Robot Of Sherwood - 8.5/10
A fun, enjoyable romp with its darker moments. This kind of episode always sits well with me like Dinosaurs on a Spaceship and The Crimson Horror. The direction was noticeably better than the previous two episodes and it felt like Who again. Capaldi was a bit too serious and grumpy, for example his dislike of people laughing!? The rest of the cast put in good performances. Keep it up Gatiss!
Deep Breath - 8/10
Into The Dalek - 9/10
Robot Of Sherwood - 7.5/10
Thought it was a quite good episode, a bit silly at times and I constantly kept thinking 'Ben Miller, will he turn out to be the Master' lol. The only thing that got a bit boring was the Doctor and Robin Hood's constant bickering! But I enjoyed the episode.
Into the Dalek 10
Robots of Sherwood 7/10
so series 8 has me with...
Deep Breath - 10/10
Into The Dalek - 10/10
Robot of Sherwood - 10/10
Love the blend of Doctor 12/Clara it just works so beautifully..as i loved 11/Ponds and 10/Tate, 9/Rose it just WORKS as a dynamic and it is electric and refreshing to see them blossom every week! Cannot wait to see where they head across the series this really is magic!
Into The Dalek 8/10
Robot Of Sherwood 6/10
Deep Breath - 7/10
Into the Dalek - 7/10
Robot of Sherwood - 7/10
Mark Gatiss episodes have always been massively varied in quality for me. Stories like The Unquiet Dead and The Crimson Horror are among my all-time favourites, Victory of the Daleks and Night Terrors are episodes I can't muster much enthusiasm for, and then there's episodes like Cold War which I wouldn't mind skipping altogether. As such, it's always a bit of pot luck when getting an episode from him. In terms of quality though, I'd probably compare Robot of Sherwood most with his Series 2 effort, The Idiot's Lantern. There's nothing at all wrong with either episode and they're both a great bit of fun, but neither quite deliver as much as they could have done and you're not in too much of a hurry to watch it again.
It was nice to have such a simple premise behind the story - something that wasn't particularly taxing in any shape or form. It was a no-shame fun-fest from start to finish. The cast channeled that idea superbly. Jenna Coleman doesn't stop getting more beautiful whilst still being given much to do (at least compared to Series 7), Tom Riley delivered a brilliant performance as Robin Hood, Ben Miller was wonderfully sinister as the Sheriff even if a bit underused (and a shame to lose his more impressive final scene which'll hopefully make the DVD), but it was Peter Capaldi who shone here. He was given the chance to show a different side to his Doctor - a sense of humour, but also full of sass. It was a welcome deviation from the darker two weeks that came before.
The episode looked beautiful and was stunningly shot. There is something about Series 8 so far that feels more real than Series 7 - which felt very artificial and full of sets that were so blatantly sets, for some reason. I think there was a welcome sense of ridiculousness about what was going on here, and though the plot was a little thin it was covered up by some pretty good character interaction. I think perhaps the episode should have decided a bit more clearly if it wanted to tell a robot story or whether it wanted to tell a story about Robin Hood's legend - the mix was interesting but meant neither idea was explored very much. With robots in the first episode, and the fairly robotic Daleks in the second episode I think I would have liked this more if we'd been given a more historical-figure oriented episode. However it was a step in the right direction as I have missed these historicals - the last proper one I believe was Vincent and the Doctor and it's helped to keep the series feeling a little grounded. Doctor Who might have the chance to explore all of time and space, but sometimes its the adventures a little closer to home that make the day.
Robots of Sherwood was fun. It wasn't groundbreaking, nor was it remotely perfect, but it had a very strong identity about it and a superb cast to carry it. It's delivered another consistently-good-but-not-outstanding episode for Series 8, with some intriguing arc hints as well. I enjoyed it for what it was, and only by doing so have I realised how long its been since I've been able to do so with Doctor Who. The show is so much better when the episodes are only concerned with their own story, and not trying to outdo each and every episode before them. I have higher hopes for this series than I ever imagined now, and I just hope that the quality keeps up and hopefully nudges out something a little bit more impressive here and there along the way.
PROS AND CONS
+ The cast was all-round superb.
+ Outright fun. A simple premise and not at all taxing.
+ The episode looked beautiful.
+ Capaldi was given a chance to show a different side to his Doctor.
- Episode was a bit lost in terms of being a robot story and a historical figure story.
- Plot was a bit thin.
- One or two scenes did seem to cater a bit more for Eleven than Twelve.
- Not particularly groundbreaking.
ROBOT OF SHERWOOD COMPARED TO OTHER EPISODE 3'S
The Unquiet Dead - 9/10
School Reunion - 8/10
Gridlock - 8/10
Planet of the Ood - 9/10
Victory of the Daleks - 6/10
The Curse of the Black Spot - 7/10
A Town Called Mercy - 8/10
Robot of Sherwood - 7/10
MARK GATISS EPISODES
The Unquiet Dead - 9/10
The Idiot's Lantern - 7/10
Victory of the Daleks - 6/10
Night Terrors - 7/10
Cold War - 6/10
The Crimson Horror - 9/10
Robot of Sherwood - 7/10
Into The Dalek - 7/10
Robot of Sherwood - 8/10
Deep Breath is still the best of S8 for me.
Into The Dalek 4/10
Robot Of Sherwood 2/10
Enjoying Capaldi, but the writing this season has been atrocious.
Into the Dalek 9/10
Robot of Sherwood 8/10
Into the Dalek 9/10
Robot of Sherwood 8.5/10
I loved it. I thought it was charming, sweet, silly and very funny. I was reminded of Monty Python and the Holy Grail a few times during the episode.
Compared to other Episode 3's:
The Unquiet Dead - 8.5/10
School Reunion - 9/10
Gridlock - 10/10
Planet of the Ood - 7/10
Victory of the Daleks - 3/10
The Curse of the Black Spot - 4/10
A Town Called Mercy - 4/10
Robot of Sherwood - 8.5/10
Into the Dalek 8/10
Robot of Sherwood 8/10
I've been very generous on the whole this season and I see no reason to stop this now. Much like Into the Dalek, Robot is worse on rewatch and doesn't fill me with glee, but it was an extremely enjoyable episode, with tons of fun and funny moments, 12 and Clara as ever are the anchors and even though it was silly, borderline stupid, and the plot is weak again, it's still immense fun and shouldn't be judged too harshly.
I have to be honest though, I don't know where the show would be without Jenna Coleman killing it, she's single-handedly elevated my opinion of the episode every week so this far this season.
Gatiss' strongest effort (admittedly not down to him but the acting as some of the dialogue was dreadful) and the best episode 3 to date but only just and only taken in the right mindset. I think you have to go in expecting funny, silly, nonsense and have to be prepared to enjoy it.