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