Robot of Sherwood (TV story)

 was the third episode of the eighth series of Doctor Who produced by BBC Wales.

Synopsis
Clara is elated when offered the chance to meet the English folk hero Robin Hood, despite the Twelfth Doctor's insistence that he is nothing more than a legend.

Travelling to a sun-drenched Sherwood Forest in 1190, they soon realise that something is amiss as the cruel Sheriff of Nottingham and his sinister robot knights plot to rewrite the course of history.

Can the Doctor put aside his doubts and stir up an unlikely friendship with Robin Hood?

Plot
The episode begins with the Doctor's TARDIS arriving outside Sherwood in the year 1190. Upon exiting, he is quickly acquainted with a man in green tights calling himself Robin Hood, whose existence he initially is suspicious of. The two's confrontation is quickly interrupted by Clara also exiting the TARDIS in 12th century red dress with whom Robin quickly becomes infatuated.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Peter Capaldi
 * Clara - Jenna Coleman
 * Robin Hood - Tom Riley
 * Quayle - Roger Ashton-Griffiths
 * Quayle's Ward - Sabrina Bartlett
 * The Sheriff of Nottingham - Ben Miller
 * Alan-a-Dale - Ian Hallard
 * Friar Tuck - Trevor Cooper
 * Little John - Rusty Goffe
 * Will Scarlett - Joseph Kennedy
 * Walter - Adam Jones
 * Herald - David Benson
 * Guard - David Langham
 * Knight - Tim Baggaley
 * Voice of the Knights - Richard Elfyn

Story notes

 * A scene in which the Sheriff of Nottingham was beheaded, revealing him to be a robot, was edited out of this episode's broadcast in light of the beheading of two American journalists by terrorist group . It can be seen when the tapestry behind Clara and the Doctor vanishes before Robin cuts the rope and rises to the wooden gantries.
 * One of the images brought up on the computer screen is of Patrick Troughton, the actor who portrayed the Second Doctor, and also the first actor who played Robin Hood on television.
 * This episode's title is capitalised, whereas previous episodes of the season were not. The title sequence is also precluded by the cliffhanger "sting" used since The Ambassadors of Death.

Ratings
to be added

Filming locations
Fforest Fawr, Brecon Beacons National Park

Caerphilly Castle, Castle St.

Production errors
to be added

Continuity

 * The Doctor suggests to Clara that they are inside a miniscope upon encountering Robin Hood and his Merry Men in Sherwood Forest. (TV: Carnival of Monsters)
 * This is not the first time that Doctor has encountered a spaceship disguised as a castle. (TV: State of Decay)
 * The Doctor discovers that the spaceship was headed to the Promised Land, just like the Half-Face Man. (TV: Deep Breath)
 * The Doctor uses Venusian aikido to disarm Robin Hood, complete with "Hai" same as his Third incarnation commonly did. (TV: The Mind of Evil, Inferno, The Claws of Axos et al.)
 * The Doctor previously met a ship that needed Gold to repair the engines, in his fifth incarnation 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. (AUDIO: The Destroyer of Delights)
 * Once again the Doctor likens a foolish person's thought processes to pudding. (TV: Deep Breath)
 * King Richard the Lionheart and his brother Prince John of England are mentioned. Meanwhile in 1190, King Richard is fighting the Crusades, where he met the First Doctor. (TV: The Crusade) The Fifth Doctor would meet the android Kamelion masquerading as the then King John in 1215. (TV: The King's Demons)
 * The Doctor and Robin Hood escape the cell by feigning a possession in the same way as Ben and Polly did in TV: The Smugglers.

DVD releases
to be added

Blu-ray releases
to be added