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 Doctor offers Clara the choice of their next destination. Predicting, and in spite of, the Doctor's protestations as to his existence, Clara asks to meet Robin Hood. The Doctor set course for Sherwood Forest, "1190ish".

While Clara changes her attire, the Doctor exits the TARDIS and finds a man, who claims to be Robin Hood, outside. The Doctor remains unconvinced, but Robin's attempt to take possession of the TARDIS leads to a duel on a makeshift bridge over a river. Countering Robin's sword with a spoon, the Doctor knocks his opponent into the river, only to be dragged in after him.

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 as it was deemed inappropriate in light of recent events in the news — namely, the beheading of two American journalists by terrorist group . The cut can clearly be seen in the finished programme, 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.
 * Ben Miller (The Sheriff of Nottingham) is credited as 'Sheriff' in Radio Times.
 * The Radio Times programme listing was accompanied by a small colour head-and-shoulders shot of Jenna Coleman as Clara with her 12th century hairstyle, with the accompanying caption "Doctor Who / 7.30 p.m. Clara throws herself into the action on an adventure with Robin Hood".

Ratings
to be added

Filming locations

 * Fforest Fawr, Brecon Beacons National Park


 * Caerphilly Castle, Castle St.

Production errors

 * Despite portraying a highly competent archer, actor Ben Miller's technique was rather flawed when firing his arrows.
 * Clara closes the Tardis door when first meeting Robin Hood but when Robin and The Doctor duel its open.

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 the Doctor has encountered a spaceship disguised as a castle. (TV: State of Decay)
 * The spaceship was headed for the destination of "the Promised Land." The Half-Face Man also claimed that he was waiting to reach the Promised Land. (TV: Deep Breath)
 * The Doctor uses Venusian aikido to disarm Robin Hood, complete with "Hai," as his third incarnation commonly did. (TV: The Mind of Evil, Inferno, The Claws of Axos et al.)
 * The Doctor previously encountered 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.
 * The Tenth Doctor also had an arrow hit his TARDIS in London in 1699. (TV: The Shakespeare Code)
 * A different account about the appearance and the fate of Robin Hood was referred in PROSE: The Thief of Sherwood.

DVD releases
The episode will be released as part of the Complete Series 8 in November.

Blu-ray releases
to be added