Generally, the twinge of pseudo-historical fiction from Mark Gatiss thus far I’ve enjoyed: The only one I bounced right off of was his first episode, “The Unquiet Dead.” So, we were going into “Robot of Sherwood” with four episodes to one in his favor. I say that, however, I’ve never really cared for that prancing peasant and his merry band of work-shy nonces, so no, I don’t like Robin Hood. Mostly because it is loosely based around a fable in the bible, and the idea that you need to reaffirm the “feed the poor” thing shouldn’t have to be restated time and time again. Then again, there were still over 2,200 foodbanks in the UK as of last February feeding 2.5 million people, almost 42 times more than a decade prior.

Truth be told, this was the last episode I could vividly remember from the early Capaldi run before I effectively checked-out and wasn’t entirely enjoying the series when it first aired. The trouble with that is I do remember two other bits from this series alone outside of these three episodes: Everything wrong with “In the Forest of the Night,” and the moment in the graveyard at the end of the series. Being a little more honest, coming back to “Robot of Sherwood” reminds me just how middle-of-the-road the entire episode is if you don’t like Robin Hood. It’s not dreadful, just tasteless and hits all the expected beats with little to pull you in.

I guess that’s more than I could ask for with last week’s New Year’s special with more bloody Daleks. I wouldn’t know, that would be the trouble with doing things ahead of time, you can’t tell the future until you’ve been there. It also seems you can’t tell the past until you’ve been there too, as that was a bit of the theme this whole episode: The Doctor doesn’t know things, he gets in arguments and Clara saves the day. Ok, we’re not full Clara-Who, it isn’t “She cares, so I don’t have to,” though it is very driven by her.

In fact, these last three episodes I’ve been talking about how unlikable 12 is. While that’s true here too, there is at least something that does make me like him. He’s typically misanthropic and Scottish by nature, argumentative and trying to poke holes in everything that is Robin Hood. He touches a bit more on the character Peter is more known for to adult audiences, maybe toned down in terms of swearing like Malcolm but very Tucker-esque indeed. However, that anger and downright disbelief of a character in a storybook only go so far. Especially when in this run of Doctor Who we’ve had werewolves and in “Mummy on the Orient Express” it is in the title.

Ben Miller continues to be Ben Miller. He was just as unlikeable and generally punchable in Primeval as he is here, just with a Master-ful beard. Playing the Sheriff of Nottingham, he’s the lacky that thinks he’s leading the charge for the interstellar robots clad in tin. I get the point that he’s meant to be the inadmissible one, the only one we’re supposed to distrust and desire him to fall to his own misguided shortsightedness. However, when there is no one admirable in the whole episode, you are left hoping they all end up disappointed, left in 1190, or something else.

The trouble I find with the episode (ok one of them) is simply the connection between Robin with his sword and the Doctor with his spoon, set up to be mirrored with Robin and the Sheriff. The first is harmless, you wouldn’t have the Doctor hurting someone and actively trying to kill someone, now would you? See, that’s the thing with the whole spoon and the mirrored fight, the spoon and the water flowing under the log is meant to highlight the Doctor’s perceived pacificism. It is a playful and fun scene, and I do like that the Doctor continues his sanctum rule, not to harm but to heal and do good.

It is the mirrored fight that rubs me in ways that would get the episode thrown off a bus: The Doctor has taught Robin how to shunt your opponent off the log, or in this case a beam, without stabbing or harming the person with a weapon. Great idea, until that beam is over a cumbersome foundry set-up to smelt all the gold in Nottingham, ultimately leading to the death and killing of the Sheriff. We’ve seen it time and time again (though not recently with Jodie) that the Doctor will happily berate someone like Harriet Jones (MP for Flydale North) for their actions that lead to the death of any sentient being departing or doing little harm.

There’s another fault let-down by a later problem only moments following, as the Doctor is complicit in what turns into the death of the robots as they take their leave. He is only seemingly annoyed by the antics of the fluency peasant and his serfs. What is meant to be charming, meant to invoke a sense of frivolity is annoying and very often grating. It is another episode, much like “Into the Dalek,” where we’re told the Doctor is much like X character in some way, and much like Peter’s expression to the assertion, I’m not here for that. It could be argued that it comes too soon after the last one, but I think it is because they are next to each other and the last one was repeating something already said with far greater impact.

As I’ve said, “Robot of Sherwood” isn’t a bad episode, far from it. Nonetheless, it isn’t one that I purposefully return to the same way I do with “Victory of the Daleks,” “The Idiot’s Lantern,” or “Cold War.” If you are a fan of Robin Hood and the mysticism behind it, this episode is a treat, but otherwise, it is a bit of a slog. You can dislike a lot of things from “Victory of the Daleks,” many do when it comes to the Power Ranger Daleks, but there was at least something to cling to. That’s my point, you’re left with little other than bickering which I denoted as annoying for the last episode, and the sci-fi is bundled away until the last 15-20 minutes.

One last thing I will pick at, simply because it seems like it needs mention, Marion is lost in the shuffle. Yes, in the final moment it is revealed who she is, and we’ve seen her for moments, but I’d have liked a little bit more of her in the mix of things. Possibly to temper Clara’s near momentary horizontal slips into Robin’s arms with the same energy of “I can’t pay for that pizza I ordered” in your mum’s favorite online videos. Ultimately “Robot of Sherwood” is a fine episode, but I simply cannot enjoy it when there is no one and nothing to enjoy.

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Doctor Who "Robot of Sherwood"

5

Score

5.0/10

Pros

• Beautiful shots, often full of lush color.
• Peter's misanthropy throughout.

Cons

• Robin Hood is tiresome.
• The Doctor's active role in things against his nature.