Doctor Who: Robot of Sherwood (s08e03)

Ever since I was a child I had an intense love for the legend of Robin Hood and his merry men, whatever shape or form, whether silly or trying not to be. There's something undeniably charming with the concept of such a hero clad in green, adept at using arrows and with a great heart, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. It's fun to see Doctor Who tackle such a character, especially a series which was deemed rather dark, serious and less comic than its forerunners. This however is a very different episode from the two previous of series eight, and it's a delight to see. Mark Gatiss (co-creator of Sherlock) wields the pen and finally we see a more secure partner-ship between Clara and the Doctor, besides seeing the Doctor squabbling a great deal with our green-clad hero.

There's much to love in this episode, and we're dabbling deeper into this series mystery, which looms behind the Doctor and Clara whatever it might be, but it's clear we are headed somewhere. Frankly I find it refreshing to go back to the time where we don't need to be 'look, look, over here' with a mystery, as it is like a fond throwback to previous series where such words as Bad Wolf or Torchwood existed.

The show might not be the same, but in essentials it has very much the same heart.

The partnership between Clara and the Doctor has become more secure as well, and it reminds me somewhat of the partnership between Donna and the Doctor (respectfully played by David Tennant at the time). Less drama in the TARDIS equals more fun all round, even if the Doctor is certainly more grumpy than his predecessors he's slowly building to be a favourite of mine. Capaldi is proving more and more that he is indeed the man for the job, if anyone still has any second-doubts.

Doctor Who is most importantly about having fun, and it doesn't need to be dastardly clever, or brilliantly dark to be interesting, as this episode proved. However, we all know from the preview of the next episode that we're indeed headed for a proper scare.

8/10