Robot of Sherwood (TV story)

Robot of Sherwood
Doctor:	Twelfth Doctor
Companion(s):	Clara
Main enemy:	The Sheriff, Unnamed Robots
Main setting:	Sherwood Forest, 1190
Key crew
Writer:	Mark Gatiss
Director:	Paul Murphy
Producer:	Nikki Wilson
Release details
Story number:	243
Premiere broadcast:	6 September 2014
Premiere network:	BBC One
Format:	1x45 minute episode
Production code:	4.3
Doctor Who television stories
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Robot of Sherwood 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 Cabaldi
• 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

Crew

Executive Producers   Steven Moffat and Brian Minchin

General production staff Production Executive - Julie Scott Line Producer - Tracie Simpson Location Manager - Iwan Roberts Location Scout - Nick Clark Unit Manager - Iestyn Hampson-Jones Production Co-ordinator - Adam Knopf Production Management Assistant - Sandra Cosfeld Production Assistants - Matthew Jones, Katie Player Unit Medic - Glyn Evans Production Accountant - Jeff Dunn Assistant Accountant - Bethan Griffins Script department Script Editors - David P Davis, Richard Cookson Camera and lighting department 1st Assistant Director - Jo Lea 2nd Assistant Director - James DeHaviland 3rd Assistant Director - Danielle Richards Assistant Directors - Gareth Jones, Chris Thomas Script Supervisor - Steve Walker Camera Operator - Martin Stephens Focus Pullers - Jonathan Vidgen, Matthew Waving Grip - John Robinson Assistant Grip - Sean Cronin Camera Assistants - Cai Thompson, Katy Kardasz, Gethin Williams Gaffer - Mark Hutchings Best Boy - Stephen Slocombe Electricians - Gafin Riley, Andy Gardiner, Bob Milton, Gareth Sheldon	Art department Supervising Art Director - Paul Spriggs Art Director - Vicki Stevenson Art Department Accountant - Simon Wheeler Production Buyer - Holly Thurman Set Decorator - Adrian Anscombe Set Dressers - Jayne Davies, Mike Elkins, Jamie Farrell Prop Buyers - Donna Shakesheff, Helen O'Leary Concept Artist - Chris Lees Graphic Artist - Christina Tom Standby Props - Liam Collins, Gary Leech Standby Carpenter - Paul Jones Standby Art Director - Amy Pickwoad Standby Rigger - Bryan Griffiths Head Scenic Artist - Clive Clarke Scenic Painters - Steve Nelms, Matt Weston Storeman - Jamie Southcott Assistant Storeman - Ryan Milton Prop Master - Paul Smith Props Chargehand - Kyle Belmont Props Driver - Gareth Fox Props Makers - Alan Hardy, Jamie Thomas Construction Manager - Terry Horle Construction Chargehand - Dean Tucker Construction Driver - Jonathan Tylke Practical Electrician - Christian Davies Graphics - BBC Wales Graphics Draughtspersons - Kartik Nagar, Julia Jones Carpenters - John Sinnott, Chris Daniels, Lawrie Ferry, Matt Ferry, Julian Tucker, Mark Painter, Joe Painter Title Concept - Billy Hanshaw Costume department Costume Supervisor - Claire Lynch Costume Assistants - Katarina Cappellazzi, Gemma Evans, Charlotte Bestwick	Make-up and prosthetics Make-up Supervisor - Emma Cowen Make-up Artists - Alison Webb, Anne Marie Williams Prosthetics - Millenium FX Movement Stunt Co-ordinators - Crispin Layfield, Dani Biernat Stunt Performers - Gordon Seed, Andy Merchant, James Pavey Casting Casting Associate - Alice Purser General post-production staff Post-production Supervisor - Nerys Davies Post-production Co-ordinator - Samantha Price Assistant Editors - Katrina Aust, Carmen Sanchez Roberts On-line Editor - Mark Hardyman Special and visual effects VFX Editor - Joel Skinner Colourist - Gareth Spensley Sound Sound Recordist - Deian Llŷr Humphreys Dubbing Mixer - Tim Ricketts Sound Maintenance Engineers - Tam Shoring, Christopher Goding Dialogue Editor - Darran Clement ADR Editor - Matthew Cox Effects Editor - Harry Barnes Foley Editor - Jamie Talbutt

Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources.

References

• The Doctor offers to bring Clara to see the Ice Warrior Hives on Mars or the Tumescent Arrows of the Half-Light.
• Clara says, "You can take the girl out of Blackpool.”

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 Islamic State. 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.

Home video releases

DVD releases

to be added

Blu-ray releases

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External links

to be added

Footnotes