Doctor Who 8.03

[selenak]

As Mark Gatiss episodes go, this was lightweight fun. I enjoyed myself.



And I can't say this enough: the Doctor's regeneration did wonders on present day Clara and her relationship with the Doctor. She really is her own personality now, with her own relationship with the Doctor. Oh, and looked terrific in pseudo medieval costume.

Now Gatiss imo has always been a better actor than he is a writer, but as his DW comedies go, this one had no elements annoying me or making me think "here you missed something good", and while the Doctor and Robin competing in posturing so Clara is recognized as the most sensible person and ringleader may have been an obvious gag, it still worked for me. As did Clara interrogating the Sheriff instead of the other way around, the Doctor's spoon duel (last time the Doctor visited this era, he was Five and actually did do a sword duel, with the Master, no less, so not competing with that and instead going for the v. v. Doctor-ish spoon was the kind of silliness which appealed to me) and the fourth wall scratching conversation between the Doctor and Robin about being stories that go on and on. The peasants defeating the robot-guards via deflecting their laser with dinner plates after the Doctor figured that out made for a veryDoctor Who like daftness - it's the kind of thing which only happens on this show and one of a zillion reasons for my affection for it.

I was a bit torn about whether or not it was ic for the Doctor to be so firmly on the "no Robin Hood!" side instead of being gleeful about the possibility that there could be, but decided it was ic for Twelve and his not-a-hero determination.

Long term arc: no Missy this time, but more automatons (of a different brand) looking for "the Promised Land". So far, so good, because as yet Moffat hasn't done the thing where the Doctor should pursue something but doesn't because it's not an arc episode. (In s5, this was the crack which was only universe threatening and relevant in arc episodes but otherwise could be left to itself, in s6 it was the girl - later revealed to be Melody/River - in the season opener.) As yet he has reason to be curious , but no immediate cause to solve this "Promised Land" mystery.

On a scale of Robin Hoods and Robin Hood spoofs, this one is: better than Costner (also: intentional), lesser than Qpid (from TNG). Sorry, but nothing can compete with Worf saying "I am not a Merry Man!".

...and we never got an explanation for Robin's excellent teeth which the Doctor correctly noticed as not fitting the period. (Or the country. Ahem.) (Kidding.)

In conclusion: fun. Next?

Comments

[jesuswasbatman]

I thought the spoon scene was a reference to the fork scene in the first episode of The Musketeers.

[legionseagle]

I thought the spoon scene was a reference to Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves ("cut his heart out with a spoon")

[ducened]

I thought it was a call back to Seven, with his spoon-playing.

[selenak]

I like that theory best!

[selenak]

Considering they must have shot the episode before The Musketeers were broadcast, I doubt it, but I like the other theories. :)

It's a much later period but there was more sugar about so...

[legionseagle]

Jane Digby, the lover of practically everyone who mattered in the early/mid 19th century whose (first) divorce from Lord Ellenborough took the small ads off the front page of the Times for one of the only two times it happened that century apparently had naturally very good, very even and very white teeth; it was one of the reasons for her success with men (along with charm, intelligence, a fabulous seat on a horse and so much IT it was practically THOSE, to misquote Dorothy Parker).

[kaffy_r]

Like ducened, I thought the spoon harked back to Seven, and was delighted to think so.

This was a refreshing romp, with enough ties to the arc to keep it intriguing, but not enough to keep it from being enjoyed as an individual episode. It was camp without the Doctor being camp; Gatiss simply maneuvered the laughter- and banter-hating Doctor into situations where he caused the first and inadvertently took part in the second.

And of course, I could have had at least 90 more scenes of the Doctor and Robin doing the Doctor Who version of competitively measuring their machinery.

[selenak]

You know, I suspect the (Twelth) Doctor isn't against laughter and banter per se - because which Doctor is? - but solely when it comes from a legendary male competition. :)

[kaffy_r]

I suspect you're right.

[lonelywalker]

My general opinion about this season so far is that the actors and dialogue are brilliant, but I could entirely do without the plots.

Exactly how many alien races / robots have been trapped on Earth when their ship got damaged, then? They seem to be all over the place.

Can someone explain to me why the Doctor needed to wear a rubber glove while dueling? And why he seemed to have a rubber glove in his pocket in the first place?

[selenak]

Well, as Barry Letts - who ought to know - said, there are only two types of plot you can do when your location setting is earth: aliens invading/being already there, or mad scientists.:)

Why does the Doctor have anything in his pocket? I mean, Ten had an automaton mouse (as shown in The Doctor's Daughter) and a water pistol (Fires of Pompeii), so a rubber glove doesn't phase me.

All this being said, I'm still waiting for a good plot, yes, but didn't expect it from a "romp" type of episode, which this was.

[lonelywalker]

I suppose I should actually be complaining that the Doctor had something as banal as a rubber glove in his pocket. Perhaps he'd intended to unclog the TARDIS toilet later. (With some spare parts from a Dalek, no doubt.)

[selenay]

I thought this episode was tremendous fun and I thoroughly enjoyed it! The level of silliness with just a hint at the more serious stuff was nicely done - not what I usually expect from Gatiss.

Twelve is a very different Doctor from...actually, all of the new Doctors. And I'm really enjoying that. He harks back a lot to older Doctors - I keep thinking that he's drawing a lot from One and Seven in his reactions to things.

And Clara was such an absolute delight. The writing for her was so great. She works so much better with Twelve than she did with Eleven.

[selenak]

She so does. She's really come into her own now.

re: Twelve harking back to One - given he's at the start of a whole new regeneration cycle and, psychologically speaking, has lived out an entire life time in a Gallifreyan body as Eleven (and One was I think the only Doctor who did that before) instead of dying and regenerating due to a violent incident - it makes much psychological sense to me.

[selenay]

and One was I think the only Doctor who did that before) instead of dying and regenerating due to a violent incident

I hadn't thought about it that way before, but that makes a lot of sense. For most of his regenerations, he's gone from one youngish body that he's only had for a (relatively) short length of time to another youngish body, with a violent death between. So he's spent a lot of time (centuries) with short young lives, never living through a full cycle, so his bodies haven't had a chance to age and grow much before moving into the next one.

Two also had a tendency to be crotchety and difficult at times, possibly a remnant of One's experiences. Maybe there are consequences to not letting a body age out and die naturally?

[selenak]

It would make sense to me!

[likeadeuce]

I got a kick out of this one and I agree it was a particularly nice use of Clara.