Doctor Who has encountered king Arthur and many other legendaries, and so his\u00a0dogmatic certainty at the start of the episode that Robin Hood never existed is puzzling. But we find out by the end of the episode that it is less about realism in relation to older episodes, but precisely about heroes and the legends that grow around them.<\/p>\n
Granted, the Doctor has also been to miniscopes and theme parks from the future, and so he has reason to be suspicious.<\/p>\n
![\"Doctor-Who-Robot-of-Sherwood-Peter-Capaldi\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/exploringourmatrix\/files\/2014\/09\/Doctor-Who-Robot-of-Sherwood-Peter-Capaldi-1024x682.jpeg\")
But the notion that the Doctor, like the Earl of Locksley, whether truly a hero in his innermost being or not, is one who inspires people to heroism through the stories they tell of him, is the point. And it is made throughout the episode, from its beginning to its end.<\/p>\n
The Doctor\u2019s immature sparring with Robin Hood seemed to me to be an attempt to depict the Doctor\u00a0in a manner rather like William Hartnell\u2019s rendition of the character \u2013 an older and potentially grumpy alien who could nonetheless\u00a0soon after be found\u00a0laughing\u00a0in a rascally sort of manner.<\/p>\n
The episode had some moments \u00a0that were truly delightful \u2013 such as when the Doctor fences with Robin Hood using a spoon, or when he admits that he used an arrow with a homing beacon to win the archery competition, or when the guard who had been listening to figure out who was really in charge takes Clara rather than either Robin or the Doctor.<\/p>\n
![\"robotofsherwood\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/exploringourmatrix\/files\/2014\/09\/robotofsherwood-300x200.jpg\")
There are moments of religious interest \u2013 including the ongoing theme of robots trying to reach The Promised Land in ships that end up crashing on Earth. So too, when the Doctor suggests that Robin Hood was a robot made as an \u201copiate for the masses,\u201d the allusion is to Karl Marx\u2019s famous saying about religion. (It is also noteworthy that the Doctor recognizes that the creation of an enemy for oneself, who gives hope to those one is oppressing, is actually a bad idea.) Other elements \u00a0are more subtle, such as the light flowing through the cross-shaped opening when they are in the dungeon,\u00a0questions like \u201cWhen did you stop believing everything?\u201d, and observations about the possibility that legend and story may be more powerful and transformative than mere historical reality. As Robin Hood puts it, \u201cHistory is a burden. Stories can make us fly.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Robin](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/exploringourmatrix\/files\/2014\/09\/Robin-Hood-and-Clara.jpg\")
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