Peter Capaldi makes an excellent counterpoint to a chocolate box Sherwood Forest in an episode that shows the programme taking those first steps toward hitting its stride. What begins as a brightly-lit jaunt soon morphs into the macabre tone the series is cultivating. With the Doctor no longer the young, dazzling centre the Twelfth Time Lord becomes a bickering, simmering presence, though no less the hero as it turns out.
The writers are cleverly evolving Clara alongside him. For Robot Of Sherwood Mark Gatiss has her as the person in control via her romantic knowledge of Robin's rose-tinted exploits. Tom Riley as Robin is fine and the story about a crashed spaceship and a gold-plated plan you can take or leave. But the marauding mechanicals are well-designed, disintegrating peasants via cross-shaped electric death rays and Ben Miller makes a strong villain. He's been crying out for a Who baddie since his oily turn as a prickly civil servant in Primeval and doesn't disappoint here.
The closing moments feature a lovely scene where Hood and The Doctor effectively compare notes as fictional heroes, an unexpected way perhaps to accentuate Capaldi's character. While odd attempts to join in the hi-jinks fall a bit flat, most importantly we see him start to repress delight despite his alarming gaze. A very encouraging instalment overall.
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