DW 08-03: Robot of Sherwood

A Guide to Classic Who references in New Who episodes.

The third episode of series 8.  Clara & the Doctor visit Robin Hood.  Or do they?

Warning: May contain Spoilers for

"Robot of Sherwood"

Viewing Order

• 7-06 "The Bells of Saint John" (Suggested viewing - reintroduction of character, plot connection.)
• 8-01 - "Breath Deep" (Suggested viewing - reintroduction of character.)

References

[1ST] - First appearance in Doctor Who.
[NEW] - Stuff seen previously in the New Series.

[OLD] - Things that first appeared in the classic series (or the film.)  Episode List.
[INJ] - An in-joke.
[REF] - A reference outside of Doctor Who.

• [REF]  Robin Hood and his Merry Men - As said, a legendary character, mostly thought to be fictional.  He has never appeared on the series before, but has been in other material.
• [OLD]  Mars - As Earth's neighbour Mars is referenced many times, as home of the Ice Warriors, colonised by Osirians, the intended destination of a British space probe ("The Christmas Invasion") and of location of an Earth base ("Waters of Mars")

• [OLD]  Ice Warriors - The Martian Ice Warriors appeared a number of times in the original series, and Clara herself meet them in the previous series episode "Cold War."
• [NEW]  Ice Warrior Hives - Not previously mentioned.
• [1ST]  Tumescent Arrows of the Half-Light - A phrase Mark Gattiss, the writer of this episode, has apparently been trying to slip into an episode of Doctor Who for some time, including 2010's "Victory of the Daleks" from which it was cut.  It seems he finally succeeded in planting this seed.

• [OLD]  1190 - The Doctor previously visited this year in the First Doctor story "The Crusades."  That story wasn't set in England, but rather in Palestine with King Richard (who is mentioned in this episode.)

• [OLD]  Fencing - The Third, Fourth and Fifth and Tenth Doctors all displayed this skill
• [NEW]  Theme Park of the Future - like Hedgewick's World of Wonders from "Nightmare in Silver."

• [OLD]  Miniscope - Featured in the Third Doctor episode "Carnival of Monsters."

• [OLD]  Archery - In "The Face of Evil" the Fourth Doctor implied he got his skill at with a crossbow from William Tell, a character from Swiss legend.

• [OLD]  Robot Knights - A robot knight previously appeared in the Third Doctor story "The Time Warrior" built by a Sontaran.  The serial was set in the 13th century.

• [OLD] "Hai" - A yell the Third Doctor commonly made when using Venusian aikido.

• [OLD]  Prince John - Later, as King John, he (sort of) features in the Fifth Doctor story "The King's Demons."

• [OLD]  The 29th Century - In the Fourth Doctor story "The Ark In Space" the Doctor estimated that the Nerva Beacon was built in the late 29th, early 30th century.  The Ark was used to escape the solar flares which made the Earth uninhabitable (causing the British to escape on a Space Whale - "The Beast Below.")

• [OLD]  Ship disguised as a castle - Occurred in the Fourth Doctor story "State of Decay," but in E-Space not Earth.
• [NEW]  The Promised Land - As noted, one of this season's arc words.

• [INJ]  Robin Hood (1953) - The images of the legend of Robin Hood includes the first TV appearance of Robin (in a 1953 series).  The image is of the first TV Robin Hood - Patrick Troughton - better known on this blog as The Second Doctor.

The 10 Rules to Doctor Who.

10.  TARDIS:  The TARDIS is used to arrive and leave.  [1]

9.  Meeting Yourself:  No one tries.  [X]

8.  Non-sequiturs:   Yes, but he's totally against bantering.  [1]

7.  Serious/Frivolous:  Yup.  [1]

6.  Series Final:  This is not a series final.  [X]

5.  Companion:  Clara, contemporary British female.  (Past British story).  [1]

4.  Emotionless:  A non-emotionless robot. [0]

3.  Title Spoilers:  Spoilers to the basic plot, but remains nicely obfuscated for much of the episode. [1]

2.  The Threat:  Once again, it's actually Clara works most of it out first, although he does discover the scale (but does make a stuff-up.) [.5]

1.  Last of It's Kind:  One(-ish) of a kind robot is the threat.  Defeated more by Robin Hood than the Doctor. [.5]

Score:  5.5/8.

~ DUG.

The Time Crash blog was created to help New Who fans understand Classic Who references - and to know if something isn't a reference but a new idea.  If there's a reference I missed or a subject that you feel needs more explaining, please comment.