Christopher Morley delves into the Doctor's history and looks at some potential hidden surprises that may be waiting in this Saturday's new episode of Doctor Who, Robot of Sherwood.
If you've had the chance to take a glance at any of the promotional pictures for Robot Of Sherwood, you might well have needed to do a double take after taking in the sight of Ben Miller as the Sheriff of Nottingham. Looks rather familiar, doesn't he? While its unlikely he'll have to grapple with the question of just where he's seen his face before- as the Twelfth Doctor seems to be doing in his début series- there's no escaping the fact that Nottingham's baddest man ( at least in the Robin Hood legend) would appear to have been taking tips from Anthony Ainley's Master...........
If you've had the chance to take a glance at any of the promotional pictures for Robot Of Sherwood, you might well have needed to do a double take after taking in the sight of Ben Miller as the Sheriff of Nottingham. Looks rather familiar, doesn't he? While its unlikely he'll have to grapple with the question of just where he's seen his face before- as the Twelfth Doctor seems to be doing in his début series- there's no escaping the fact that Nottingham's baddest man ( at least in the Robin Hood legend) would appear to have been taking tips from Anthony Ainley's Master...........
And it goes
beyond the beard, most likely! It could be read as an attempt to make
implicit the connection between two very differing myths. Hood's
story would be nothing without the Sheriff in opposition, the sort of
thinking which might have influenced the introduction of the Master
into Doctor Who in
time for Season 8 of the 'classic' series. Indeed, there could be a
case for saying that the Sheriff's appearance is an homage to that
very fact. It's been said that Miller's performance does have a
certain Masterly hue to it...perhaps Ben ( who it should be noted is
a long-time fan of the programme, as is Tom Riley, the man playing
Hood) has been studying The King's Demons!
If you've already
had the pleasure of witnessing the Fifth Doctor's temporal excursion into the court of ' Bad' King John, you'll probably know where this
is going. The Master, in an attempt to do away with the Magna
Carta & in doing so foul up
democracy itself, has been using Kamelion ( a handy robot tool he
picked up on Xeriphas) to impersonate the King, positioning himself
as Sir Giles Estram, a rather dashing knight in the employ of the
monarch. Anagram enthusiasts will most likely have already noted who
he really is within minutes of his entry into proceedings!
Upon which basis
it really isn't all that radical to suggest that the Doctor might
well at least initially suspect that his foe & intellectual
equal's raided the period dressing-up box once again. Which sets the
scene for possible references to days long gone in which the Doctor
was also played by a man named Peter, a time Steven Moffat loves, plus
if the lead writer has a cunning plan to catch us all unawares &
Miller is to be introduced as the newest Master, what a way to do it!
After
all he could easily simply peel off a fake beard ( maybe even going to
the trouble of a full face mask?) & leg it to his TARDIS to change
before gloating to the Doctor how brilliantly he's managed to pull the
wool over his eyes. And lest we forget the Ainley Master's appetite for
disguises/aliases! There's Tremas ( The Keeper Of Traken)...
...& Kalid ( Time-Flight)...
And that's just for starters.
New-Whovians are further advised to take a look at...
Note also the knights protecting the Sheriff's castle- could it be that their leader is the robot of the episode's title?
...& Kalid ( Time-Flight)...
And that's just for starters.
New-Whovians are further advised to take a look at...
Note also the knights protecting the Sheriff's castle- could it be that their leader is the robot of the episode's title?
Not to mention
another handy call to the past, perhaps deliberate. Remember The
Time Warrior? The Third Doctor
once did battle with something remarkably similar...
If you've done your homework you'll know that both Peter Capaldi & Mark Gatiss ( the writer of Sherwood) have a fondness for the Jon Pertwee years. Note also Hal, the archer & Hood-like figure who gives the Doctor a hand.
If you've done your homework you'll know that both Peter Capaldi & Mark Gatiss ( the writer of Sherwood) have a fondness for the Jon Pertwee years. Note also Hal, the archer & Hood-like figure who gives the Doctor a hand.
We might next
ponder the Doctor's role in either establishing or embellishing the
legend of the famous archer. Gatiss has said that all the key
elements of the tale will be crammed into 45 minutes- Clara looking a
likely candidate for the Maid Marian role going by the various
pictures of Jenna Coleman in a certain lovely red period dress.
Most versions of his story present Hood as becoming an outlaw during the reign of King John.....( as formerly played by Kamelion) which might explain rather a lot, too! And of course he'll have his Merry Men, a not inconsequential detail. Reports that we just might get a story which feels like classic Who might not, then, have been exaggerated. Here's hoping!
Most versions of his story present Hood as becoming an outlaw during the reign of King John.....( as formerly played by Kamelion) which might explain rather a lot, too! And of course he'll have his Merry Men, a not inconsequential detail. Reports that we just might get a story which feels like classic Who might not, then, have been exaggerated. Here's hoping!
At least, we
might get one in a similar spirit to two of the Doctor's best past
incursions into pseudo-history- which sounds like a winner to us!
There's also a slightly Mind Robber-ish
consideration/element, the more you think about it. Is Hood indeed
real, or just as much a work of fiction as the Doctor & his
adventures? Both travel with companions, too.....though we doubt
historians spend as much time arguing over whether the Doctor is real
as they have in presenting the case for or against Robin of Sherwood
being flesh & blood.
General consensus has it that if he were
alive & kicking he'd have been slinging his bow & arrows
through the 13th
century, though the naysayers claim that he's simply a composite of
several definitely real outlaws of the period.
And as an
alternative, its also been posited that ' Robin Hood' became a sort
of one size fits all alias for thieves in general. What we do know is
that Robert was a common boys' Christian name in Medieval England-
Robin obviously the shortened form. Hood was also a relatively
well-known surname ( referring as it does to either someone who made
hoods, a ' hooder' or alternatively someone who commonly wore one
over their head). On which grounds there was not one true Hood, but
several! Even more intriguingly, some of the recorded Robin or Robert
Hoods of the time are actually known to have got on the wrong side of
the law...........
We don't even
really know for sure that he was based in Sherwood Forest! Similar
types have been recorded as hailing from Wakefield, York &
various other locations around Yorkshire. His grave is believed to be
at Kirklees ( to the west of the county), where the inscription
reads-
'Hear underneath dis laitl stean
Laz robert earl of Huntingtun
Ne’er arcir ver as hie sa geud
An pipl kauld im robin heud
Sick [such] utlawz as he an iz men
Vil england nivr si agen
Obiit 24 kal: Dekembris, 1247'.
Which
reveals that before lying under his headstone he was supposedly Robert, Earl
of Huntingdon, nobody will ever be as good an archer, people knew him
as ' Robin Hood', he was an outlaw, never to be seen again & died
in December of 1247 ( for the benefit of those who have little to no
grasp of old English). Just when you might've thought we were on the
verge of a breakthrough it emerges that the notion he's actually
properly buried there is mere folklore, dismissed by those claiming
to know better. Quite the mystery, eh?
Whether fact or
fiction though, Robot Of Sherwood
promises to be an interesting proposition!
