"Robot of Sherwood" by Mark Gatiss, directed by Paul Murphy. Spoilers after the cut.
Well this was a bit of a change of pace, wasn't it? Probably Mark Gatiss' best Doctor Who episode since "The Unquiet Dead," and just a bit of a silly romp that had a great guest spot from Tom Riley utterly hamming it up as Robin Hood. It was daft enough that it could be one of the most meta episodes since the series came back, without coming across all smug about it. In fact it's a good example of how having a grumpy Doctor in Peter Capaldi can actually be a lot of fun, with him utterly unwilling to accept that he's wrong about Robin Hood's existence, and spending the whole time in a strop with him as a result. And the episode uses this to comment on The Doctor himself being the modern version of a great British legendary hero.
In looking up where I recognised Ian Hallard from (it was from last year's adult panto Jack Off The Beanstalk) I found out he's also Mark Gatiss' civil partner, so it's funny to see that after years involved with Doctor Who Gatiss finally got him a job in it, only to make him a punchline - let's just hope there isn't a reason he chose to make Alan-a-Dale riddled with disease.
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