Doctor Who Recap -- 09/06

In tonight's episode "Robot of Sherwood," the Doctor asks Clara where in all of time and space would she like to visit. She sheepishly tells him she wants to see Robin Hood. He scoffs and declares he's just a legend, but nonetheless agrees to take her to that time period. When they arrive, the Doctor is greeted by a man who claims to be none other than Robin Hood. Stunned, the Doctor refuses to believe it and proceeds to battle him with a spoon(?). Robin then takes Clara (complete in resplendent garb) to visit the Merry Men, whom the Doctor insists on getting DNA samples from to prove they're not who they say they are.

Robin reveals the Sheriff of Nottingham is holding a tournament to find the best archer in the land, with the prize being a golden arrow. This, along with the beautiful weather, seems too good to be true. They go to the tournament and Robin and the Doctor take turns one-upping one another with their archery. A fight soon breaks out, whereupon Robin severs a guard's arm, revealing it to be mechanical. The Sheriff's lackeys are robots! Undeterred by this revelation, the Sheriff has them thrown in the dungeon where the Doctor and Robin continue their rivalry with banter. Clara is taken to see the Sheriff, and she gets him to reveal the origins of the robots. The Sheriff says they crashed and have allied with him to repair their ship. He, in turn, wants to use their technology to conquer the world.

Meanwhile, the Doctor and Robin break out of jail and discover the castle is actually the Promised Land, the very ship the mechanical man was trying to get to in the season premier. The Doctor realizes everyone around them is a robot, including the Sheriff who then arrives with Clara. Robin takes her hostage and makes his escape from the ship, while the Doctor confronts the Sheriff. The villain confesses to being a robot, and it turns out he was stealing gold from the people to be repair the ship (which has also been leaking radiation, accounting for the unusually warm temperatures in Sherwood). The Doctor tells him there isn't enough gold, but the Sheriff won't listen.

The Doctor leaves and recruits the other prisoners in the dungeon, including a mysterious woman, who proceed to fight the robots by using polished plates to reflect their lasers back at them. He again confronts the Sheriff, this time about Robin Hood being a robot. The Sheriff denies this, and the Doctor realizes Robin Hood is real. Robin then arrives with Clara and engages in a sword fight with the Sheriff. The battle ends when Robin knocks him into a cauldron of molten gold.

They escape the castle/ship, which lifts off, but still doesn't have enough gold to get it into orbit and is now threatening to explode, taking half of England with it. They take the golden arrow and fire it at the ship, giving it just enough gold to make it. Afterwards, the Doctor and Robin have a chat about being legends. Even if you don't plan on becoming a hero, Robin says, "perhaps others will be heroes in our names." The Doctor and Clara board the Tardis, and Robin is greeted by the mysterious woman from the dungeon, who turns out to be his love Marian.

This episode was entertaining, but I found the climax to be a tad absurd. They somehow hit the right spot on the ship a hundred feet in the air with a golden arrow, which just happens to give it just enough gold to get it into orbit, even though the ship was only at 85%? Whatever you say, Steven Moffat.