episode in which "Capaldi truly came into his own as The Doctor," noting his channeling of Malcolm Tucker in his Doctor made for some truly comedic moments. Simon Brew of Den of Geek commended the lightness of the episode, in contrast to Capaldi's opening two episodes and called it "hugely entertaining," and "wonderfully silly." He writes that "Robot of Sherwood" is "the kind of Doctor Who you reach for when you've got a spare hour, and just want to get a great big smile on your face." Tim Liew of Metro criticised the episode for trying to be "too funny" and presenting a Doctor "whose behaviour jars with previous episodes". Forbes also noted the shift in personality for the Doctor, but commended Capaldi for finding "enough rope in the script to bring his interpretation to the role." They enjoyed the "extra layer the story delivered by setting everything in a 1930s Errol Flynn movie," and the development of the characters in that "every character had another shell around them." However, they felt the story had very little "substance," and that it "suffer[ed] from poor editing and direction." Neela Debnath of The Independent was likewise critical of the episode, calling it "a dull and nonsensical disappointment." She thought it to be "an oddly-pieced together episode that didn't make much sense," with "no silver linings either." She criticised the backward development of Clara as reverting to "the school girl with the crush." IGN gave a mixed review, calling it "a frivolous, flimsy throwaway adventure for the new Doctor." In print Pearson Education published a novelisation of this episode by David Maule for students of English language reading 24 May 2018. References External links Twelfth Doctor episodes 2014 British television episodes Television episodes written by Mark Gatiss Doctor Who pseudohistorical serials Doctor Who stories set on Earth Robin Hood television episodes Fiction set in the 1190s Television episodes set in England Television episodes about robots