Who and Hood

[daibhidc]

Doctor Who was cool. Lee Evans as Malcom was excellent, the alien locusts were impressive, and Ten was brilliant as always. Two things I didn't like

1) Foreshadowing with a big, big hammer. Yes, we know he's going at the end of the year, we don't need random psychics to keep reminding us.

2) Christine. Sorry, I've never really "got" the whole "glamourous bored thief" thing. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I don't think stealing magically becomes more acceptable because you're posh and only doing it for the heck of it. I have far more sympathy with people who are stealing because they need to, something Lady Christine would probably view as dreadfully common. So my enjoyment of the entire episode was marred by a deep dislike, not just of the companion-character, but of everything she stood for. I say, lock her up. Maybe give her a reduced sentence for saving the world, but that can be decided at the trial.

Robin Hood I've got more time for. Robin doesn't steal because he's bored, he steals from the rich (ie people like Christine) to give to the poor. That's a philosophy I can get behind, even if it appears in a programme that's historically preposterous. I'd be interested to know what sloopjonb made of today's episode, which made an unusual attempt to actually grapple with historic stuff beyond what's in the original legends. How wrong was it?

Comments

[daibhid-c.livejournal.com]

Another bit about the bus: the original script didn't say anything about it being damaged. That happened when someone dropped a crate on it while it was being shipped to Dubai.

The Robin Hood story was that an elderly and respected abbot was being blackmailed by the Sherriff to say that the outlaws had stolen from the church and were, yes, devil-worshiping heretics. It turned out the blackmail material was that the abbot had spent twenty years writing the Bible in English, which the Pope (and Little John) believed was blasphemous.

(Mind you, it didn't claim Robin worshipped a 13th century ghost who was probably invented by Shakespeare anyway.)

[sloopjonb.livejournal.com]

Two centuries too early, then. Devil-worship wasn't a big deal in the 12thC. It was of course John Wycliffe who first translated the Bible into English (or at least caused it to be translated), in the 1380s, although he wasn't
actually condemned as a heretic until after his death.

Which 13thC ghost is to which you refer?

[daibhid-c.livejournal.com]

Herne the Hunter (actually 14th century, now I check) as seen in Robin of Sherwood.

[sloopjonb.livejournal.com]

Oh, him. Yeah, Robin of Windsor. That was cobblers of a very high order.

[sloopjonb.livejournal.com]

Another viewpoint about the bus:

http://omnibuses.blogspot.com/

It was a bit Harry Potter, now they come to mention it.