We like to think that when Mark Gatiss sits down to write a Doctor Who script, he plays a little game with himself called How many Classic Who references can I write in this time? One of the trademarks of a Mark Gatiss script is at least half a dozen nods to Old Who lovingly slipped in for the audience to pick up on. And his latest romp Robot Of Sherwood is no exception with a healthy number of continuity references sprinkled across the episode. And as well as the references written in ahead of time, the episode includes a few bits and pieces from Classic Who that are absent from the script. Which means that Peter Capaldi and Steven Moffat might have had a hand in chucking a few in as well. Because for such colossal fanboys like Gatiss, Capaldi, and Moffat its not just work. Its living the dream. Give a fan control over their favourite universe and you can be sure theyll be stuffing in meta-humour and references to their favourite moments until theyre told to stop. While conspicuous continuity references are thin on the ground in Robot Of Sherwood (we only counted one when the Doctor suggests going to the Ice Warrior hives of Mars which is a story just begging to be made), its packed with subtler nods. And these are eight that we spotted...
JG Moore is a writer and filmmaker from the south of England. He also works as an editor and VFX artist, and has a BA in Media Production from the University Of Winchester.
