A Town Called Mercy
- Episode aired Sep 15, 2012
- TV-PG
- 44m
The Doctor gets a Stetson (and a gun), and finds himself the reluctant Sheriff of a Western town under siege by a relentless cyborg who goes by the name of The Gunslinger. But who is he and ... Read allThe Doctor gets a Stetson (and a gun), and finds himself the reluctant Sheriff of a Western town under siege by a relentless cyborg who goes by the name of The Gunslinger. But who is he and what does he want?The Doctor gets a Stetson (and a gun), and finds himself the reluctant Sheriff of a Western town under siege by a relentless cyborg who goes by the name of The Gunslinger. But who is he and what does he want?
- The Preacher
- (as Byrd Wilkins)
- Walter
- (as Rob Cavazos)
- Narrator
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- Toby Whithouse
- Steven Moffat
- Sydney Newman(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMuch of the episode was filmed around the desert area of Almería, Spain, where studios have built Wild West-style streets that have been used in the making of over 100 Western-set films, such as The Dollars Trilogy.
- GoofsThe Doctor grabs a gun from Walter's holster, and we hear him cock it. In the next shot, it isn't cocked and we see him cock it. In the next shot - again - it isn't cocked, and we see him cock it a third time.
- Quotes
The Doctor: Can I borrow your horse, please? It's official marshal business.
The Preacher: He's called Joshua. It's from the Bible. It means 'The Deliverer.'
The Doctor: No, he isn't.
The Preacher: What?
The Doctor: I speak horse. He's called Susan. And he wants you to respect his life choices.
- Crazy creditsThe opening credits sequence Doctor Who logo is rendered in a wood texture.
- ConnectionsFollows Doctor Who: The Making of the Gunslinger (2005)
- SoundtracksDoctor Who Theme
(uncredited)
Written by Ron Grainer
Arranged by Murray Gold
Performed by BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Previous seasons of Doctor Who have had an interlinking, underlining theme/threat, something the series is building up to. The seventh series so far has felt more like a collection of standalone adventures and "A Town Called Mercy" has continued this thread. As a standalone episode, it's fun enough since it takes a humorous approach with the material and theme of the episode.
The biggest strength of this episode is the moral dilemmas along with the themes of guilt, forgiveness, and redemption... even though the writing is very much on the nose. There are big blurs of grey instead of a being a clear line between good & evil. It's easy to sympathise with both the Gunslinger, a creature who had been wronged with a mission of revenge and unwilling to hurt innocent, and Kahler Jex (Adrian Scarborough) who's a character who has done bad things in his past, but has ended up being useful and offered a social good to the town. The conflict and relationship between the two is similar to V and Dr. Surridge from V for Vendetta, one being the creator of the other for an evil cause, but the creator ended up becoming a good guy. That was despite the writer's best efforts to try and make Jex unlikable with his actions.
The episode embraces the western setting and clichés, particularly in the later half as The Doctor becomes the town's marshal or when the Gunslinger demands for Jex and a showdown at high noon. There is also very a Saturday morning cartoon feel to it plotting and action wise.
Previous Doctor Who episodes set in the past have been about some sort of secret alien invasion or aliens hiding in human society. "A Town Called Mercy" fortunately dispenses with this tried premise and just runs with a fun sci-fi Western premise and has no pretence of doing an investigation to find the aliens, they are there right at the beginning and in the foreground.
There is an acknowledge in the episode of previous events in the Doctor Who canon, but this is when The Doctor acts the most out of character, such as being overly angry and aiming a gun at Jex. The Doctor would never use physical force or firearms; what would make Jex so special to break this rule? Especially when The Doctor has faced much worse in the past. "A Town Called Mercy" is at times goofy, but Doctor Who is like that some times. This is simply a light hearted, entertaining little episode with a few flaws.
7.5/10 Please visit www.playeraffinity.com
- freemantle_uk
- Sep 17, 2012
Details
- Runtime44 minutes
- Color