Written By: Toby Whithouse.
Directed By: Saul Metzstein.
The Story: The Doctor, Amy and Rory arrive in the Wild West town of Mercy, which is being terrorized by a murderous cyborg known as ‘the Gunslinger’!
The Verdict: Anyone expecting a fun filled, cowboy romp will no doubt be disappointed by this week’s instalment. However, for this reviewer, A TOWN CALLED MERCY was a pleasant surprise, an episode with not only the usual monsters and jokes and running, but also a serious moral dilemma at its heart.
Writer Toby Whithouse weaves a great, emotional story, with twists and turns that constantly put one up the audience, forcing them to take different sides of the argument, and question the differing viewpoints of each character (even the Doctors on several occasions), resulting in a story where there is no clear-cut villain, a creative decision which makes for an extremely interesting story.
The Western setting is great too. Unlike last Season’s dismal CURSE OF THE BLACK SPOT, the historical setting and the stereotypical tropes that result from it are not overused or clumsily inserted into the story. Instead, Whithouse wisely decides to focus more on the characters and the emotional dilemma then the overall setting, using the western elements as a mere backdrop, keeping the in-jokes and tropes to a minimum, whilst at the same time having the occasional bit of fun (as DOCTOR WHO wisely should, no matter how dark things get).
A solid DOCTOR WHO episode, with a great mix of drama, action and comedy to keep everyone glued to their seats, A TOWN CALLED MERCY is a brave and surprising little gem that isn’t afraid to explore the more complex issues of morality and culpability that other DOCTOR WHO stories tend to avoid.
Best Bit: Matt Smith has never been more terrifying as the Doctor then here (especially when he has a gun in his hand, an image that always feels scary and wrong), and the scene where the Doctor casts Kahler Jex out of Mercy and the aftermath of that decision is fantastic. The best scenes in DOCTOR WHO are often when you find yourself questioning the Doctor and his decisions, and this moment is a prime example, boosted by great performances all round from Smith, Karen Gillan, Ben Browder, and Adrian Scarborough.
Nitpick: How did the Doctor know that the Gunslinger was finding its targets by scanning the patterns on their faces? Sure, we knew because we got to see shots of the Gunslinger’s POV, but in the story, the Doctor never gets that luxury!
LMAO: The eager undertaker and his constant need to size up the Doctor for a coffin is creepy, and yet very funny, especially given the fact that he does it a second time after delivering a beautiful and inspiring speech!
Star Performance: FARSCAPE star Ben Browder as Issac is great, but it’s GAVIN & STACEY’s Adrian Scarborough as the likeable yet detestable Kahler Jex who steals the show this week! His speech and subsequent demise at the end of the episode bought a little lump to my throat.
Best Line(s):
The Doctor holds a gun to Kahler Jex’s head.
Kahler Jex: You wouldn’t!
The Doctor: I genuinely don’t know.
‘Shudder’.
Join us next week for part four of THN’s Doctor Who Series Blog.
Dan Bullock
Sep 15, 2012 at 8:32 pm
You know, every now and then we get a slower-paced Who and although I’m not always ready for it. It opens up so much more interesting part of everything Who-related.
I liked this one, some deeper performances and eager to see where it goes next.
For a moment, I thought it was going to be another Doctor death as well, so that’s interesting as a set up!
Chris Wharfe
Sep 15, 2012 at 8:37 pm
Loved this one, just like all of S7. It’s all very refreshing to not have any intrusive series-long arcs pushing the story one way or the other.
I’m surprised how little Amy and Rory have been used so far, though – particularly in this episode – considering it’s their final season.
Though next week looks to remedy that (and also hinted that the pair will retire peacefully rather than getting gunned down, though I expect Rory’s tired of getting killed by now anyway), so it’s all good.