A Town Called Mercy (TV story)

 was the third episode of the seventh series of Doctor Who produced by BBC Wales.

It was the first televised since 1966's The Gunfighters. Across all media, however, it was merely one of many westerns, and wasn't even Matt Smith's first foray into the genre, since he had read 2010's original audio, The Runaway Train. That story even featured Amy, though not Karen Gillan, so it was at least Amy's second trip to this era.

From a production standpoint, this story was notable for being the first episode of BBC Wales whose visual effects were not credited to The Mill. Although various episodes had, in the past, required help from other companies, The Mill had always managed to retain the main "Visual Effects" credit. The most notable recent example of this was The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe, where some of the effects were done by Space Digital. There, Space received an "Additional Visual Effects" credit. Here, however, they become the first company other than The Mill to get the main VFX credit since Rose.

Synopsis
Missing Mexico by 200 miles, the Doctor ends up in Mercy, Nevada. Something's not quite right; the locals are hostile to strangers and a border of stone and wood surrounds the town. As the Doctor soon finds out, a Gunslinger is behind this, and not just an ordinary one.

Plot
Against the backdrop of a starry night desert, an unseen woman narrates a story her grandmother told her when she was a girl... a story about a man who fell from the stars and was weighed down by the things he had seen, giving the impression it might be the Doctor.

A cyborg known as the Gunslinger shoots down a probe in the middle of the desert while chasing Kahler-Mas. The cyborg tells his victim to make peace with his Gods, being told by Mas that they are his as well. The Gunslinger says they are not his Gods anymore. Mas tries to pick a piece of debris to defend himself, however, the cyborg knocks it away and prevents his target from moving. Pinned to the ground by the Gunslinger, Mas asks his executioner if he's the last one. Before opening fire, the Gunslinger replies that there is just one more: the Doctor.

The Doctor, Amy and Rory examine the population number on the sign of a town called Mercy, seeing it has 81 inhabitants. There are several odd things about the town including a strange stone and wood boundary line surrounding the town. The trio enter the town, unaware the Gunslinger is watching them, and take note of the townsfolk's hostile stares; even more odd is the fact that the town is using electricity, which will not be discovered until about ten years later. Because of all the odd events happening at once, the Doctor wonders if someone has been peeking at his Christmas list.

They enter the Saloon, where the Doctor orders a cup of tea, confusing the locals. When the Doctor introduces himself, though, the patrons become hostile and demand to know if the Doctor is an alien. When he admits it, the three are grabbed and dragged out of town, where only the Doctor is thrown over the boundary line and held at gunpoint. Amy and Rory are held captive by the townsfolk to prevent them from assisting the Doctor. A man spots the Gunslinger approaching and they prepare for the worst as the Preacher says a prayer. At the last second, however, a shot is fired from the crowd. The town marshal, Isaac, appears and tells the people to let the Doctor and his friends back in, pointing out the Doctor is not the one the Gunslinger wants. This is met with defiance as the Doctor fits the description of who the Gunslinger demanded - an alien doctor. However, Issac tells them that they know who the Gunslinger really wants, saying it's no reason to send the Doctor to his death. The Gunslinger departs with the trio safely inside the boundary. Isaac explains the situation; three weeks ago the boundary appeared along with the Gunslinger who demanded they hand over the "Doctor". Though he has not killed anyone he has stopped supplies and reinforcements entering, and the town is slowly starving to death. They walk into Issac's office, where Amy explains the Doctor was supposed to take them to Mexico for the Day of the Dead festival.

However, the Doctor ignores her complaint as usual and demands to meet the real target of the Gunslinger,. He reasons that the safest place to be is in the Marshal's office, to keep the townsfolk from handing him over. The person in question removes the blanket hiding himself in the cell, introducing himself as Kahler-Jex. The Doctor is delighted to meet Jex explaining the Kahler are a race renowned for their technological expertise. Jex explains his ship crashed out in the desert some years ago and he was rescued by the townsfolk who took him in. Since then he became the town doctor and cured an outbreak of Cholera and used the remains of his ship to give the town electricity. The Doctor is curious why the Gunslinger is after him but Isaac defends his friend saying Mercy is a town of second chances. He is also angry that the townsfolk are thinking of turning their friend over to the stranger. The Doctor decides to use the TARDIS to help Jex escape and evacuate the town but first they must engage in a little slight of hand to get past the Gunslinger.

Grabbing a Stetson, the Doctor borrows the Preacher's horse, (whom the Preacher named Joshua, but the horse prefers the name Susan according to the Doctor), and uses it to ride out and collect the TARDIS. In the meantime, Isaac, dressed in Jex's hat and coat, along with Rory run off in another direction to buy time. The Gunslinger takes the bait and chases after the two men but curiously holds back on firing when his systems warn of the high risk of hitting Rory. In town Amy talks with Kahler-Jex who notes she is a mother and cryptically mentions he is something of a father. In the desert the Doctor finds the power cables from Jex's ship and follows them despite the original plan; Jex notices this because of power fluctuations from the Doctor messing with the cords, becoming worried that the Doctor isn't following their plan. Amy simply tells the worried Kahler "welcome to my life", implying he should just accept the Doctor never sticks to plans. The Gunslinger catches up to Rory and Isaac and pins them down behind a cliff face, having switched to heat-seeking vision.

The Doctor finds the Kahler ship hidden but undamaged as Jex claimed. After some effort he manages to open it but trips the ship's alarm: alerting Jex and the Gunslinger who breaks off his pursuit of the two men. In town Jex is panicking because the Doctor has gone against the plan. The Doctor enters the ship and manages to override the defence system and asks the computer what it knows about the Gunslinger. Unfortunately the ship does not understand the term so the Doctor tries a different approach and ask it about its crew. His request brings up logs detailing horrific experiments. The Doctor watches in silent shock, listening to Jex calmly detail the events as his victims scream in the background.

Back in Mercy, Amy finds herself staring down the barrel of a gun held by Jex who has figured by now the Doctor has learned some things about him that the townsfolk won't understand or forgive. He is going to flee and take Amy with him as a hostage since the Gunslinger's programming forbids him from harming civilians unless the situation is extreme. Jex's escape is thwarted by the return of Rory and Isaac who demand answers. In the desert the Doctor leaves the ship and comes face to face with the Gunslinger poised to attack. He manages to get the alien to stand down by revealing he knows what Jex did and he knows who the Gunslinger is. The cyborg lowers his weapon slightly. The Doctor has worked out the Gunslinger is one of Jex's "test subjects" and pleads with him to spare the town and let Jex be brought to trial. The enraged cyborg refuses but reveals he hasn't gone after Jex in the town because he doesn't want to harm the civilians who would likely get in the way. He leaves but warns the Doctor the next person who tries to leave the town will be killed unless the Kahler is handed over.

At the marshal's office Jex tries to wave off his actions as a moment of panic but the Doctor returns and accuses Jex of being a liar and murderer. He explains to Isaac, Amy, and Rory that the Gunslinger is a cyborg created by Jex and a team of scientists. He goes on to explain that they took unsuspecting volunteers on the pretext of military training and experimented on them and those that did not die were turned into weapons.

Rather than deny his action Jex admits and even defends them explaining Kahler was suffering a devastating nine-year long war which had already decimated half the planet. The Kahler authority ordered the scientists to create weapons that could end the war and they did. In under a week the cyborg army defeated the enemy before deactivating. Unfortunately the Gunslinger didn't. As far as Jex can guess he was damaged in battle, restoring his original personality and he disregarded his pre-programmed orders. Since then he has hunted down and killed the people responsible for turning him into a monster and now he wants to finish it with Jex.

The group is unsure of what to do but the Doctor makes a decision when Jex says he could never make a hard choice like the scientist did and drags him outside. The townspeople gather as the Doctor pushes him over the boundary to face his surviving victim. Amy stops the Doctor with a gun pointing out this isn't his way. The Doctor responds that every time he is merciful innocent people are killed (listing the Master and the Daleks as ones he shouldn't have shown mercy). For once he is going to think of the victims but Amy reminds him that this isn't the right way to deal with things and talks him down.

Before the Doctor can get Jex back over the boundary the Gunslinger appears behind him ready to kill. The scientist addresses the cyborg by its original name Kahler-Tek; having remembered the names of all the test subjects. He pleads with Tek that he has changed, but the cyborg doesn't relent and opens fire. Isacc, however, steps in the path of the blast to save his friend, but is gravely wounded. With his last breath he makes the Doctor the new Marshal and tells him to protect the town. A distraught Doctor sends Jex back to his cell and confronts Tek saying this must end. The Cyborg agrees and offers a final ultimatum; hand over Jex by noon tomorrow or everyone will be killed and then departs.

Night comes and the Doctor is alerted to an arriving Lynch mob by the town preacher. The mob suggests he just walk away but the Doctor talks them down by explaining it would betray the town's principals and Issac; he finds facing scared people to be worse than a Dalek. He returns to the cells to talk with Jex who also tries to goad him into handing him over to Tek. The Doctor won't and is angry; accusing Jex's actions in town as being a way to repent. He continues, saying how one repents is not up to them. Jex then explains he fears dying because Kahler religion says once they die, they have to carry the souls of all they wronged in life; Jex cries that Isaac, his only friend in Mercy, will be added to his load. The Doctor slightly sympathises. The Doctor decides to call the Gunslinger to a duel instead of handing Jex over the next day, facing the cyborg with his sonic screwdriver; he uses it to produce a high-pitched frequency that shatters glass and disorientates the Gunslinger. The Doctor takes advantage of his confusion and runs off as the Gunslinger fires random shots that cause property damage. The townspeople, who had used make-up to copy Jex's facial marks that the Gunslinger uses to ID Jex, run about to cause confusion. As part of the Doctor's plan, Jex uses the confusion to escape town and head for his ship.

Back in town, the Gunslinger searches for Jex, breaking into the church and frightening the patrons. Catching sight of a little girl, the Gunslinger lowers his weapon and leaves. Tired of his automatic targeting falling for the Doctor's trick, the Gunslinger switches to manual, finding the Doctor hiding near by. The Doctor explains Jex has gone, enraging the Gunslinger. Jex calls from his ship explaining that if he fled to another planet, the Gunslinger would follow him and put others in danger once more; Jex activates his ship's self-destruct and commits suicide, somethng the Gunslinger sees as honourable. Because the Gunslinger sees himself as nothing more than a weapon of war, he prepares to self-destruct a safe distance in the desert. However, the Doctor tells him that while he may have built as a weapon of war, he can now protect the peace instead.

Having brought the TARDIS to Mercy to collect the electrics Jex left behind to ensure history is not damaged, the Doctor asks Amy and Rory if they'd like to find out what happened to the monkeys and dogs that were sent into space during the 50's and 60's. However, they tell him it's time they went back home as their friends are starting to notice they age faster (due to the time they spend with the Doctor). He complies and they board the TARDIS. The Doctor tests to see if he can draw faster than someone before entering himself.

The woman narrates again, saying that Mercy was already used to the strange and unexplainable. The little girl from the church walks off a short distance from the town; the woman says her grandmother must have been a little girl at the time she heard this story. Mercy has never had any kind of official law enforcer since then, but the residents never seem to worry, as if they have a secret protector. The little girl looks off at a hill, where the Gunslinger is standing. Looking off into the distance, a close up of the Gunslinger shows that the Doctor made him the new Marshal.

Cast

 * The Doctor - Matt Smith
 * Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
 * Rory Williams - Arthur Darvill
 * The Gunslinger - Andrew Brooke
 * Kahler-Jex - Adrian Scarborough
 * Kahler-Mas - Dominic Kemp
 * Sadie - Joanne McQuinn
 * The Preacher - Byrd Wilkins
 * Abraham - Garrick Hagon
 * Isaac - Ben Browder
 * Dockery - Sean Benedict
 * Walter - Rob Cavazos

Story notes

 * Working titles for this story included The Gunslinger and Mercy.
 * Adrian Scarborough (Kahler Jex) previously played Rupert Van Thal in AUDIO: The Boy That Time Forgot.
 * Garrick Hagon (Abraham) previously played Ky in TV: The Mutants.
 * This was the first televised episode since 1966's The Gunfighters. Across all media, however, it was merely one of many westerns, and wasn't even Matt Smith's first foray into the genre, since he had read 2010's original audio, The Runaway Train.  That story even featured Amy, though not Karen Gillan, so it was at least Amy's second trip to this era.
 * For this episode, the Doctor Who logo's texture had a wooden look with gunshots, representing the story's western setting.
 * This was the first episode of the BBC Wales revival whose visual effects were not credited to The Mill. Although various episodes had, in the past, required help from other companies, The Mill had always managed to retain the main "Visual Effects" credit.  The most notable recent example of this was The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe, where some of the effects were done by Space Digital.  There, Space received an "Additional Visual Effects" credit.  Here, however, they become the first company other than The Mill to get the main VFX credit since Rose.

Ratings

 * Overnight ratings showed that a total of 6.6 million people watched the episode in the UK.
 * Final Ratings for A Town Called Mercy showed that a total of 8.42 million people watched the episode in the UK.
 * 556,000 watched the episode in Australia.

Filming locations

 * Mini Hollywood, Spain
 * Texas Hollywood, Spain

Production errors

 * When the Doctor first puts on the Marshal badge, he puts it on his lapel. Later on it changes between the lapel and his breast pocket
 * There is an anachronism. This episode is set in 1870 and a Colt Single Action Army can be seen aimed at the Doctor at the beginning of the episode, yet this revolver was not invented until 1872.
 * Isaac's title is 'Marshal,' a Federal law enforcement title. In the United States a local law enforcement head would more typically called a 'Sheriff' or a 'Chief of Police.'  This may normally be true however, if Mercy is located in a U.S. territory rather than a state than the term Marshal would be correct since federal officials managed and policed the territories rather than having an elected official do so.  Also based on the statement made in this episode that Mexico is 200 miles due south means this is likely the case since neither Arizona nor New Mexico were states in 1870.
 * When the Doctor and the Ponds first arrive in Mercy, the Doctor notices a street lamp and the camera cuts to a overhead shot. In this shot, Amy can be seen turning around slowly, but when the camera cuts to a close up shot of the gang, Amy is facing the front again and turns around again like in the overhead shot.

Continuity

 * The Doctor claims to be 1200 years old. If true, 97 years have passed for him since the events of The Impossible Astronaut/The Wedding of River Song. It would also be 291 years seince Flesh and Stone.
 * The Doctor, in his first incarnation, has previously visited the American Old West. (TV: The Gunfighters)
 * The Doctor again makes reference to having a Christmas list, asking if anyone has been peeking at it. (TV: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship)
 * The Doctor again dons a Stetson. (TV:The Impossible Astronaut, Closing Time, The Wedding of River Song)
 * While trying to confuse the Gunslinger and buy Kahler Jex time to get to his ship, the Doctor briefly changes into his green jacket, first seen in TV: Let's Kill Hitler.
 * The Doctor says that he "speaks horse", similar to his being able to communicate with cats and babies. (TV: The Lodger, A Good Man Goes to War, Closing Time)
 * It is once again noted that travelling without companions affects the Doctor and his actions. (TV: The Runaway Bride, Last of the Time Lords, The Waters of Mars, The End of Time, Meanwhile in the TARDIS 2)
 * This episode may take place for Amy and Rory during the seven weeks they spend travelling with the Doctor in the following episode The Power Of Three. In The Power Of Three we see the scene where Rory loses his phone charger in Henry VIII's bedroom, which was referred to in this episode as having already happened.

DVD releases
to be added

Blu-ray releases
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