Review of Doctor Who ‘A town called Mercy’

SPOILERS: Do not read this if you have not seen episode 3, series 7/33 of ‘Doctor Who’

We are now into week three and Amy, Rory and the Doctor have embarked on an adventure in the Wild West. However, this is not the first time that the Doctor has donned a Stetson and ventured out West. Back in the William Hartnell era the first incarnation of the Doctor stumbled into Tombstone, Arizona and was mistaken for the infamous real-life gunfighter and gambler Doc Holliday.

A town called Mercy is another story from writer and Being Human creator Toby Whithouse, last year he wrote The God Complex which was set in an eerie hotel that looked much like one from The Shining. This year he has produced something completely different, however the script is characteristically witty and edgy, mixing the sardonic with the serious in unexpected ways. Whithouse throws in the Wild West clichés from rolling tumbleweed and out-of-town strangers walking into a saloon to a showdown at high noon. Incidentally, A Town Called Mercy was filmed in Almeria, Spain where many a Western has been filmed which adds to the cinematic, spaghetti-western element.

This week’s episode felt stronger than Dinosaurs on a Spaceship but perhaps that was because episode 2 was an intentionally lighter follow up to Asylum of the Daleks. A Town Called Mercy fell into middle ground tone-wise. The lighter moments were vital because the dark elements of the story were so bleak and quite twisted, particularly when the Doctor discovered that Kahler-Jex (Adrian Scarborough) had carried out horrifying experiments on his own people. Although the audience never saw any of it, they could hear the screams and from it piece together in their mind’s eye what the Doctor was witnessing. The implication of torture was disturbing enough and took the story into adult territory. This strand was also reminiscent of Whithouse’s work on Being Human where Doctors were knowingly killing supernatural beings despite claims of trying to cure patients of their ‘conditions’.

The Doctor’s revelation about Kahler-Jex’s true past was a brilliant twist because up until that point the villain was supposedly the cowboy cyborg. The real monster was the creator not the creation, harking back to Frankenstein as is oft the case with science fiction. The twist shows just how complex Kahler-Jex is as a character and his attempts to atone for the past sins by saving lives in the present blur the lines between good and evil, right and wrong. The distinction between good and evil gets even more confusing when Khaler-Jex suggests that there are similarities between himself and the Doctor. He mentions that both of them carry prisons, i.e. the guilt over those who have died as a result of their actions, which hits a nerve with the Doctor.

Along with the dark nature of the story, the Doctor grew a little bit darker. It was absolutely shocking to see him holding Kahler-Jex at gunpoint and was completely uncharacteristic of him. It also goes against the anti-gun message that the Time Lord has always promoted and it felt quite jarring. This out-of-character moment and Amy’s comment about the Doctor travelling alone for too long are all foreshadowing the fall of the Ponds. The Eleventh Doctor is getting far darker than some of his other incarnations and this series will touch upon that more in the next couple of weeks.

Nevertheless, it wasn’t all doom and gloom and there were some comedic moments. The best one was probably a horse called Susan who wanted people to respect its life choices. The scene where the Doctor was talking to Susan was brilliant. It never gets old watching the Doctor having seemingly one-sided conversations whether it’s with babies or horses.

All in all, A town called Mercy was a good watch, there were moments of darkness but also a lot of humour. Whithouse has placed tropes from cowboy films over an episode of Doctor Who and the combination worked well together. Compared to Dinosaurs on a Spaceship it was certainly a meatier story with depth to it.

Next time on Doctor Who: It all gets a bit Torchwood with the year of the slow invasion. Unlike the other trailers, next week seems to be shrouded in mystery but it looks more like an adult-ish drama. Oh, and Rory’s dad Brian is back again.

Image credit: BBC

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• Dave Bell

  There is also the contrast with what the Doctor did last week.

• EccentricEddie

  This episode was Amazing , I loved his last episodes” School Reunion and “Vampires of Venice” this was perfectly shot, great pacing , no silly time travel crap, Just a straight forward Classic episode of the Doctor going into the past and meeting an alien there. The script was great, the episode was like The western themed episode of supernatural where the main character became the sherif for a brief period. “A Town Called Mercy” was a An Amazing episode in Moffats era, up there with “The Eleventh Hour”,Victory of The Daleks” “Vampires of Venice”, “Impossible Astronaut/ Day of the Moon”,”Curse of the Black Spot”,Let’s Kill Hitler and the amazing”Closing Time”, Just Perfect. 10/10

• http://www.facebook.com/ElderGrassman Gav ‘Spammy’ H B

  ”
  It was absolutely shocking to see him holding Kahler-Jex at gunpoint and was completely uncharacteristic of him. It also goes against the anti-gun message that the Time Lord has always promoted” … simply not true, The Doctor has wielded weapons in the past, you need to watch some classic Pertwee era Who. Other than that not a bad write up, this is turning into a very good series indeed.

• Ralph Brown

  Is the Doctor going to “transform” into a Dalek? Sure, it would be one slow infection, but it explains his personality change.

• http://www.facebook.com/people/Brian-Jamieson/629899261 Brian Jamieson

  Where has this myth – “anti-gun message that the Time Lord has always promoted” come from? Just have to see the doctor murder the pirate Solomon in Dinosaurs on a Spaceship. It was not with a gun but with missiles.

• elliot paige

  You can thank RTD’s pc “a man who never would” era
  for instilling the idea of a totally pacifist doctor in the minds of a
  generation of nuwho viewers. Those of us with slightly longer memories
  can recall a doctor who in his very first adventure tried to beat an
  inured caveman over the head with a rock in order to kill him and
  expedite his flight to the TARDIS. We can also remember the numerous
  other times he has used deadly force in the past, and the time when even
  in his most gentle incarnation the fifth Doctor picked up a gun with the intention of becoming Davros’ executioner.
  Blimey! the Seventh Doctor committed genocide on an almost weekly basis. I didn’t see last weeks action against Solomon as an aberration but a return to normalcy
  .
  The Doctor has never and will never be a conscientious objector, he has
  fought on the front line of wars and has killed millions of sentient life forms.

  He has never been a pacifist, He is always a pragmatist.

• EasyTyger

  How can this week be shocking when last week he decided to become a murderer – and give every impression of not minding at all?

• Bunty

  good catch