Monday, 17 September 2012

Toby Whithouse’s A Town Called Mercy had the Doctor, along with Amy
and Rory, strolling into a town under siege from a mysterious gunslinger - part
cowboy, part machine, entirely dangerous. Their investigation led them to
another alien doctor, Kahler-Jex, creator of the gunslinging cyborg and
escaped war criminal redeeming himself by serving the town of Mercy.
Everything you’d want from a good Western was there. A saloon, a showdown, a stetson, and shot
beautifully on location in Almeria, previously used for A Fistful of Dollars,
The Magnificent Seven and many more classic Westerns. The episode certainly looked the
part, with bright blue skies contrasting with bright orange sands. It was
magnificently scored too, with a Western twist on Murray Gold’s usual
incidental music making the episode really distinct and underpinning certain
dramatic moments perfectly. OK, so a few of the actors overdid the American accents more than others, but Ben Browder made up for them and A Town Called Mercy very much felt like a Western.
But this was no ordinary Western, it was a sci-fi Western. The
clunking beast of the gunslinger was a finely designed creation, mashing cowboy and
robot into something intimidating and powerful. The plotline of a doctor on the run after his cyborg creation had turned against him, a futuristic Frankenstein in the Old West, did feel like it reused some plot elements we'd seen before but fit the setting strangely well, allowing for a series of tense confrontations.
But this was no ordinary sci-fi Western, this was a Doctor Who
sci-fi Western. From the moment the Doc and co. walked into the town, the story
looked at the typical Western tropes with a strong element of the typical
British humour we’ve come to associate with Doctor Who. “Tea. But the strong
stuff. Leave the bag in” the Doctor orders in the saloon, in a brilliant piece
of comic writing.

Whatever your opinion on the Doctor’s character arc, A Town Called
Mercy really was an accomplished mix of Western, sci-fi, and that Doctor Who
Britishness, in terms of humour and the prevailing “violence doesn’t end
violence” message. Toby Whithouse’s scripts can be criticised for following the
traditions of Doctor Who a little too closely, and indeed this episode’s use of
well-worn tropes in Kahler-Jex’s story means that it’s not one of the very best
episodes, but it is Whithouse’s best yet and one that this Whovian would be
more than happy to watch again and again.
Plus, the Doctor rode a transgender horse and wore a Stetson.
Stetsons are cool. I just wish he’d worn that gorgeous cowboy coat for longer.
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About Me

- KieronMoore
- Hi there. I'm Kieron. I write some things, including some about Doctor Who and some about films. Graphic novel about the Buddha coming soon. Also work in telly.

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