Doctor Who: Every 11th Doctor Episode Ranked Worse To Best
28. A Town Called Mercy
Along with pirates, this feels like another idea featured high on the Moffat manifesto: the Doctor finds himself in the middle of a Western. And for the majority of the episode it works.
By emphasising the Britishness of the Doctor, Amy and Rory amid the tough-talking American folk of the town, the episode manages to find plenty of comedy. Amy nearly killing the Sherriff when commandeering his gun is a standout moment. The idea of the Gunslinger, a sort of mix between the Terminator and John Wayne, is a fitting villain for the setting too.
Instead of embracing the joy of the Old West, however, we get bogged down in a rather unfun debate about morality regarding whether Adrian Scarborough’s despicable villain deserves to die. This third act feels like it belongs in another show that explores the death penalty and not in Doctor Who though.