 This story, and the previous story, "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship", were the first stories to be produced for Season Thirty Three (New Series 7), and both have been directed by Saul Metzstein. They are Saul Metzstein's first Doctor Who credits.
This story was recorded on location in Almería in Spain, where film studios have built Wild West-style streets that have been used in the making of over 100 Western-set films including A Fistful of Dollars.
Executive Producer and head writer Steven Moffat has stated that filming in Spain was cheaper than constructing a set in the UK and that ‘We knew from the start we need some serious location shooting for this one, and given the most iconic American setting imaginable, there was only one place to go - Spain’. Filming took place, between the 8th and 17th March 2012, at Oasys/Mini Hollywood and Fort Bravo/Texas Hollywood.
The Doctor Who production team previously travelled to Spain in 1984 for the filming of the 1985 Sixth Doctor story "The Two Doctors".
Writer Toby Whithouse developed this story from a one-line pitch from Steven Moffat. He has revealed that he felt obliged to include common Western elements including The Doctor riding a horse and a face-off at high noon. The hardest scene to write was where The Doctor is forced to use a gun; The Doctor is a pacifist and he would need ‘the right sort of emotional journey’. Toby Whithouse also wanted the cyborg villain to be three-dimensional and sympathetic, which would require it to have a ‘living consciousness’ rather than a ‘soulless automaton’.
Toby Whithouse previously wrote the 2006 Tenth Doctor story "School Reunion" and for the Eleventh Doctor stories "The Vampires of Venice" (2010) and "The God Complex" (2011).
The Wild West has not been a setting for a Doctor Who story since the 1966 First Doctor story "The Gunfighters". Toby Whithouse was advised not to watch "The Gunfighters" as it is ‘not exactly the jewel in the crown’.
Along with "The Gunfighters" this story is one of a number of Westerns that The Doctor has been in. Matt Smith can be heard reading the 2010 Eleventh Doctor audio story, "The Runaway Train". That story even featured Amy, though not played by Karen Gillan, so "A Town Called Mercy" is Amy's second trip to this era.
The guest cast features Adrian Scarborough as Kahler-Jex. Adrian Scarborough stars in the BBC One Upstairs Downstairs as Mr Pritchard, and has also appeared as Pete in Gavin & Stacey, and as Mr Johnson in Cranford. Adrian Scarborough also previously played the part of Rupert Van Thal in the Big Finish Productions Fifth Doctor audio story "The Boy That Time Forgot".
Also among the guest cast are Ben Browder and Mexican actor Rob Cavezos. Following his four-year stint as the lead in Farscape, playing the lost astronaut John Crichton, Ben Browder took on the regular role of Cameron Mitchell in Stargate and has had guest roles in CSI Miami and Chuck. While Rob Cavezos has recently completed filming on the Ron Howard-directed movie Rush.
Matt Smith has been reported as praising guest actors Ben Browder, who he said made ‘a good cowboy’ with ‘that great drawl’, and Adrian Scarborough, who he has said ‘steals the whole episode’. Ben Browder was offered the role and gladly accepted as he was aware of the show and he also wanted to do a western.
Also starring in this story are PhoneShop's Andrew Brooke, and Star Wars actor Garrick Hagon. Garrick Hagon has previous been in Doctor Who, having played the part of Ky in the 1972 Third Doctor story "The Mutants". He also had a guest role in Big Finish Productions Fifth Doctor audio story "The Axis of Insanity".
The Doctor attempts to take Amy and Rory to Mexico to see the Day of the Dead festival.
In the previous story, "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship", The Doctor is heard stating that he has a Christmas list. He again makes reference to one here, asking if anyone has been peeking at it.
Once again The Doctor dons a Stetson, wearing one in "The Impossible Astronaut" and then once again in "Closing Time" and subsequently in "The Wedding of River Song".
The Doctor mentions both The Master and the Daleks when telling Amy why he is willing to let The Gunslinger take revenge on Kahler-Jex. The Doctor tells Amy that the deaths of The Master and The Daleks were because of his mercy. The Daleks most recent appearance was in "Asylum of the Daleks", and The Master's most recent appearance was in the 2009/10 Tenth Doctor story "The End of Time".
The Doctor is seen riding a horse named ‘Susan’. He also is heard to say that he ‘speaks horse’, similar to his being able to communicate with cats and babies. (see the Tenth Doctor story 2010 "The Lodger" and the Eleventh Doctor stories "A Good Man Goes to War" and "Closing Time").
The Doctor claims to be 1200 years old. If this is true then 97 years have passed for him since the events of "The Impossible Astronaut/The Wedding of River Song".
Kahler-Jex is heard to say that he can tell that Amy is a mother.
The security system on Kahler-Jex's spaceship was made by the Atraxi.
The Gunslinger has some similarity to the Clades (see the BBC Books Tenth Doctor novel "Peacemaker").
This story contains a number of errors. Namely: The Marshal’s badge shown prominently throughout the episode uses the British spelling of the word ‘Marshal’ whereas the badge should use the American spelling ‘Marshall’ as this story is set in the United States of America; when The Doctor first puts on the Marshal badge, he puts it on his lapel. Later on it changes between that and his breastpocket; this story is set in 1870 and a Colt Single Action Army can be seen aimed at The Doctor at the beginning of the story – however, this revolver was not invented until 1872.
This story is notable for being the first story produced by BBC Wales whose visual effects were not credited to The Mill. Although various stories 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 Digital received an ‘Additional Visual Effects’ credit. For this story though Space Digital become the first company, other than The Mill, to get the main ‘Visual Effects’ credit since the 2005 Ninth Doctor story "Rose".
As with the previous two stories ("Asylum of the Daleks" and "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship") this story includes a unique logo in the title sequence. This time with a wooden boarding, complete with bullet holes. The production team have confirmed that the title sequence for every story in this season will have slightly different stylized versions of the Doctor Who logo.
A preview clip of this story was released at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International.
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The Firsts:
The first Doctor Who story set in the American Wild West since the 1966 First Doctor story "The Gunfighters".
The first story of this season, along with "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship", to go before the cameras.
The first Doctor Who story to be recorded in Spain since the 1985 Sixth Doctor story "The Two Doctors".
The first Doctor Who story whose visual effects were not credited to The Mill.
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(Position = 5 out of 5)
(Position = 163 out of 241)
