Asylum of the Daleks - 8/10
Dinosaurs on a Spaceship - 6/10
A Town Called Mercy - 8/10
Despite low expectations, I was still disappointed with last weeks effort, and that was quite a contrast with this episode. I'd been hearing good things about it,
it looked the part as well, and it was written by Toby Whithouse.
I very much see Whithouse as a gradually emerging force on Doctor Who. His selection of episodes are perhaps the most varied of any writer (compare it to Chibnall who has "falling spaceship episode", "reptiles episode" and "falling spaceship with reptiles episode"
) and each has offered the writer a different sort of challenge since his very first.
School Reunion was a big player in Series 2, and Whithouse had the task of reintroducing an icon of the classic series.
The Vampires of Venice had to add Rory into the mix for the first time, breaking the simple Doctor and Amy dynamic of the early fifth series and taking things in a new direction.
The God Complex not only dealt with the issues of faith and religion, but also had to include the departing scenes of Amy and Rory in a plot point which has changed their involvement ever since. And most recently with
A Town Called Mercy, Whithouse has been challenged to take on board a location shoot episode, whilst chucking in
a healthy dose of moral dilemma as well. It's safe to say that Whithouse has not lost his
touch of diversity, and his efforts for Doctor Who are much appreciated. As with all his other episodes, none of them are perfect by any means, but they're always
on the better side of 'really good'.
I think this episode proves above most others that as a writer for Doctor Who you simply cannot win (last weeks perhaps showed this up as well). If it wasn't enough on the surface that you can't please everyone with your efforts, the nitpicking goes to greater extents. I've heard a lot of mentions that Amy and Rory were underused in this episode - but then if it were any other way, given their relevance in upcoming episodes, there would be a mass of fans complaining that this was now "The Amy Pond and Pet Show". It's true,
the companions were underused in this story, but this was a story about The Doctor - they just happened to be along for the ride. I think that's a theme we'll actually see develop in the next two episodes. I think that their roles, no matter how reduced here, were still prevalent enough to be successful.
I think that for 45 minutes as well, the episode did a great job at giving us
characters to ponder over. I don't think we were meant to be empathising with each side when the writer decided to twist the plot in their favour. Like The Doctor, we have just arrived in Mercy, and have the monumental moral task of deciding who is right and who is wrong, when we don't know enough about the characters deep down...it seemed the whole point. I would say there was
room for improvement regarding some of the background characters, maybe a bit of the RTD-family schmaltz could have added a bit of heart, but it didn't detract from the story in any way.
Aside from all of that, I thought
the episode looked amazing and that the
location filming was actually utilised properly this time - Utah seemed like more of a publicity stunt than anything else and it felt somewhat rubbed in your face, whereas this episode just got on with the fact it was somewhere
a bit more exotic than a Welsh quarry. I felt the episode moved at a steady pace that was
never too fast and never too slow. It was nice to slow things down a little and actually have a moment to reflect on the characters... we're usually whizzing about so fast these days picking up Egyptian queens and African game hunters that we don't actually take a minute to stop and look at
their story.
Whithouse is a brilliant writer, and I love his
deeper exploration of character. It doesn't shy from the
darker aspects but never verges on the concept of angst. Whilst ATCM wasn't the perfect episode by any stretch, it was an episode I'll enjoy watching again. My only real issues with it are that it did struggle a little with the 45 minutes I think... the pace was slowed to look into character more, but then there
wasn't quite enough time to flesh out everyone. I'm uncertain of whether this sits ahead of Asylum' for me right now, and I guess that will depend on the pay-off the Oswin plot. Time will tell.
And is it me, or does
Murray Gold always seem to produce his most inspiring stuff for Whithouse episodes these days? I recall music from all of his episodes that stands out as particularly amazing to me (The Vampires of Venice being his most impressive in my opinion).
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A TOWN CALLED MERCY
compared to other third episodes (a strong batch!)...
THE UNQUIET DEAD - 9/10
SCHOOL REUNION - 8/10
GRIDLOCK - 8/10
PLANET OF THE OOD - 9/10
VICTORY OF THE DALEKS - 6/10
THE CURSE OF THE BLACK SPOT - 7/10
A TOWN CALLED MERCY - 8/10
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A TOWN CALLED MERCY
compared to other Whithouse episodes (consistency!)...
SCHOOL REUNION - 8/10
THE VAMPIRES OF VENICE - 8/10
THE GOD COMPLEX - 8/10
A TOWN CALLED MERCY - 8/10
I wanted to enjoy but there wasn't much from Amy and Rory and the Doctor was being all moody. I normally like Matt Smith's darker edge to the Doctor but here it just felt misplaced and confused. Does he want to punish Jex or not? I know Amy and then Issac's death changed things but the fact there was no clear right or wrong served to leave the episode stuck in a murky middle ground and the lame duck ending kind of left it there.
