Series 7, Episode 3 | 1 part | First broadcast: 15 September 2012 | Writer: Toby Whithouse | Director: Saul Metzstein
Cast
- Matt Smith as the Doctor
- Karen Gillan as Amy Pond
- Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams
- Ben Browder as Isaac
- Andrew Brooke as the Gunslinger
Summary
Arriving in a small American frontier town under siege by a relentless cyborg gunslinger, the Doctor discovers the townsfolk are sheltering a fugitive alien doctor, Kahler-Jex, whose horrific wartime experiments created the creature now hunting him. Forced to weigh justice against mercy, the Doctor must decide whether Jex deserves protection or deserves to face the consequences of what he has done.
Interesting Facts
- The episode directly engages with classic Western genre conventions, filmed on a redressed Spanish set often used for spaghetti Westerns.
- The moral ambiguity of Kahler-Jex, a war criminal who also saved the town with his medical knowledge, pushes the Doctor toward uncharacteristically harsh judgment.
- This story explores themes of vigilante justice and forgiveness more directly than most “monster of the week” episodes of the era.
- The Gunslinger ultimately becomes the town’s protector after Jex’s fate is resolved, a notable redemption arc for the story’s initial antagonist.
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