Doctor Who (TV Series)

A Town Called Mercy (2012)

Matt Smith: The Doctor

Photos 

Quotes 

• The Doctor : Can I borrow your horse, please? It's official marshal business.

  The Preacher : He's called Joshua. It's from the Bible. It means 'The Deliverer.'

  The Doctor : No, he isn't.

  The Preacher : What?

  The Doctor : I speak horse. He's called Susan. And he wants you to respect his life choices.

• Rory Williams : Uh, the sign does say 'keep out.'

  The Doctor : I see 'keep out' signs as suggestions more than actual orders. Like 'dry clean only.'

• Amy Pond : What's happened to you, Doctor? When did killing someone become an option?

  The Doctor : Jex has to answer for his crimes.

  Amy Pond : And what then? Are you going to hunt down everyone who's made a gun, or a bullet, or a bomb?

  The Doctor : But they keep coming back, don't you see? Everytime I negotiate, everytime I try to understand. Well, not today. No. Today, I honor the victims first. His, the Master's, the Daleks', all the people who died because of MY mercy!

  Amy Pond : See, this is what happens when you travel alone for too long. Well, listen to me, Doctor, we can't be like him. We have to be better than him.

• The Doctor : [to the barmaid]  Tea. But the strong stuff. Leave the bag in.

• The Doctor : Okay, so, our next trip... Oh! You know all the monkeys and dogs they sent into space in the 1950s and 1960s? You will never guess what really happened to them.

• The Doctor : What happens if someone crosses the line?

  Isaac : [throws him a hat with a bullet hole through it] 

  The Doctor : Well, not a very good shot, then.

  Isaac : He was aiming for the hat.

  The Doctor : [Incredulous]  He shoots people's hats?

• Kahler-Jex : Let me guess. The good folk of Mercy wanted me to take a little stroll into the desert. You could turn a blind eye. No one would blame you. You'd be a hero.

  The Doctor : But I can't, can I? Because then Isaac's death would mean nothing. Just another casualty in your endless bloody war. Do you want me to hand you over? Is that what you want? Do you even know?

  Kahler-Jex : You think I'm unaffected by what I did? That I don't hear them screaming every time I close my eyes? It would be so much simpler if I was just one thing, wouldn't it? The mad scientist who made that killing machine or the physician who's dedicated his life to serving this town. The fact that I'm both bewilders you.

  The Doctor : Oh, I know exactly what you are, and I see this reformation for what it really is. You committed an atrocity and chose this as your punishment. Don't get me wrong, good choice. Civilized hours, lots of adulation, nice weather. But... but justice doesn't work like that. You don't get to decide when and how your debt is paid.

  Kahler-Jex : In my culture, we believe that when you die your spirit has to climb a mountain, carrying the souls of everyone you wronged in your lifetime. Imagine the weight I will have to lift: the monsters I created, the people they killed. Isaac, he was my friend. Now his soul will be in my arms, too. Can you see now why I fear death? You want to hand me over. There's no shame in that. But you won't. We all carry our prisons with us. Mine is my past. Yours is your morality.

• Walter : We don't got any ill feeling towards the doc, we just thinking about our families. Hand him over and we all safe again.

  The Doctor : You know I can't do that.

  Walter : [pulling his coat aside to reveal his gun]  Then we got us a problem.

  The Doctor : Please don't do this.

  Walter : Why? Reckon you're quicker than me?

  The Doctor : Oh, most certainly not, but this? Lynch mobs? The town turning against itself? This is everything Isaac didn't want.

  [Walter draws his gun and stares down the Doctor] 

  The Doctor : How old are you?

  Walter : Nearly nineteen.

  The Doctor : [slowly moves forward]  That's eighteen, then. Too young to have fought in the war, so I'm guessing you've never shot anyone before, have you?

  Walter : [cocks the gun]  First time for everything.

  The Doctor : But that's how all this started. Jex turned someone into a weapon. Now that same story's going to make you into a killer, too. Don't you see? Violence doesn't end violence, it extends it.

  [Walter hesitates] 

  The Doctor : Now I don't think you want to do this. I don't think you want to become that man.

  Walter : There's kids here.

  The Doctor : I know... who I can save if you'll let me.

  Walter : [nods toward the jailhouse]  He really worth the risk?

  The Doctor : Don't know. But you are.

  [Walter pauses a few moments, then lowers his gun, and the mob quietly disperses] 

  The Doctor : [to himself]  Frightened people. Give me a Dalek any day.

• Kahler-Jex : Kahler-Tek. Kahler-Tek.

  The Gunslinger : Jex. Coward. Where are you?

  Kahler-Jex : I'm on my ship.

  The Doctor : What are you doing? Just go!

  Kahler-Jex : Where are you from? Where on Kahler?

  The Doctor : Now? You're asking him this now?

  The Gunslinger : Gabriah.

  Kahler-Jex : I know it. It's beautiful there. When this is over, will you go back?

  The Gunslinger : How can I? I am a monster now.

  Kahler-Jex : So am I.

  The Doctor : Just go! Finish this!

  The Gunslinger : I'll find you. If I have to tear this universe apart, I will find you.

  Kahler-Jex : I don't doubt that. You'll chase me to another planet. And another race will be caught in the crossfire.

  The Gunslinger : Face me.

  Shipboard Computer : Countdown to self-destruct resumed.

  The Gunslinger : Face me!

  Kahler-Jex : No. You've killed enough. I'm ending the war for you, too.

  Shipboard Computer : Countdown to self-destruct resumed.

  The Doctor : What's going on?

  Shipboard Computer : Ten.

  The Doctor : The countdown... What's going on? Jex!

  Kahler-Jex : Thank you, Doctor. I have to face the souls of those I've wronged.

  Shipboard Computer : Five.

  Kahler-Jex : Perhaps they will be kind.

  Shipboard Computer : Three. Two. One. Zero.

  [Jex's ship explodes] 

• The Doctor : anachronistic electricity, keep-out signs, aggressive stares; has someone been peeking at my christmas list