When I was a child, my favorite story was about a man who lived forever, but whose eyes were heavy with the weight of all he had seen. A man who fell from the stars.
Kahler-Mas (Dominic Kemp): I knew you’d find me eventually.
The Gunslinger (Andrew Brooke): Make peace with your gods.
Kahler-Mas: Once they were your gods too.
The Gunslinger: Not anymore.
Kahler-Mas: Am I the last one?
The Gunslinger: There’s one more. The Doctor.
The Doctor: Mercy. 81 residents.
Amy: Look at this. It’s a load of stone and lumps of wood. {The Doctor scans it} What is it?
The Doctor: A load of stone and lumps of wood.
Rory: Ah, the sign does say “Keep Out.”
The Doctor: I see keep out signs as suggestions more than actual orders. Like “dry clean only.”
The Doctor: That’s not right.
Rory: It’s a street lamp.
The Doctor: An electric about ten years too early.
Rory: That’s only a few years out.
The Doctor: That’s what you said when you left your phone charger in Henry VIII’s own suite.
Amy: Um, Doctor—
The Doctor tickled: Anachronistic electricity. Keep Out signs. Aggressive stares. Has someone been peeking at my Christmas list?
The Doctor: Tea. But the strong stuff. Leave the bag in.
Sadie (Joanne McQuinn): Whatcha doin’ here, son?
The Doctor: “Son”? Ha! You can stay.
The Preacher (Byrd Wilkins): Sir, might I inquire who you is?
The Doctor: Of course, I’m the Doctor. This is— {everyone stands} No need to stand. {to Rory and Amy} You see that? Manners. {the undertaker starts measuring him} Oh! Thank you. But I don’t need a new suit.
Undertaker: I’m the undertaker, sir.
Abraham (Garrick Hagon): I got a question. Is you an alien?
The Doctor: Well, um. Bit personal. It’s all relative, isn’t it? I mean, I think you’re the aliens. But in this context, yes. Yes, I suppose I am.
The Preacher: He’s coming. Oh god, he’s coming!
Abraham: Preacher, say something.
The Preacher: Our Father, who art in Heaven. Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.
Isaac (Ben Browder) firing a shot: You! Bow tie! Get back across that line. Now.
Abraham: Isaac. He said he was a doctor. An alien doctor.
Isaac: No reason to hand him to his death.
Abraham: But Isaac, it could be him!
Isaac: You know it ain’t. {walking off} Ma’am.
The Doctor: What was that outside?
Isaac: The Gunslinger. Showed up three weeks back. We’ve been prisoners ever since. See that borderline stretchin’ ’round the town? Woke up one morning, there it was. Nothing gets past it in or out. No supply wagons, no reinforcements. Pretty soon the whole town’s gonna starve to death.
Rory: But, you let us in.
Isaac: You ain’t carryin’ any food. Just more mouths to feed. We’ll all die even sooner now.
The Doctor: What happens if someone crosses the line? {Isaac tosses him a hat} Ah. Well. He wasn’t a very good shot then.
Isaac: He was aiming for the hat.
The Doctor: He shoots people’s hats?
Amy: I think it was a warning shot.
The Doctor: Ah. No. Yes. I see. Hm.
Amy: What does he want? Has he issued some kind of demand?
Isaac: Says he wants us to give him the alien doctor.
Amy: But that’s you? Why would he want to kill you? Unless he’s met you.
Rory: And how could he know we’d be here? {whispering} We didn’t even know we’d be here.
Amy: We were aiming for Mexico. The Doctor was taking us to see the Day of the Dead Festival.
Isaac: Mexico’s two hundred miles due south.
Well that’s what happens when people get toast crumbs on the console!
The Doctor: Anyway, I think it’s about time I met him, don’t you?
Isaac: Who?
The Doctor: The chap outside said I could be the alien doctor, but you said I wasn’t. So you already know who it is. Two alien doctors! We’re like buses. Resident 81, I presume. So beloved by the townsfolk he warranted an alteration to the sign. Probably because he rigged up these electrics. And I’m guessing he’s in here, because if half the town suddenly wanted to throw me to my death, this is where I’d want to be.
Isaac: I don’t know what you—
Kahler-Jex (Adrian Scarborough): It’s alright, Isaac. I think the time for subterfuge has passed. Good afternoon. My name is Kahler-Jex. I’m the doctor.
The Doctor: The Kahler! I love the Kahler! They’re one of the most ingenious races in the galaxy. Seriously, they could build a spaceship out of Tupperware and moss.
The Doctor: So why does the Gunslinger want you?
Isaac: It don’t matter.
The Doctor: I’m just saying, if we knew that—
Isaac: America’s the land of second chances. We called this town Mercy for a reason. Although there’s some around here don’t feel that way.
Isaac: War only ended five years back. That old violence is still under the surface. We give up Doc Jex, then we’re handing the keys to the town over to chaos.
The Doctor: We evacuate the town. Our ship’s just over the hills. Room for everyone. I’ll pop out, bring it back here. Robert’s your uncle!
Amy: Really? Simple as that? No crazy schemes, no negotiations?
The Doctor: I’ve matured. I’m twelve hundred years old now. Plus I don’t want to miss The Archers.
Amy: Oh. So you’re not even a tiny bit curious?
The Doctor: Why would I be curious? It’s a mysterious space cowboy assassin. Curious, of course i’m not curious.
Isaac: Son, you still gotta get past The Gunslinger. How you gonna do that?
The Doctor: With a little sleight-of-hand.
The Doctor: Can I borrow your horse please? It’s official marshall 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.
Amy: When this is all done, do you want us to take us home?
Kahler-Jex: Thank you, but I’ve already given everything I have to the Kahler. My skills, my energy. All that was good in me. And here, I could start afresh. I could remember myself and help people. That’s all I ever wanted to do. End suffering.
Kahler-Jex: You’re a mother, aren’t you?
Amy: How did you know?
Kahler-Jex: There’s kindness in your eyes. And sadness. But a ferocity too.
Amy: Well mine wasn’t exactly straightforward.
Kahler-Jex: It seldom is.
Amy: And what about you? Are you a father?
Kahler-Jex: Yes. In a way I suppose I am.
Isaac: We wait here until the Doctor comes to pick us up in your ship.
Rory: Yes. I know. I was there when we agreed it.
Isaac: Yeah. I said that more for my benefit than yours.
The Doctor: Two ticks. There’s something niggling me. {Susan whinnies} Yes, yes it could be important. Oy! Don’t swear!
The Doctor: Yes. I wear a stetson now. {surveying the ship} Yes, good point Susan! Where is the damage?
Kahler-Jex: That’s the alarm on my ship.
Amy: Maybe the Doctor wants to get it working again.
Kahler-Jex: But that wasn’t the plan. He’s not following the plan.
Amy: Welcome to my world.
Abaraxas Security: Security Breach. You have ten seconds to enter the passcode or this vehicle will self destruct. Thank you for choosing Abaraxas security software. Incinerating intruders for three centuries.
The Doctor: This is an awful lot of security for a tetchy spacecraft.
The Doctor: I know who you are. And who Jex is too. Now, what I don’t understand is why you haven’t just walked into town and killed him.
The Gunslinger: People will get in the way.
The Doctor: Look, you want justice, you deserve justice. But this isn’t the way. We can put him on trial, we can—
The Gunslinger: When he starts killing your people, you can use your justice.
The Gunslinger: No more warning shots. I’ll kill the next person to step over that line. Make sure it’s Jex.
Kahler-Jex: It was stupid of me. I realize that now. I just thought I’d put you all in enough danger. Perhaps if I left.
The Doctor: He’s lying. Every word. Everything he says. It’s all lies. This man is a murderer.
Kahler-Jex: I am a scientist!
The Doctor: Sit down. Sit down! Tell them what you are.
Kahler-Jex: What am I? A war hero.
Isaac: Okay, somebody want to tell me what is going on?
The Doctor: The Gunslinger is a cyborg.
Isaac: A what?
The Doctor: Half-man, half-machine. A weapon. Jex built it. He and his team took volunteers, told them they’d been selected for special training, then experimented on them. Fused their bodies with weaponry and programmed them to kill.
Isaac: Okay. Why? Why would you do that, Doc?
Kahler-Jex: We’d been at war for nine years. A war that had already decimated half of our planet. Our task was to bring peace. And we did. We built an army that routed the enemy and ended the war in less than a week. Do you want me to repent? To beg forgiveness for saving millions of lives?
The Doctor: And how many died screaming on the operating table before you had found your advantage!
Kahler-Jex: War is another world. You cannot apply the politics of peace to what I did. To what any of us did.
Rory: But what happened then? How come you’re here?
Kahler-Jex: When the war ended we had the cyborgs decommissioned. One of them must have got its circuitry damaged in battle. It went offline and began hunting down the team that created it until just two of us were left. We fled. And our ships crashed here.
Rory: So. What do we do with Jex?
Isaac: What do we do with him?
Rory: Yeah. I mean he’s a war criminal.
Isaac: No, he’s the guy that saved the town from cholera. The guy that gave us heat and light.
Amy: Look, Jex may be a criminal, and yeah, kinda creepy—
Kahler-Jex: And still in the room.
Amy: —but I think we should put aside what he did and find another solution.
Another solution? It’s him or us.
Amy: When did we start letting people get executed? Did I miss a memo?
Kahler-Jex: Looking at you, Doctor, is like looking into a mirror almost. There’s rage there, like me. Guilt there, like me. Solitude. Everything but the nerve to do what needs to be done. Thank the gods my people weren’t relying on you to save them!
The Doctor: No! No! But these people are! Out! Out!
Amy: Oh, you’re really letting him do this?
Rory: Save us all? Yeah. I am.
Kahler-Jex: You wouldn’t.
The Doctor: I genuinely don’t know.
Amy: Let him come back, Doctor.
The Doctor: Or what? You won’t shoot me, Amy.
Amy: How do you know? Maybe I’ve changed. I mean you’ve clearly been taking stupid lessons since I saw you last.
Isaac: Everyone who isn’t an American, drop your gun.
The Doctor: We could end this right now. We could save everyone right now!
Amy: This is not how we roll, and you know it. What’s happened to you, Doctor? When did killing someone become an option?
The Doctor: Jex has to answer for his crimes.
Amy: 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? Every time I negotiate, I try to understand. Well not today. No, today I honor the victims first. His, The Master’s, the Daleks’. All the people that died because of my mercy!
Amy: 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: Amelia Pond. Fine. Fine! We think of something else. But frankly, I’m betting on the Gunslinger.
Isaac: Listen to me, you gotta stay. You gotta look after everyone.
The Doctor: It won’t come to that, Isaac.
Isaac: Protect Jex. Protect my town. You’re both good men. You just forget it sometimes.
The Doctor: This has gone on long enough.
The Gunslinger: You are right. You’ve got until noon tomorrow. Give him to me. Or I’ll kill you all.
Preacher: Marshall. Ma’am… Fellah.
The Doctor: What’s going on?
Abraham: He in there? Leave the keys and take a walk. Time you get back, this’ll be all done.
The Doctor: I promised Isaac I’d protect him.
Abraham: Protecting him got Isaac dead. Tomorrow it’s gonna get us all dead.
The Doctor: Please don’t do this.
Abraham: Why? Reckon you’re quicker than me?
The Doctor: Almost certainly not. But this? Lynch mobs. A town turning against itself. This is everything Isaac didn’t want.
The Doctor: Don’t you see? Violence doesn’t end violence. It extends it. And I don’t think you want to do this. I don’t think you want to become that man.
Abraham: There’s kids here.
The Doctor: I know. Who I can save if you’ll let me.
Abraham: He really worth the risk?
The Doctor: Don’t know. But you are.
The Doctor: Frightened people. Give me a Dalek any day.
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.
Kahler-Jex: 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 choose this for 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.
The Doctor: “We all carry our prisons with us”. Ha.
The Doctor: Go! Just go! I can’t save them while you’re here.
The Gunslinger: Where is he?
The Doctor: He’s gone.
The Gunslinger: Where?! Answer me!
The Doctor: Away from here. Look up. Any second now you’ll see the vapor trail of his ship. This is their home! Not the backdrop for your revenge.
Kahler-Jex: Where are you from? Where on Kahler?
The Doctor: Now? You’re asking him this now!?
The Gunslinger: Gabrion.
Kahler-Jex: I know it. It’s beautiful there. When this is over, will you go back?
The Gunslinger: How can I? I’m a monster now!
Kahler-Jex: So am I.
The Doctor: Just go! Finish this!
The Gunslinger: I will 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: Then face me!
The Gunslinger: Face me!
Kahler-Jex: No. You’ve killed enough. I’m ending the war for you too.
Kahler-Jex: Thank you Doctor. I have to face the souls of those I’ve wronged. Perhaps they will be kind.
The Gunslinger: He behaved with honor at the end. Maybe more than me.
The Doctor: We could take you back to your world. You could help with the reconstruction.
The Gunslinger: I will walk into the desert and self-destruct. I’m a creature of war. I have no role to play during peace.
The Doctor: Except maybe to protect it.
The Doctor: Okay, so! Our next trip. Oo! You know all the monkeys and dogs they sent into space in the ’50s and ’60s? You will never guess what happened to them.
Amy: Um, can we leave it awhile? Our friends are going to start noticing that we’re aging faster than them.
The Doctor: Another time? No worries.
By the time the Gunslinger arrived, the people of Mercy were used to the strange and impossible. Where he came from didn’t matter. As a man once said, “America is a land of second chances.” Do I believe the story? I don’t know. My great grandmother must have been a little girl when he arrived. But next time you’re in Mercy, ask someone why they don’t have a marshall or sheriff, or policeman there. “We got our own arrangement” they’ll say. Then they’ll smile like they got a secret. Like they got their own angel watching out for them Their very own angel who fell from the stars.