Bagpuss rag doll called Madeleine. The wooden woodpecker bookend became the drily academic Professor Yaffle (based on the philosopher Bertrand Russell, whom Postgate had once met), while the mice carved on the side of the "mouse organ" (a small mechanical pipe organ that played rolls of music) woke up and scurried around, singing in high-pitched voices. Sandra Kerr and John Faulkner provided the voices of Madeleine and Gabriel respectively, and put together and performed all the folk songs. All the other voices (including the narrator and one out-of-tune mouse) were provided by Postgate, who also wrote the stories. The toys discussed
A Town Called Mercy great drawl", and Adrian Scarborough, who he said "steals the whole episode". Browder was offered the role and gladly accepted; he was aware of the show as his children had watched it, and he also wanted to do a western. Whithouse was "thrilled" with Browder's performance, as it was how he imagined the character. "A Town Called Mercy" and the previous episode, "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship", were the first episodes to be produced for the seventh series, and both were directed by Saul Metzstein. The two episodes are Metzstein's first "Doctor Who" credits. Much of the episode was filmed around