What a piece of work is a man lines written by Montaigne: However, rather than being a direct influence on Shakespeare, Montaigne may have merely been reacting to the same general atmosphere of the time, making the source of these lines one of context rather than direct influence. What a piece of work is a man "What a piece of work is man!" is a phrase within a soliloquy by Prince Hamlet in William Shakespeare's play of the same name. Hamlet is reflecting, at first admiringly, and then despairingly, on the human condition. The soliloquy, spoken in the play by Prince Hamlet to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Act
A Town Called Mercy called the Gunslinger. However, the Gunslinger is a product of experiments by Jex to win a civil war on his planet, and the Doctor is unsure of what is the right thing to do. Showrunner Steven Moffat pitched the Wild West theme to Whithouse when thinking of ways to give each episode a distinct theme. Whithouse further developed the theme, including classic Western tropes and a sympathetic villain. "A Town Called Mercy" and the previous episode "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" were the first to enter production for the seventh series. Much of the episode was filmed in March 2012 in