So bad it's almost good

The title of this set of Episodes should be "Carry On Clantons".

Yes, this is the worst Dr. Who episode ever. That makes it an absolute must-have for serious Dr. Who collectors. The entire episode is played for laughs, and probably seems funnier to a British viewer than to an American. Listen closely to the lyrics of the background ballad - it's a "bang on" parody of 50's America western background ballads (think "High Noon" or "Gunfight at the OK Corral"). The cowboys with British accents are hilarious.

ON the downside, there is very little actual conflict or suspense in the story line, and too many of the jokes are predictable or downright lame, at least to an American sense of humor. But for the Dr. Who enthusiast, it's worth at least one viewing.

A holiday for the Doctor, or should that be Holliday?

"So fill up your glasses/And join in the song/The Law's right behind you/And it won't take long./So come, you coyotes,/And howl at the moon/Till there's blood upon the sawdust/In "The Last Chance" Saloon."

From 25-26 October, 1881, in Tombstone, Arizona, that's what the Doctor, Dodo, and Steven take-kind of. Once they find out where they are, the Doctor's two companions are delighted and get geared up. Steven has always wanted to be a cowboy, but has a loud white shirt that really begs for the fashion police to arrest him. Dodo's white shirt and long brown skirt are sensible yet stylish.

The three take aliases, Dr. Caligari, Steven Regret, a singer, and Dodo Dupont, a piano player. Steven hates his alias, only to be remonstrated by the Doctor. "Tell them you're from outer space and you'll be arrested on a vagrancy charge." Dodo does get into the spirit of the scene more. When asked by Charlie the bartender if she's a piano player, she says, "Darn tootin'" in an American accent. She does play some tunes at the Last Chance Saloon, and Steven does sing the giddy title ballad, whose verses are sung throughout the story by Lynda Baron. Examples: "It's your last chance of boozin'/where there's no one to find/it's your last chance of losin'/and the first place you find/it's your last chance of earning/your gunfighter's fee/the pay is in dollars/but the bullets are free." or "So pick him up gentle/and carry him so/he's gone kind of mental, from Earp's heavy blow."

The Doctor has a toothache and guess who the local dentist happens to be? Doc Holliday, and it's the latter's machinations, such as ostensibly loaning the Doctor his gun, marked personally, to make him more spiffy that causes a case of mistaken identity, as the Clanton Brothers think the Time Lord is Doc Holliday. As Doc had recently killed their brother Reuben, they're out to even the score. "Good thing I didn't have my tonsils out," the Doctor mutters as he leaves the surgery. That's the least of his troubles, as this case of mistaken identity leads to Wyatt Earp arresting the Doctor and keeping him in jail to protect him from the Clantons. More than that, Pa Clanton hires the deadly and menacing Johnny Ringo, ace gunfighter, who too has a score to settle with Holliday, and was also the former sweetheart of Holliday's wife, Kate Elder.

The Doctor is annoyed at Earp and Bat Masterson, and wants to get out of here, but the two lawmen are actually instrumental in keeping him alive, particularly from a lynching from the townfolk. John Alderson (Earp) and Richard Beale (Masterson) do great performances, BTW.

And at least Jackie Lane (Dodo) seems to be enjoying herself. Sheena Marshe plays Kate Elder as a brassy Mae West-ish manner, but Anthony Jacbos as Doc Holliday is a delight, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, a big difference from that of Victor Mature. Laurence Payne (Ringo) came out in two Who stories, in The Leisure Hive as Morix and The Two Doctors as Dastari.

Clearly, the historicity of this is based more on popular myth and the Hollywood treatment Tombstone has been given. For example, Johnny Ringo survived the OK Corral, as he died on 14 July 1882. Because the viewer ratings on this were so low (at that time in the show's history, anyway), writer Donald Cotton's association with Doctor Who came to a quick end--he was never commissioned to write anything again. But other stories have had worse ratings, and this one, mostly played for laughs, is a novelty tale, so thank you, Donald Cotton. Some of the American accents are questionable, but it's all done in fun.

"So beware all you cowboys/Who's a-yearning' to sin/If the Earps is the lawmen/You ain't gonna win."

Yes indeed...Five Stars!

The FIRST reviewer of this item has got it right! The SECOND reviewer is not so much being objective as he is falling into the trap of letting the overall judgment of the worldwide fanbase do his own thinking for him!

This is not the best Doctor Who story, and some say it's the worst. I know all about that! But Doctor Who, even at its worst, is still better than any other show out there!

For that reason alone, it needs to be ranked at five stars!

And Doctor Who has many styles. This one is purely humorous, and the poor accents, bad singing, etc, only add to that. You wouldn't expect to see truly dramatic performances in a comedy, would you?!

Think about it this way. Sunmakers is to Genesis of the Daleks as Gunfighters is to Dalek Invasion of Earth. Both are excellent, five star stories, even though Sunmakers and Gunfighters don't take themselves seriously!

So...FIVE STARS...FIVE STARS...FIVE STARS...