I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while. It’s a story with a mixed reputation but I’m a massive Western fan… Doctor Who at the O.K. Corral… What could possibly go wrong?
The biggest problem from the off is the accents. They’re bloody awful. But once you actually get your ears around them, you do get used to them. The story introduces the Clantons, the Earps and, of course, Doc Holliday and it’s the first Doctor Who to have a really musical tone to it. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a musical just yet but “The Last Chance Saloon” adds to the ambience.
Steven and Dodo are completely out of their depth and the Doctor is in pain from a toothache. Together they provide quite a few comic moments in episode 1 and the sight of Hartnell in a cowboy hat is somehow delightful. The episode ends on a musical note and what has to be one of my favourite cliffhangers of all time – not because of the cliffhanger itself but the way in which it was handled – the piano playing and the song singing…
A lot of the story revolves around a classic case of mistaken identity – Our Doctor for Doc Holliday. I’m not going to recite the rest of the story because, in fairness, it’s a fairly standard running of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. But for me it’s a perfectly timed story. As a Western fan I ended up sitting and watching the 4 episodes in one go – this is a story that would work as a movie and the old rule about Doctor Who not being as good when you watch too many episodes together really doesn’t apply to it.
The ultimate gunfight is a bit of a disappointment at first but I think that’s a matter of initial poor choreography and it soon settles down into a decent 60’s Western gunfight. There is a high body count towards the end and brutal scenes, very brutal as not only do men die they are seen shot at close range when already wounded. I guess that’s not unrealistic but it’s still a very bloody ending for a kids’ show.
I’m sure I’ve watched this before but many, many years ago. I couldn’t remember anything about it. I think I enjoyed this as a whole story more than any other I’ve seen since this marathon began and it’s without doubt one I want to watch again. Yes, it has a few dodgy lines and the accents flail around the place a bit but it’s a decent Western and a very good Who story to boot.
The biggest problem from the off is the accents. They’re bloody awful. But once you actually get your ears around them, you do get used to them. The story introduces the Clantons, the Earps and, of course, Doc Holliday and it’s the first Doctor Who to have a really musical tone to it. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a musical just yet but “The Last Chance Saloon” adds to the ambience.
Steven and Dodo are completely out of their depth and the Doctor is in pain from a toothache. Together they provide quite a few comic moments in episode 1 and the sight of Hartnell in a cowboy hat is somehow delightful. The episode ends on a musical note and what has to be one of my favourite cliffhangers of all time – not because of the cliffhanger itself but the way in which it was handled – the piano playing and the song singing…
A lot of the story revolves around a classic case of mistaken identity – Our Doctor for Doc Holliday. I’m not going to recite the rest of the story because, in fairness, it’s a fairly standard running of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. But for me it’s a perfectly timed story. As a Western fan I ended up sitting and watching the 4 episodes in one go – this is a story that would work as a movie and the old rule about Doctor Who not being as good when you watch too many episodes together really doesn’t apply to it.
The ultimate gunfight is a bit of a disappointment at first but I think that’s a matter of initial poor choreography and it soon settles down into a decent 60’s Western gunfight. There is a high body count towards the end and brutal scenes, very brutal as not only do men die they are seen shot at close range when already wounded. I guess that’s not unrealistic but it’s still a very bloody ending for a kids’ show.
I’m sure I’ve watched this before but many, many years ago. I couldn’t remember anything about it. I think I enjoyed this as a whole story more than any other I’ve seen since this marathon began and it’s without doubt one I want to watch again. Yes, it has a few dodgy lines and the accents flail around the place a bit but it’s a decent Western and a very good Who story to boot.