🎶 Till there's blood upon the sawdust, 🎶

🎶 In The Last Chance Saloon. 🎶

Tell me, what do you consider your review Achilles’ heel? What’s that guilty pleasure you can’t help but love, no matter what?

And don’t hit me with “Oh I love it when a character is deep” or “I love a story with loads of worldbuilding”. Of course you do! So do I! But what superficial aspect of a show immediately makes it ten times better for you? We all have that somewhere deep inside!

Maybe you like body swap stories. Or stories with pirates in them. Maybe you specifically love stories that have aliens with three eyes! It doesn’t have to make sense, it’s just something that brings a smile on your face as soon as it appears! Enjoyment on a base level.

Mine? Well, as you might have guessed by now. I absolutely love comedic westerns. Stories about cowboys on the prairie, livin’ the tough life day by day, while still taking the time to make you giggle.

So yes, as soon as we hit the first shot of the episode, it was almost a given that I was going to love this.

The party lands in a small western town called Tombstone, where they disguise themselves as a travelling group of musicians. After some early exploration, trouble starts brewing when the Doctor gets mistaken for a local criminal. Steven and Dodo are quickly held hostage. While the people are preparing to shoot the Doctor down.

That might sound pretty dark if you don’t know the context, but don’t get it twisted. This is a comedic historical, like “The Romans” from last season. Yes, Steven and Dodo are hostages, but while they’re being held, they have to sing songs to survive. The Doctor meets with the people that want to shoot him, but he thinks they invited him for a glass of milk. Sure, it isn’t all fun and games. People get shot throughout the story, but that’s’ standard fare for a western. It makes sure to keep its comedic tone front and center.

When I reviewed “The Romans”, I noted how I didn’t like the hard shifts between the funny moments and the serious moments. While the Doctor and Vicki were having the time of their life, Ian and Barbara were fighting for their life. It felt jarring to me. This story sidesteps that issue by having a consistent tone throughout.

One particular element of that tone stands out, and is apparently quite notorious. At times, a song will play called “The Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon”. Sometimes this is just to randomly set the mood, sometimes it narrates what happens on screen. Many people seem to hate the song and say that it appears to often. And yes, it does pop up pretty frequently. But you should probably keep in mind that these episodes were never made to be binged. The original release had a week between every 20 minutes. If you remember that context, it really isn’t overbearing.

The show also clearly has fun with the song. Adding special verses for deaths and letting Steven in on the action by having him sing a few verses at gunpoint. And since the show is having fun, I’m having fun.

Character wise, the story is also pretty fun. The one-off cast is well presented and memorable. Special highlights include Doc Holliday, the criminal who the Doctor is mistaken for, And Johnny Ringo, the intimidating criminal sent to hunt Holliday down. Both parts have a lot of fun. Holliday has some fun moments, like when he’s held at gunpoint by Dodo or extracting the Doctor’s tooth. Ringo, on the other hand, only has one strong moment. Luckily, it is really strong. In one conversation with the bartender, he is immediately a well-established, hardened criminal.

Our main cast also get plenty. Dodo and Steven immediately get absorbed in the setting, which leads to fun moments, like the aforementioned singing under gunpoint.

Steven’s role in the episode varies a lot, but it is mostly hostage situations. They are mostly played for comedy. There’s no real deeper moments, but that’s okay every now and again. He’s still clearly himself.

Dodo also gets what I consider to be her first memorable moment. As she very idiotically pulls a gun on Doctor Holliday. He plays it straight however, which is kind of sweet in a weird way. He completely indulges in her “victorious gunslinging” like a dad that just got hit in the imagination of a child. It’s funny, kind of sweet, and fits Dodo’s character as an oblivious young girl.

The Doctor mostly gets tugged along this episode. He has absolutely no idea what is actually going on, but he is enjoying the ride. Whether it’s being “invited for a glass of milk” or getting his tooth pulled, he is just rolling with the punches in a light and comedic way. The façade of a bitter old man completely fading. It’s great to see.

Am I being biased towards this story? Absolutely. I really tried my best, too. I looked at some of the critiques for these episodes, but I just can’t see them. I love the song and never found it grating. I am not English, so the problems with fake accents were mostly unnoticeable to me. I never found it pantomime, superficial or unfunny, either.  I couldn’t identify any real flaws, but just had a great time.

And that’s what the story is for me: a great time. A fun side cast, loads of funny and memorable moments, our main cast in new situations and a setting that is well put together. It does not really add to a larger narrative, but it really doesn’t have to. It’s just… Fun. And sometimes, that’s all you need.