Because nothing says “peacekeeping” like a time-traveling alien showing up in the Old West with psychic aliens and an attitude.
Short Synopsis
The Doctor and Martha land in the Wild West — tumbleweeds, saloons, six-shooters, and men who haven’t discovered the concept of soap. But instead of a relaxing cowboy fantasy, they find a town full of people acting… oddly. As in, zombie-cowboy oddly. Turns out a pair of alien weapons are whispering sweet nothings into people’s minds, turning them into violent maniacs. Naturally, it’s up to the Doctor and Martha to save the day before history rewrites itself into “How the West Was Unwound.”
Extended Storyline
When the Doctor tells Martha they’re heading for “a bit of Earth history,” she hopes for Jane Austen or maybe the moon landing. Instead, the TARDIS doors open onto a desert. The Doctor, thrilled, immediately throws on a Stetson and announces they’re in the Wild West! Martha gives him one look and mutters something about “another holiday gone wrong.”
They arrive in Redwater Creek, a dusty little town with more secrets than whiskey. The locals are twitchy, the sheriff’s half-mad, and a few townsfolk seem to have developed the alarming habit of shooting anything that moves — including, nearly, the Doctor. “Friendly place,” he remarks, ducking behind a barrel.
It doesn’t take long before he senses something alien in the air — a faint psychic hum, like someone humming “Yankee Doodle” through your skull. The cause? Two mysterious alien weapons, known as the Peacemakers — because irony is alive and well in 19th-century America. These sentient blasters crashed to Earth long ago and have been manipulating human minds ever since, promising power, protection, and the occasional hallucination.
Their energy is seeping into the town, slowly driving everyone mad with paranoia and rage. One preacher insists he’s seen the “Hand of God,” which turns out to be a glowing alien gauntlet in the desert. The local blacksmith claims to hear voices telling him to “forge the future.” The Doctor just sighs — “You give humans a talking gun, and suddenly everyone’s a philosopher.”
Martha, being the only rational person for several light-years, helps the Doctor investigate while dodging bullets and unwanted marriage proposals. Together, they trace the weapons’ origin to a long-buried alien craft. Inside, they find the Peacemakers’ true forms — not guns, but symbiotic organisms that latch onto sentient hosts, amplifying aggression and turning even the most mild-mannered cowpoke into Clint Eastwood with a migraine.
The Doctor realizes that the weapons’ power is expanding exponentially — they’ve been feeding off the town’s violent energy, creating a self-sustaining loop of anger and destruction. Unless stopped, they’ll detonate a psychic shockwave that could alter all of human history — turning the 19th century into an age of endless war. (So, basically, Twitter but with horses.)
Cue the inevitable showdown: high noon, main street, sun blazing. The Doctor faces the infected townsfolk — armed only with his sonic screwdriver and moral outrage — while Martha rides out to the alien ship to deactivate the energy core. There’s horse-riding, gunfights, explosions, and one impressively dramatic tumble into the dust.
In the end, Martha uses her medical skills to sedate the human hosts while the Doctor outsmarts the Peacemakers with a bit of clever temporal feedback, overloading their psychic field. The weapons are destroyed, the townsfolk are freed, and the sheriff gets his sanity (and moustache) back.
As the dust settles, the townspeople rebuild, finally at peace — mostly because the Doctor confiscated every last piece of alien tech before anyone could weaponize the cactus.
Back in the TARDIS, Martha eyes him warily. “You promised me a holiday.”
He grins. “You got cowboys, aliens, and a gunfight at high noon! That’s a great holiday!”
She crosses her arms. “Next time, you’re doing the laundry.”