The Gunfighters: Doctor Who: Season 3

SYNOPSIS

DETAILS

CAST & CREW

REVIEWS

Goldby

Grob

Long

Boland

The Gunfighters SYNOPSIS:

The town of Tombstone in the 19th century is where the TARDIS crew land. There the remaining Clanton brothers are seeking out Doc Holliday avenge the death of their brother Reuben. Dressed in cowboy gear the Doctor and his companions meet Marshall Wyatt Earp who offers his protection as they set up in the hotel. The Doctor visits dentist Doc Holliday himself to remove his bad tooth.

Upon leaving he is mistaken for Doc Holliday by the Clantons but his life is spared by bar singer Kate. Holliday goes into hiding while the Doctor is taken into custody by Wyatt Earp to protect him from the Clanton brothers who are now convinced he is Doc Holliday. Steven tries to break the Doctor out of jail and is nearly lynched by a rabble incited by the Clantons.

Doc Holliday and Kate plan to leave town kidnapping Dodo and Holliday kills Clanton gunslinger Seth Harper. He is soon replaced by Johnny Ringo and the Clantons kill Warren Earp while freeing their brother Phin Clanton from jail. The stage is set for the gunfight at the O.K. Corral as the Earps and Holliday swear vengeance. The Doctor can not diffuse the situation and hopes to save captives Steven and Kate before they are killed in the cross fire.

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The Gunfighters DETAILS:

Episode	Broadcast	Run Time	Viewership (In Millions)
Episode One: A Holiday for the Doctor	30-Apr-66	23:48	6.5
Episode Two: Don't Shoot the Pianist	7-May-66	23:47	6.6
Episode Three: Johnny Ringo	14-May-66	23:52	6.2
Episode Four: The OK Corral	21-May-66	23:53	5.7

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The Gunfighters CAST & CREW

Stars:
The Doctor:
William Hartnell (First Doctor)

Companions:
Peter Purves (Stephen Taylor)
Jackie Lane (Dodo Chaplet)

Guest Stars:
John Alderson — Marshal Wyatt Earp
Martyn Huntley — Warren Earp
Victor Carin — Virgil Earp
Richard Beale — Bat Masterson
Anthony Jacobs — Doc Holliday
Reed de Rouen — Pa Clanton
William Hurndall — Ike Clanton
Maurice Good — Phineas Clanton
David Cole — Billy Clanton
Sheena Marshe — Kate
Laurence Payne — Johnny Ringo
Shane Rimmer — Seth Harper
David Graham — Charlie

Production Staff for Serial Z:
Writer - Donald Cotton
Director - Rex Tucker
Script editor - Gerry Davis
Producer - Innes Lloyd

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The Gunfighters REVIEWS

Goldby

Ok so out of the actual stories in this review the below missing story episodes got higher scores. Why? Because things like the Gunfighters were PAP!! Think I sat through this just to find out how bad it actually was. It's boring but you're drawn to watch it possibly to see how stupid it could get. It's a like a car accident you can't look away. It's a D-western. Admittedly Hartnell says some funny stupid things but it's more out of senility than acting. Now nearly all of the guest actors were probably never allowed anywhere near television after this. Was going to say the two things that kept Dr. Who going during this, it's longest ever season, were the high ratings and dalekmania. By now even the high ratings had dried up (was it 4 or 5 million?) As had the set designers who try to make you believe 5 foot wide studio D is the town of Tombstone. Sorry can't stand it especially the dumb singing and dancing routine. 0/10

Grob

Seriously, the Gunfighters is actually a great story so I dunno why people are complaining about it. Its a lot more interesting that The Edge of Destruction, The Sensorites, The Reign of Terror or the Planet of Giants. Sure its a pretty hokey western but at least they are TRYING to do something different. Hey; I got maligned for some piece of crap that I directed by trying to do something different too so I know how it feels! The song sucks and who would have guessed that Dodo the Dildo could play the freaking piano and Steven the latent homosexual (think about it; he keeps a teddy bear and he sings show tunes - the guy is a shirt lifter) can do a baritone. The accents are seriously bad and some of the acting gives Martin Gibbs a run for his money but to me thats what makes it work. I have watched this a couple of times and actually laugh out loud each time. The cast and crew are actually IN on the joke here and play it appropriately. It was different, they tried it and it worked. 10/10. Besides, Lynda Barron has a great pair of fucking knockers.

REVISED3

Hope you're happy.It SHOULD be a 10 cos of the vast display of jugs-ahoy on offer. Sometimes, things like the bosom factor, will outweigh other logistics such as logic, plot, direction and character.

Long

So here's our chance to go all Grob on an episode hey Goldby!!

Was the Gunfighters Dr Who? Let's see, the Doctor gets a tooth ache so he visits a Doctor in the wild west (as you do)? Then he just watches things happen in the wild west and that's it… yep, that sounds like a sci fi show about a group of time travellers??? At least in other historical stories they have a crack at doing stuff… but they did nothing in this… they didn't even attempt to stop the amazingly bad acting going on around them!

I was amazed when I saw that this was only 4 parts… it felt like another 8 part marathon! Other than the Doctor going to the dentist, I don't think there was any story other than existing tales from the west… that's just boring… you can get that watching existing tales from the west - why recreate it in Dr Who without having any spin on it at all…

I remember watching this for the first time about 10 years ago on the first UKTV run with my Dad - he couldn't believe how bad it was either… and this was his favourite show as a kid!!

There was one good thing that this episode spawned. Richard Hurndall. At least he went on to give a better performance of William Hartnell than William Hartnell ever did!

Worst.Story.Ever

0/10

Boland

The Gunfighters: Yeee Haw! What can be said about this gun-toting ripper of a Hartnell? Well let’s see. There are some brilliantly funny scenes in this. Especially episode one in the dentist surgery (although a little worried about all the whiskey swigging, not very G rated). Stephen Regret and Dodo Dupont? Woo-hoo! Yes sir. That wonderful song. Not once, not twice but 72,912 times in four episodes. Even Stephen and Dodo get to perform it – who would have thought Dodo could play the piana like that!? Then Stephen has a turn and is just as good. They shouldn’t have wasted their time flying through time and space with the Doctor, they could have had their own long-running cabaret act in Vegas! Then Celine Dion could kiss their ass! Es. That dude playing Wyatt Earp is great! But not as hilarious as Hartnell’s ‘Mr Werp!’ Hartnell is brilliant in this, plays ‘doddering old man’ so perfectly you wouldn’t even know he was acting. Well...

Okay I seriously love the gunfighters. And quite frankly people who hate it and then say well ‘The Keys of Marinus’ isn’t too bad should be removed from the planet. Okay some of the accents a poor (the Clantons principally) and the song is overused ever so slightly, but it’s all good fun. Eps two and three drag a little, but it positively races along compared to many Hartnell’s. Celestial Toymaker, The Chase, The Web Planet, The Ark, The Space Museum and the list rolls on and on. Sets aren’t bad either. So anyways, this story won me over.

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