The Gunfighters

"You can't walk into the middle of a western town and say you're from outer space!"

Writer: Donald Cotton

Format: TV

Broadcast: 30th April - 21st May 1966

Season: 3.08

Featuring: First Doctor, Steven, Dodo 

Synopsis 

Arriving in the town of Tombstone, the Doctor, Steven and Dodo find themselves involved with the gunmen out to kill Doc Holliday...

Verdict 

Ahh so I've come to The Gunfighters. My least favourite classic serial ever and after this viewing my opinion has not changed. For the majority of the story it was pretty boring. The plot isn't disastrous and actually kind of works well but it just didn't entertain me at all. I didn't like the follow on from the ending of The Celestial Toymaker with the deadly thought of the Doctor suffering from the sweet from the Toymaker's domain but in fact it was just toothace. Ridiculous. The fact that the Doctor had no means of relieving the pain of toothache was something that I refused to believe was true! I think, or at least I've convinced myself, that it was the curiosity of the Time Lord to explore is why we got to see scenes outside of the TARDIS. The setting was dire. I really don't see the appeal of the Wild West. Cowboys and violence and no abidance to law? What's so good about that? I think the Wild West  is a big reason why I so disliked this story along with Back to the Future III. The guest cast were actually very good and I really liked Doc Holliday. A saviour of some sorts. The Clanton brothers were not favourites of mine but then I did like Charley the barman. The cliffhangers were really mixed with episode two's making up for the poor endings of episodes one and three. Overall, this serial was difficult to get through after the halfway point. The first two parts were okay with some humour and kind of decent outlays of a plot. The song did my head in. 'The ballad of the last chance saloon' is a song I never ever want to hear again! It drove me nuts throughout the serial and it was used way too much. There's overkill and then there's what occurred here. For every brief interval or major scene location change, the song was played! I think we knew what was happening and didn't need a terrible song's lyrics telling us. Johnny Ringo wasn't the best historical figure ever to have. For the first American set Doctor Who story I think there's plenty of better figures to base a story around, and even name after, than Johnny Ringo. The 'Doctor Who' name reference throw in was a brilliant few seconds. Effortlessly and subtly ignored yet referenced by the Doctor. I thought Steven was pretty poor in this serial which was a let down as he's been very good since entering the fray in The Chase. A changing accent and being pretty useless. However, Dodo was again very good here! I really liked how she stood up for herself against Doc Holliday and threatened him at gunpoint to return her to Tombstone. The sheriff was good but again, the plot just didn't work for me. It all lead to an anti climax with a poor gunfight ending that should have been more action packed and dramatic. The hasty departure of the Doctor and co just showed that this serial wasn't great at all. The low viewing figures and audience appreciation scores don't lie. A big let down sadly. I now look very forward to what I hope is a big improvement with The Savages which was lead into very intriguingly and not too dissimilar to the very first cliffhanger, way back in An Unearthly Child. It has to be better than this serial, which I feel I have awarded generously too. 

Rating: 5/10