The Gunfighters

"We're in a Western!"

Writer: Donald Cotton

Format: Novel

Released: January 1986

Series: Target 101

Featuring: First Doctor, Steven, Dodo

Synopsis 

Back in the gun-totin', hard-hittin', fast-shootin' days of the Old Wild West, when outlaws ruled the land the good guys stayed off the streets, a troupe of travelling players – Miss Dodo Dupont, Steven Regret and the mysterious Doctor Calgari – moseyed into the town of Tombstone one October afternoon. 

Their method of transportation was a mite peculiar though. After all, a police box materialising out of thin air sure ain't the usual way to enter a sedate town like Tombstone...

And when the Doctor and his pardners meet up with Wyatt Earp and the notorious Clanton brothers, they soon find out that the scene is all set for high noon at the O.K. Corral...

Verdict

The Gunfighters is just not the best story is it. I stand by my statement that this adventure is the worst in all of Doctor Who on screen and unfortunately the novelisation just isn’t any better. I don’t even know what to say about it as a whole as it just has too many elements that I dislike. The Wild West is not a setting that I’ve ever understood the appeal of and it just doesn’t seem right for Doctor Who. The whole basis of the Doctor needing a dentist is just barmy and pretty ludicrous. Surely there could be a better way to bring the TARDIS to the Wild West than that? Doc Holliday is a decent character but I’m not a fan of the way he treated Kate in the slightest. She’s not presented in the best way but regardless, he’s not really likeable. I’m not a fan of him ending up on the same side as the Doctor when he tried to have him killed in his place! The Doctor doesn’t come across as the most intelligent which is so alien to everything we know about the character. I know it does make sense from a moral perspective that he’s awful at firing a gun,  but surely the skill would be there for him? And the fact he doesn’t catch on to what Holliday is setting up for when borrowing his gun is almost unforgivable. One thing I am grateful for in the book is that the absolutely horrific ballad isn’t overdone. It felt like that never stopped on screen but thankfully it was only presented in full once and pretty early on. It’s good to get some personality from Dodo in the story as she reveals in meeting the characters from the Wild West and even offers herself and Steven up to perform after the Doctor adorned them with fake titles in the performing arts. That was fun stuff. That’s where the fun stopped though. I was not a fan at all of the format of the book with the mix between first and third person. It was confusing and didn’t flow well, and that element wasn’t aided by the incredibly short chapter lengths. Having the first person being told by Holliday to Nev Buntline was just odd and simply didn’t work with Holliday being referred to by name in a number of instances! It didn’t help matters. I’ll be honest I did think at times that this may go down as the first Target I would potentially not finish, but alas I persisted and finished it within a day. It wasn’t easy though! I’m surprised I rated it as high as I did to be honest which really does show my thoughts on the story. Steven really doesn’t get much of an opportunity to do anything good and he only really becomes useful when he’s nearly hanged! That’s a threat that’s pretty dark. Wyatt Earp was a good character and I enjoyed his position as the sheriff. Johnny Ringo was definitely the standout though and things picked up positively once he arrived. If only he’d been there earlier! I liked the threat he provided and the brutality in which he killed the barman was fantastic. Holliday killing him was done well also but I felt the lead up to the Battle of the OK Corral was leading nowhere and it was somehow lacking in meaningful action. I thought it was hilarious for the narration to make mention of the coincidences and just the stuff that didn’t make sense in the story. That was fun as I just dislike this adventure so much! I must say that writing this blog entry in itself has been a slog and I’m really not sure anything else needs saying! Overall, probably the worst Target I’ve read so far which is a shame. I was so hoping it would be an improvement on the televised serial. 

Rating: 4/10