Serial Z, in four parts:
- A Holiday for the Doctor - 4/30/66, 6.5m viewers
- Don't Shoot the Pianist - 5/7/66, 6.6m
- Johnny Ringo - 5/14/66, 6.2m
- The OK Corral - 5/21/66, 5.7m
Sound Bytes:
"In my view it was a very sad serial despite the fact it was quite well acted and certainly well shot. The trouble was that the entire attack was misconceived. Somehow or other Dr. Who audiences, as proven from many past successes, always want to believe in the particular life-or-death situation that Dr. Who and his companions find themselves in. The mickey-taking aspects of this one alienated all except the most sophisticated -- and I'm not even sure about the latter." - Sydney Newman, BBC Head of Drama, from a memo dated 5/23/66.
"This story, in short, should never have been made, and will forever remain a true embarrassment to Doctor Who." - Ian Levine, super-fan and critic, quoted in A Voyage Through 25 Years of Doctor Who (1988)
Comments:
I had been a Doctor Who fan for about twenty years before I got around to watching The Gunfighters. Why did it take me so long? Because other fans kept telling me that this serial was the absolute nadir of Doctor Who, and I didn't think I was missing anything. My negative impression of The Gunfighters was confirmed when it placed among the bottom ten Doctor Who serials in a broad survey of fan opinion published in Doctor Who Magazine 265 (June 1998).
So, when I finally did watch The Gunfighters, I was surprised -- stunned -- bowled over (take your pick) to discover that it's actually a sly, witty, well-produced comedy.
That's right, it's a comedy. When fans bomb it, they often appear to be reviewing a drama. They complain about the serial's silly American accents, and historical inaccuracies, and unconvincing studio sets, seemingly oblivious to the fact that writer Donald Cotton intended it to be goofy. This is a spoof of westerns, folks, not a sincere attempt to recreate the Earp-Clanton feud on the same big-budget scale as the movie Tombstone!
Of course, comedy is hard to judge objectively; some people just won't find The Gunfighters funny, even if they acknowledge that Cotton intended it to be a satire. But I, for one, think the jokes work. The charming plot involves the Doctor visiting Tombstone to get a chipped tooth pulled. He is quickly mistaken for Doc Holliday, and becomes a target for the vengeful Clanton gang. Amusing chaos ensues, naturally.
Hartnell really shines in comedy vehicles. Interestingly, his Doctor is depicted as downright senile and rather innocent here; he is often oblivious to danger as he blunders through the story, waving his gun around clumsily and misjudging everyone he meets. So, this is not exactly Hartnell's most heroic performance, but he's delightful anyway. He has some hilarious exchanges with "Big Nose" Kate (Doc Holliday's girlfriend), who calls him "honey" and "cute" and keeps fondly grabbing his cheek. Well, I laughed.
The guest cast really steals the show, however. Anthony Jacobs is especially amusing as Doc Holliday. He dries up on some of his lines, but we'll let that pass, particularly in light of the fact that he kicks serious butt in the climactic gun battle. John Alderson is a solid Wyatt Earp, if rather atypical-looking, and Laurence Payne manages to seem vaguely tough as Johnny Ringo. Sheena Marshe, who plays Kate, has lots of energy and, ah, shows off some cleavage, so she's fine by me, too. The actors all seem to know that they're in a comedy (right?), so their performances strike appropriately over-the-top notes.
The serial is even pretty strong from a production standpoint. Sure, Tombstone looks like a studio set, but it's a reasonably detailed set and perfectly fine by Doctor Who standards. In fact, there is very little visual embarrassment in this serial -- there are no rubber monsters, flashlight ray-guns, or dumb model spaceships. Rex Tucker directs the action well, too, considering the limitations he faced. Even the OK Corral gun battle has exciting moments.
I just don't see any major problems here. Thankfully, in more recent years, some critics have come to this serial's defense. The Discontinuity Guide touts it as a "comic masterpiece, winning one over with its sheer charm," while The Pocket Essential Doctor Who awards The Gunfighters a 5/5 rating and calls it "a charming Western pastiche" featuring a "hilarious performance" from Hartnell. So, I'm not the only heretic who likes it.
My only reservation is that the Doctor doesn't have quite enough to do. In part four, his sole contribution is to negotiate with the Clantons in the hopes of finding a peaceful settlement to the conflict. This scene is basically filler, and of course the Doctor should not be deliberately interfering with the established flow of history (even in a comedy). Still, this minor flaw is not enough to detract much from The Gunfighters' status as a likable mini-classic, along the lines of similarly underrated stories such as The Androids of Tara and Paradise Towers.
Grade: A-