The Clantons have shot Warren Earp, leading to a showdown between the two families with the Doctor powerless to prevent bloodshed.The Clantons have shot Warren Earp, leading to a showdown between the two families with the Doctor powerless to prevent bloodshed.The Clantons have shot Warren Earp, leading to a showdown between the two families with the Doctor powerless to prevent bloodshed.
Photos
- Director
- Rex Tucker(uncredited)
- Writers
- Donald Cotton
- Sydney Newman(uncredited)
- Donald B. Wilson(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWas the last episode within a multi-part story of the classic series to have its own separate title. Starting with the next adventure The Savages: Episode 1 (1966), multi-part stories would share a universal title. Separate titles for multi-part stories would not return until the new Doctor Who (2005) aired in the Spring of 2005.
- GoofsIn the teaser for next week's adventure The Savages: Episode 1 (1966), "Savages" was misspelled "Savaes". This was corrected in the 2014 computer-enhanced remastered version syndicated by BBC.
- Quotes
[first lines]
Dr. Who: How do you know that the killer was Ringo?
Virgil Earp: On account of it must have been him or you, and I don't figure you killed Charlie the barman. Of course, if'n you wanna persuade me different.
Dr. Who: Certainly not, my dear Sheriff.
- SoundtracksBallad of the Last Chance Saloon
Performed by Lynda Baron
Featured review
The Gunfighters: Part 4 - Mostly below par Wild West adventure
Review of all 4 parts:
The Gunfighters
This is one of my less favourite Hartnell stories but it is not his worst. While it has some problematic aspects I am not keen on it is quite fun in the early parts especially and has some definite highlights.
It is a 4 part story beginning with A Holiday For The Doctor. It is set around the lead up to the gunfight at the OK Corral in the wild west town of Tombstone 1881.
The story is a mostly comedic escapade for the TARDIS crew in the wild west. The comedy works well at times but not very well quite a lot of the time for my taste. The drama also works well at times but not so well at others, with a various scenes not being very successfully executed.
The biggest plus is that William Hartnell is very good in this story. He is a funny, sparkling and magnetic personality. A far cry from his original detached persona.
Peter Purves is also mostly strong but the negatives are that most other performances are pretty weak and overall the story is unsuccessful in its writing (Donald Cotton's script becomes mostly silly) and disappointing in its on screen production values (the accents and linking 'ballad' are mostly cringeworthy).
There are scenes that can feel to me like an embarrassment, particularly in the pretty poor third episode, with silly scenarios and dodgy accents.
Back to the positives though, parts 1 and 2 are fun in many ways and not at all boring. If the whole thing was like Parts 1 and 2 and if it didn't have the ballad it would be an enjoyable adventure because it really isn't bad up until half way through.
This is an interesting attempt to do something different and deserves credit for that. It has been reported by researchers that it was let down by producer Innes Lloyd and script editor Gerry Davis lack of interest in it due to their dislike of historical stories. They did a lot of great scifi stories after this but certainly did not like history based stories. I do think it was not very well executed in the last couple of episodes especially and it didn't reach its potential with some weak guest cast.
It is a reasonably entertaining romp early on at least. A lot better than the weakest Doctor Who stories.
My Ratings: Episodes 1 & 2 - 6/10, Episode 3 - 4/10, Episode 4 - 5/10. Overall - 5.25/10.
The Gunfighters
This is one of my less favourite Hartnell stories but it is not his worst. While it has some problematic aspects I am not keen on it is quite fun in the early parts especially and has some definite highlights.
It is a 4 part story beginning with A Holiday For The Doctor. It is set around the lead up to the gunfight at the OK Corral in the wild west town of Tombstone 1881.
The story is a mostly comedic escapade for the TARDIS crew in the wild west. The comedy works well at times but not very well quite a lot of the time for my taste. The drama also works well at times but not so well at others, with a various scenes not being very successfully executed.
The biggest plus is that William Hartnell is very good in this story. He is a funny, sparkling and magnetic personality. A far cry from his original detached persona.
Peter Purves is also mostly strong but the negatives are that most other performances are pretty weak and overall the story is unsuccessful in its writing (Donald Cotton's script becomes mostly silly) and disappointing in its on screen production values (the accents and linking 'ballad' are mostly cringeworthy).
There are scenes that can feel to me like an embarrassment, particularly in the pretty poor third episode, with silly scenarios and dodgy accents.
Back to the positives though, parts 1 and 2 are fun in many ways and not at all boring. If the whole thing was like Parts 1 and 2 and if it didn't have the ballad it would be an enjoyable adventure because it really isn't bad up until half way through.
This is an interesting attempt to do something different and deserves credit for that. It has been reported by researchers that it was let down by producer Innes Lloyd and script editor Gerry Davis lack of interest in it due to their dislike of historical stories. They did a lot of great scifi stories after this but certainly did not like history based stories. I do think it was not very well executed in the last couple of episodes especially and it didn't reach its potential with some weak guest cast.
It is a reasonably entertaining romp early on at least. A lot better than the weakest Doctor Who stories.
My Ratings: Episodes 1 & 2 - 6/10, Episode 3 - 4/10, Episode 4 - 5/10. Overall - 5.25/10.
helpful•12
- A_Kind_Of_CineMagic
- Aug 19, 2014
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Filming locations
- Callow Hill Sandpit, Virginia Water, Surrey, England, UK(exteriors: Arizona)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime24 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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