Doctor Who/The Gunfighters

The Gunfighters
Season 3, Serial 8
Airdate	April 30, 1966
Production Number	Z
Written by	Donald Cotton
Directed by	Rex Tucker
← 3x07 The Celestial Toymaker	3x09 → The Savages
Doctor Who — Season Three

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The Gunfighters is the eighth serial of the third season of Doctor Who, and the twenty-fifth serial overall.

A Holiday for the Doctor: William Hartnell (Dr. Who), William Hurndell (Ike Clanton), Maurice Good (Phineas Clanton), David Cole (Billy Clanton), Peter Purves (Steven), Jackie Lane (Dodo), Sheena Marshe (Kate), Shane Rimmer (Seth Harper), David Graham (Charlie), John Alderson (Wyatt Earp), Anthony Jacobs (Doc. Holliday), Richard Beale (Bat Masterson)

Don't Shoot the Pianist: William Hartnell (Dr. Who), William Hurndell (Ike Clanton), Maurice Good (Phineas Clanton), David Cole (Billy Clanton), Shane Rimmer (Seth Harper), Peter Purves (Steven), Jackie Lane (Dodo), David Graham (Charlie), Anthony Jacobs (Doc. Holliday), Sheena Marshe (Kate), John Alderson (Wyatt Earp), Richard Beale (Bat Masterson)

Johnny Ringo: William Hartnell (Dr. Who), William Hurndell (Ike Clanton), David Cole (Billy Clanton), Maurice Good (Phineas Clanton), Peter Purves (Steven), John Alderson (Wyatt Earp), Richard Beale (Bat Masterson), David Graham (Charlie), Reed De Rouen (Pa Clanton), Anthony Jacobs (Doc. Holliday), Sheena Marshe (Kate), Jackie Lane (Dodo), Laurence Payne (Johnny Ringo), Martyn Huntley (Warren Earp)

The O.K. Corral: William Hartnell (Dr. Who), Martyn Huntley (Warren Earp), William Hurndell (Ike Clanton), Maurice Good (Phineas Clanton), David Cole (Billy Clanton), Richard Beale (Bat Masterson), John Alderson (Wyatt Earp), Victor Carin (Virgil Earp), Reed De Rouen (Pa Clanton), Laurence Payne (Johnny Ringo), Sheena Marshe (Kate), Peter Purves (Steven), Anthony Jacobs (Doc. Holliday), Jackie Lane (Dodo)

Uncredited: John Raven (Savage)

Trivia

The Show

• Last serial with individual episode names before dividing them by "Part" or "Episode". "The O.K. Corral" teases the next episode as "Dr. Who and the Savages".

• Throughout the serial, a ballad plays. Titled ""The Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon", it was written by Tristram Cary and sung by Lynda Baron.

• The only serial to taken place wholly in the United States. This would not happen again until the TV movie and not again after that until "Dalek".

Behind the Scenes

• Rex Tucker is uncredited for "The O.K. Corral" following a disagreement with producer Innes Lloyd over the editing of the episode.

• Guest star Anthony Jacobs was the father of Matthew Jacobs who would wind up writing the Doctor Who telefilm 30 years later.

• The poor reception of this serial strengthened Innes Lloyd's argument that historical stories should be ceased. Only two more were produced for the series before being dropped.

• Rex Tucker wanted to cast American and/or Canadian actors as much as possible to lend some authenticity, but this proved difficult. In fact, Canadian actor Donald Sutherland was the original choice for Wyatt Earp. Instead, the British cast had to put on American accents with only John Alderson, Reed De Rouen and Shane Rimmer having experiences doing so. The attempts from the others resulted in some hysterical reactions.

• Future Doctor Patrick Troughton was hoped to play Johnny Ringo, but he had other commitments.

• Although Virgil Earp is played by a different actor here, guest star John Alderson previously played him in the You Are There episode "The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral".

Allusions and References

• The Doctor uses the alias Doctor Caligrai, almost certainly a reference to the 1920 silent German horror film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

Quotes

• The Doctor: And lastly, sir, your humble servant Doctor... Caligari.

Bat Masterson: Doctor who?

The Doctor: Yes, quite right.