Doctor Who: The Gunfighters (Story 25)

The Best "Bad" Doctor Who Story Ever Made
"The Gunfighters" is hardly one of William Hartnell's best "Doctor Who" stories. In fact, this story, in which the Doctor (Hartnell), Steven (Peter Purves) and Dodo (Jackie Lane) get mixed up in the legendary Gunfight At The OK Corral, had the reputation for many years as being the all-time worst "Doctor Who" story ever made! It's horribly acted (with the exception of the three leads), with several supporting actors doing horrible American accents (or not even trying to), the script is poorly written, the direction is misguided, and the big final gunfight is horribly staged (all that shooting at each other at close range and *missing*---pathetic!). And then there's that annoying song about The Last Chance Saloon that plays over and over and over and OVER again throughout the whole damm story!

But the one saving grace of "The Gunfighters" is that it's funny, even if most of the laughs are unintentional. Hartnell and Purves are both a hoot in this one---the Doctor and his...

Amazingly enough, I actually like this story...
I've never understood why Doctor Who fans hate "The Gunfighters" so much. Years ago, I read a ton of negative fan reviews, which tended to judge this story as a laughably poor attempt at drama. More recently, a growing number of fans have acknowledged that "The Gunfighters" is supposed to be a comedy, not a drama; yet they still tend to laugh *at* the story, rather than *with* it. Well, for what it's worth, I laugh with it.

To be more specific: I find "The Gunfighters" to be a legitimately witty spoof of the American Western genre. Donald Cotton's script purposefully indulges in a host of Western cliches, and then "winks" at the audience about this. The much-loathed "Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon" - a narrative song that runs through the whole story - is used to highlight the silliness and cliched nature of the action, and thus doesn't bother me at all. (Indeed, strange lines like "he's gone a bit mental under Earp's heavy blow" always give me a chuckle.)...

So bad it's almost good
The title of this set of Episodes should be "Carry On Clantons".

Yes, this is the worst Dr. Who episode ever. That makes it an absolute must-have for serious Dr. Who collectors. The entire episode is played for laughs, and probably seems funnier to a British viewer than to an American. Listen closely to the lyrics of the background ballad - it's a "bang on" parody of 50's America western background ballads (think "High Noon" or "Gunfight at the OK Corral"). The cowboys with British accents are hilarious.

ON the downside, there is very little actual conflict or suspense in the story line, and too many of the jokes are predictable or downright lame, at least to an American sense of humor. But for the Dr. Who enthusiast, it's worth at least one viewing.

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