“THE GUNFIGHTERS” (4 EPISODES) – Original Airdate April 30-May 21, 1966
“A Holiday for the Doctor”, “Don’t Shoot the Pianist”, “Johnny Ringo”, “The OK Corral”
The TARDIS lands in Wild West Tombstone. When the Doctor (William Hartnell) visits the local dentist, Doc Holliday (Anthony Jacobs), he doesn’t realize he’ll soon be a part of the legendary gunfight at the OK Corral. Meanwhile, Steven (Peter Purves) and Dodo (Jackie Lane) narrowly escape a lynch mob.
“The Gunfighters” is an interesting serial, if somewhat maligned by Doctor Who fans. It’s a purely historical adventure meaning that, part from the TARDIS crew, there are no other elements that did not appear in the actual events. You could remove the Doctor Who cast and it would be a dramatic presentation of the lead up to the shootout at the OK Corral. Except that it isn’t really. There is a fair amount of narrative license taken the characters and situations and it seems that it was all intentional. However, despite the enthusiasm by regular stars Hartnell, Purves and Lane, as well as the guest-stars, the whole thing comes over as rather dull. And then there are the awful American accents. I dare you to tell me they don’t make you cringe. All in all, this isn’t the worst Doctor Who story ever by any means, but it is a low point in the era of the original Doctor. It is certainly charming enough to add to your collection and watch all the way through, but I doubt it will get many repeat viewings. It also has the distinction of being the last serial where the individual episodes had their own titles.
For being 45 years old, “The Gunfighters” looks pretty good on DVD. It has been digitally remastered for this release and it very much benefits from the cleanup. The show is presented in the original 4:3 black and white video and mono audio. Extras include a full audio commentary featuring actors Purves, Shane Rimmer, David Graham and Richard Beale along with PA Tristan de Vere Cole and moderator Toby Hadoke. I’m very pleased the BBC have had Hadoke moderating the DVD commentaries as of late as he really keeps things interesting and amusing. “The End of the Line” feature explores the third year of the series and how troubled it was, both behind the scenes and story wise. I think fans take for granted that Doctor Who was an untouchable British institution from the beginning and are unaware just how many times the show nearly went away early on. There is also the requisite Photo Gallery and PDF documents as well as a look at the press coverage at the time.
“THE AWAKENING” (2 EPISODES) – Original Airdate January 19-20, 1984
The Malus, an alien war machine, turns a 17th century English Civil War battle re-enactment into the real thing in the 20th century! The Doctor (Peter Davison), Turlough (Mark Strickson) and Tegan (Janet Fielding) arrive to meet Tegan’s grandfather (Frederick Hall), but become involved with Sir George Hutchinson (Denis Lill), who is in thrall to the Malus.
“The Awakening” is a fun story and part of a really strong season of Doctor Who. In fact, I would argue that this may be the pinnacle of the years produced by John Nathan-Turner and the show would never be this good again during his tenure. Having only two episodes helps “The Awakening” from feeling bloated or having extraneous, filler scenes. It’s even somewhat of a quasi-historical story with a fair amount that takes place during the English Civil War. This story also features one of the rare occurrences during the Classic Series that the Doctor attempts to take a companion to their home time and place for a visit. It seems so common now for the TARDIS to be rooted to present day Earth, but back in the day it was rarely, if ever, done. This is an entertaining and frequently overlooked gem of a two part story that I highly recommend.
Toby Hadoke moderates the informative audio commentary featuring director Michael Owen Morris and script editor Eric Saward. The Making Of feature, “Return to Little Hodcombe” is adequately interesting as is the feature “Making the Malus” and the “Now and Then” location report, but the real treasure here are the Deleted and Extended Scenes, particularly the deleted scene that includes the seldom seen companion Kamelion. Unfortunately, the scene painfully illustrates why we only saw the robotic companion in his first and final stories. Those that are familiar with Kamelion will know what I’m talking about, everyone else I refer to “The King’s Demons” and “Planet of Fire” DVDs for reference. You’ll also find a Photo Gallery, PDF news clippings, an isolated music track and a short clip of Peter Davison accepting the Golden Egg award.