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It's 1881, and in the Wild West settlement of Tombstone, Arizona,
there are three strangers in town: "Doctor Caligari", "Steven
Regret" and "Miss Dodo Dupont". They've arrived in a 20th-century
blue police box, and they're about to wander into a whole
heap o' trouble... The Doctor is in need of a dentist, but
the sort of anaesthetic Doc Holliday uses comes out of a liquor
bottle. He's in the middle of a feud with the Clanton family,
while Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson are trying to keep the
peace. There's a gunfight at the OK Corral brewing and, if
the Doctor and his friends aren't careful, they're gonna get
caught in the crossfire...
With
the release of this double CD, there's only The War Machines
left to go before we have a continuous chronological run of
BBC audio releases stretching from Galaxy 4 to The
Wheel in Space. I wish The War Machines
was being published first, because there a few short sections
of that story that weren't issued on VHS because of cuts in
the prints held by the BBC's film and videotape library.
Still,
The Gunfighters isn't bad either - contrary to received
fan wisdom, which for decades held that this was one of the
weakest Doctor Who stories ever. Peter Purves, who
plays Steven and who provides the narration to this soundtrack,
also hated the serial when he was making it, as he admits
in an interview towards the end of the second disc. However,
having reacquainted himself with the story, he has revised
his opinion of what is, in fact, an enjoyable and innovative
tale.
Writer Donald Cotton gives us the highest comedy quotient
since The Romans and his own The
Myth Makers. As in those earlier serials, William
Hartnell evidently relishes the opportunity to perform in
some lighter scenes. We are of course denied visual delights
such as the Doctor's glee at being able to spin a couple of
pistols in his hands and Steven tripping over his own spurs,
but we can still hear the Doctor repeatedly getting Wyatt
Earp's (John Alderson) name wrong and Steven's phoney American
accent. The latter is probably an in-joke regarding the actor's
first role in the series, as Morton Dill in The Chase.
Dodgy
accents among the rest of the cast are less forgivable, though
it's worth listening out for the voices of Gerry Anderson
stalwarts David Graham and Shane Rimmer.
As
with The Myth Makers, the comedy gives way to tragic
and bloody conflict during the final episode. Cotton takes
enormous liberties with the historical events: in the real
gunfight at the OK Corral, Wyatt, Morgan and Virgil Earp with
Doc Holliday faced down Frank and Tom McLaury and Billy Clanton.
Although Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne (who also appear
in Star Trek's Wild West episode, Spectre of the
Gun) were present, there is conflicting evidence as to
whether or not they actually participated, and both men survived.
The Clantons' father had died several months previously. There
was no one by the name of Reuben Clanton, and neither Johnny
Ringo nor Phineas Clanton was in town at the time. Warren
Earp did live in Tombstone with his brothers, but he missed
the battle and was shot dead in a bar fight nearly 20 years
later.
The
serial is also unique for its use of a song, "The Ballad of
the Last Chance Saloon", verses of which punctuate and illustrate
the unfolding narrative - though it does get a little tedious
towards the end of the adventure. The original recordings
of all the sections of this song, performed by Lynda Baron,
are included at the close of the second CD, the first time
that these recordings have been published.
Four
episodes of well-paced comedy-drama, The Gunfighters
goes with a bang.
Richard
McGinlay
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