STORY
PLOTLINE
It's 1881 and,
in the Wild West settlement of Tombstone, 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 of 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, whilst Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson
try to keep the peace. This isn't the place for a relaxing holiday, as the TARDIS
crew soon discover.
Tombstone's not the most happily named of
towns, and it seems it may live up to that name any day now. There's a gunfight
at the OK Corral brewing and, if the Doctor and his friends aren't careful, they're
going to be caught in the crossfire.
For those fans that have now been "weaned" on
the BBC WALES version of DOCTOR WHO, William Hartnell's THE GUNFIGHTERS might be not so much
an oddity that CLASSIC SERIES fans will regard it as.
There are musical song interludes (not exactly
Brittany Spears but near enough for 1965), real horses, a step back in Earth
history combined with witty & sharp
dialogue truly reminiscent of the American "Wild West" (there's "Paws", "I dunno,
boy", a plethora or "Partnas", the odd "Plum worn owt", and the obligatory "I
rekan").
Within the format of an audiobook, unlike
the broadcast TV episodes, the limitations and expectations of a historical story
are, at a stroke, dismissed with the listener taking control - if you excuse the pun - of
the reins of imagination. For that reason, THE GUNFIGHTERS on audiobook is superior, more enjoyable
than the broadcast TV programme.
Relishing one of the most benign and vilified
DOCTOR WHO stories ever is somewhat overwhelming, however, aided by Peter Purves'
narration, the story gallops (sorry, equestrian fans) at a pace. Minor gems along
the way are unearthed through the sediments of time, such as the Doctor saying
that he had a collection of firearms in the TARDIS, and that he preferred to
drink milk than alcohol (though this "continuity" seems
to come-and-go through his incarnations).
By track 11, it could have been all over for the Doctor, Steven and Dodo as
Orthodontologist, Doc Holliday reaches into the Time Lord's mouth to extract
a broken tooth.
However, from that point on, the story becomes
a confabulated, very wordy script, drama-comedy that merely uses the TARDIS crew
as stooges to tell the tale of the Clanton family, 'The Doc', and Wyatt Earp.
Comedic but nonetheless chilling at the
expectation that one of the Doctor's companions was to 'strung-up' in a public hanging - and is brought home by the
laconic, nonchalant delivery of the Ballad singer: "A good chance of swinging".
The threatening cloud that envelopes Tombstone
develops throughout episode three as we witness an attempted kidnapping, gun-slinging
and murder, with the final episode culminating in the merciless revenge killings,
and throughout the angelic & carefree contribution of the Ballad singer beguiles
the listener. It is quite a dramatic achievement that, as Peter Purves recalls
during the interview (presented at the end of the story), the film CAT BALOO
achieved some months later.
As a broadcast TV programme, THE GUNFIGHTERS was tedium
personified but as an audiobook, it is a prime example of how a limited budget,
rushed scripts, inadequate casting and an uninspiring plotline can be improved
and enjoyed.
The Peter Purves interview, by Mark Ayres, was equally entertaining, as the
actor discusses the fact that, whilst recording THE GUNFIGHTERS ,
he loathed it but now, some 30 years later, he like the story.
PETER PURVES: "I didn't like THE GUNFIGHTERS from day one
and I did not get on with the director, Rex Tucker. But I felt that directing
DOCTOR WHO was below him.
On the limited budget, PETER PURVES: "The rolling
plains of Shepherds Bush didn't work. The DOCTOR WHO budget wasn't big. It always
looked cheap"
