The Gunfighters (Doctor Who)

025 – **The Gunfighters**
025 – The Gunfighters
Doctor Who serial
	Billy and Seth watch Steven and Dodo perform a ballad. An alternative version is played throughout the serial; some appreciated its humour while others criticised the repetition.
Cast
	Doctor William Hartnell – First Doctor;
	Companions Peter Purves – Steven Taylor; Jackie Lane – Dodo Chaplet;
	Others William Hurndell – Ike Clanton; Maurice Good – Phineas Clanton; David Cole – Billy Clanton; Sheena Marshe – Kate; Shane Rimmer – Seth Harper; David Graham – Charlie; John Alderson – Wyatt Earp; Anthony Jacobs – Doc Holliday; Richard Beale – Bat Masterson; Reed De Rouen – Pa Clanton; Laurence Payne – Johnny Ringo; Martyn Huntley – Warren Earp; Victor Carin – Virgil Earp;
Production
Directed by	Rex Tucker
Written by	Donald Cotton
Script editor	Gerry Davis
Produced by	Innes Lloyd
Music by	Tristram Cary
Production code	Z
Series	Season 3
Running time	4 episodes,; 25 minutes each
First broadcast	30 April 1966
Last broadcast	21 May 1966
Chronology
← Preceded by; The Celestial Toymaker	Followed by →; The Savages

The Gunfighters is the eighth serial of the third season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by Donald Cotton and directed by Rex Tucker, it was broadcast on BBC1 in four weekly parts from 30 April to 21 May 1966. In the serial, the First Doctor (William Hartnell) and his travelling companions, Steven Taylor (Peter Purves) and Dodo Chaplet (Jackie Lane), arrive in Tombstone, Arizona, in the Wild West, where they become involved with the events leading up to the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

Script editor Donald Tosh commissioned Cotton to write The Gunfighters after his work on The Myth Makers. Tosh wanted to parody American Westerns, and Cotton took a fictional approach. Tosh's successor, Gerry Davis, disliked the scripts, while new producer Innes Lloyd preferred science-fiction stories. A ballad composed by Tristram Cary and sung by Lynda Baron plays throughout the serial in place of incidental music. Filming took place at Television Centre and Riverside Studios from April to May 1966. Tucker disagreed with Lloyd's editing of the fourth episode and requested his directorial credit be removed.

The Gunfighters received an average of 6.25 million viewers across the four episodes, the season's lowest figures to date. Contemporary reviews were negative, with the fourth episode receiving the programme's lowest ever Appreciation Index score. The serial's reputation has improved over time, with retrospective reviews praising the set design and performances but criticising the accents; responses to the ballad were mixed. The story was novelised by Cotton in 1986, and the serial was released on VHS, DVD, and as an audiobook.