The Gunfighters (Doctor Who)
Doctor Who serial
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.
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