I finished The Gunfighters today, and I really don't have much else to say about it beyond what I said yesterday. On the upside, the character of Johnny Ringo shows up and the actor playing him is quite good. On the downside, that stupid song continues to happen throughout every single scene, frequently repeating the same block of lyrics three or four times. At the time it aired, it was the lowest-rated story in Doctor Who history, and as a result it is also the story that put the nail in the coffin of the pure historicals. It is also the last story to use individual titles for the episodes. From here on out, up until the modern era, there is just an overall story title broken up by part numbers.

Let's talk about that.

Johnny Ringo / The OK Corral

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

I will say two nice things about the back half of this story: 1) The actor who plays Johnny Ringo is very good, and I wish the character had shown up much earlier. 2) There is a very nice, well-composed shot at the end of the shootout, showing Wyatt and Virgil Earp and Doc Holliday from the waist down framed against the bright dusty ground. It is a dramatic and interesting shot that provides a nice punctuation to the end of the conflict.

Seriously, that's all I've got for nice things. What is so frustrating about this story structure is that the purported heroes of the show have virtually no impact on the plot. The Doctor, Steven, and Dodo are all there and they have dialog, but none of them does anything that drives the story. They are all just there, along for the ride because they are split up early on in the story. I guess Dodo shows up at the shootout to help Doc Holliday and save him from being shot from behind by Johnny Ringo, but really all she does is become a hostage. Even Holliday himself points out that any more "help" from Dodo is likely to get him killed. Story-wise, there are no surprises to be had here. The events all drive towards the inevitable famous gunfight, and afterwards the Doctor and company wanders off in the TARDIS to their next adventure.

Creatively, this story marks the end of the old production team. Producer Innes Lord had taken over a few stories earlier, but was saddled with the scripts that had already been commissioned and scheduled. A large part of the quality problems with the past few stories stems directly from that fact. With the next story, The Savages, the new production team began working in earnest. Unfortunately, that also means it is the end of the road for all of the existing actors as well. Peter Purves as Steven will be gone by the end of the next story, Dodo will be gone the story after, and then Ben and Polly come in to usher in the era of the Second Doctor. By the end of next week in my viewing, it will be an entirely new show on every level.

STATS:

Doctor(s): First
Companion(s): Steven Taylor, Dodo Chaplet
Episode(s): Johnny Ringo / The OK Corral
Steps Walked: 6,728 today, 405,975 total
Distance Walked:  3.39 miles today, 189.10 miles total
Weight: 286.70 lbs (five day moving average), net change -20.60 lbs