Doctor Who: The Gunfighters

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The Gunfighters is the eighth serial of Doctor Who Season 3. It was originally broadcast in four weekly parts from 30 April to 21 May 1966. It was written by Donald Cotton (who also wrote The Myth Makers) and directed by Rex Tucker. It stars William Hartnell as the Doctor, Peter Purves as Steven Taylor, and Jackie Lane as Dodo Chaplet.

In Tombstone, Arizona, 1881, the Doctor’s toothache sends him to Doc Holliday’s surgery, where he’s mistaken for the notorious dentist-gunslinger and dragged into the feud between the Clanton gang and the Earp brothers. Steven and Dodo, trying to keep the peace, only tangle things further as saloon songs, bad reputations, and quick tempers push everyone toward the famous showdown at the O.K. Corral.

Playful in tone but edged with real danger, this Western pastiche turns the TARDIS team into reluctant performers and survivors in a town that sings about trouble before it starts. Blending humour with historical legend, it features real-life figures such as Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, with a storyline full of mistaken identities, frontier justice, and old-fashioned shootouts. It is also the last serial to have dedicated names for each episode.

Episode 1: A Holiday for the Doctor

The TARDIS lands in Tombstone, Arizona, in 1881. The Doctor has a bad toothache and wants a dentist. He, Steven, and Dodo find a sign for “Doc Holliday, Dentist.” Inside, the charming Doc Holliday cleans his gun, smiles, and pulls the Doctor’s tooth. Kate Fisher fusses over the Doctor and flirts with Holliday. Holliday slips the Doctor a gun “for protection,” which the Doctor does not want.

Steven and Dodo look for a room at the Last Chance Saloon. The piano plays and the barman eyes them. The singer leaves, so the crowd makes Steven perform. He sings while Dodo shakes a tambourine. Laughter turns to whispers when three Clanton brothers and a drifter named Seth Harper arrive. They want Doc Holliday dead for past killings.

Harper hears a “doctor” is in town and decides he must be Holliday. He tells the Clantons to draw the stranger out. The Doctor walks in, still sore from the tooth, and is welcomed as “Doc.” He tries to explain, but the Clantons push him toward a gunbelt and demand a fight.

Wyatt Earp enters to keep order, but tempers flare. Steven cannot reach the Doctor. Dodo is swept away by Kate and Holliday. The Clantons close in on the Doctor in the saloon, ready to make him draw.

Episode 2: Don’t Shoot the Pianist

Wyatt Earp steps between the Doctor and the Clantons in the Last Chance Saloon and stops the gunfight. He “arrests” the Doctor for his own safety and takes him to the jail. Steven is left at the piano; the Clantons make him keep playing under gunpoint (“don’t shoot the pianist”) while they plot to flush out Doc Holliday.

Dodo is with Kate Fisher at Holliday’s dental office. Holliday jokes, loads his gun, and decides to slip out of town. Seth Harper tracks him there and draws. Shots crack; Harper falls. Holliday and Kate hurry away through back streets, dragging a worried Dodo with them “for protection.”

At the jail, Earp warns the Clantons to stay calm. He pins a badge on the Doctor to mark him under the law and uses him as bait to keep the peace. The Doctor protests but plays along, trying to find Steven and Dodo.

In the saloon, the Clantons learn Harper is dead and swear revenge. They grab Steven and force him to help lure Holliday, threatening the Doctor if he refuses. Steven agrees to go looking, planning to warn Holliday instead.

Night gathers over Tombstone. The Doctor steps out under Earp’s watch. Steven heads into the alleys. Dodo rides out of town with Holliday and Kate. The next move will pull everyone deeper into danger.

Episode 3: Johnny Ringo

Johnny Ringo rides into Tombstone, a quiet killer with a smooth voice. In the Last Chance Saloon he tests the room, trades hard words, and shoots the barman Charlie dead for crossing him. The Clanton brothers, hungry for revenge on Doc Holliday, welcome Ringo and ask him to do the job they keep failing to finish.

The Doctor, still under Wyatt Earp’s “protection,” tries to keep the peace from the jail. Wyatt warns that Ringo is worse than the Clantons: fast, cold, and careful. Steven searches the streets for Doc Holliday and Dodo. He meets Kate Fisher, who says Holliday has left town but may return if pushed.

Out on the road, Holliday decides to circle back quietly. He leaves Dodo in a safe spot with Kate and goes to scout. Ringo finds Dodo first, smiles like a friend, and takes her as a hostage to draw Holliday out. He sends a message through the Clantons: come alone or the girl dies.

Tension climbs. The Earps arrest one Clanton after a scuffle; the others swear blood. Steven brings word of Dodo to the Doctor. Wyatt sets a trap to catch Ringo without a street duel. Night falls over Tombstone. Ringo waits with Dodo, the Clantons prowl, and the Earps and the Doctor move into position: everyone heading toward a final showdown.

Episode 4: The O.K. Corral

Dawn comes to Tombstone. Johnny Ringo holds Dodo as a hostage in a stable and sends word to Doc Holliday. The Clanton brothers gather their guns and swear revenge. Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan Earp plan to end the trouble. The Doctor begs them to avoid bloodshed. No one listens. The town holds its breath.

Steven tries to trade himself for Dodo. Ringo laughs and refuses. Doc Holliday arrives with a cold smile and a drawn gun. He frees Dodo in a quick feint, then faces Ringo. Shots crack. Ringo falls.

The Clantons rage and run to the O.K. Corral. The Earps walk down the street with Doc at their side. The Doctor and Steven pull Dodo to safety and warn bystanders away. In the corral, both sides shout one last challenge. Then the guns speak. Smoke fills the air. Horses rear and bolt.

When the firing stops, the Clantons are beaten and lie where they fell. The Earps stand, shaken but alive. Wyatt tips his hat and says the town will be quiet now. The Doctor thanks him and asks Steven and Dodo to come away. Back at the TARDIS, the travellers take one last look at Tombstone. They dematerialise, leaving the empty corral and a town already turning their showdown into legend.

Themes

The story plays like a music-hall western: broad comedy, a running ballad, and the First Doctor haplessly mistaken for Doc Holliday. It lacks the dramatic iron of The Aztecs or the courtly poise of The Crusade, and it’s less sure-footed than the tonal tightrope of The Myth Makers, yet it has a shambling charm the era’s experiments (The Celestial Toymaker, just before it) don’t always muster.

On balance, it lands in the mid-to-lower tier of Hartnell serials: uneven, often endearing, and memorable more for flavour than finesse.

Its links sketch a turning point. Coming straight after The Celestial Toymaker, it closes a run of high-concept and comedic gambles that began with The Romans, before the series pivots to the sober ethics of The Savages and the modern menace of The War Machines.

Steven and Dodo’s easy rapport here steadies the crew for those shifts, while the show’s long romance with pure historicals nears its end, soon giving way to hybrids and sci-fi-laced pasts. The serial earns its place for bookending an era of playful history, even as the next stories tighten the tone and aim the TARDIS toward a very different kind of frontier.

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This is a chapter from Craig Hill’s book “Doctor Who – The First Doctor”, chronicling every episode featuring the First Doctor. It is available on Amazon.

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To view the list of other Doctor Who serials, please click this link

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