Saturday 19 March 2011

117 The Gunfighters Part 3: Johnny Ringo

EPISODE: The Gunfighters Part 3: Johnny Ringo
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 117
STORY NUMBER: 025
TRANSMITTED: 14 May 1966
WRITER: Donald Cotton
DIRECTOR: Rex Tucker
SCRIPT EDITOR: Gerry Davis
PRODUCER: Innes Lloyd
FORMAT: VHS: Doctor Who - The First Doctor: The Sensorites, The Time Meddler & The Gunfighters

Earp saves Steven and arrests Phin Clanton, which enrages the remaining two Clantons who send for gunslinger Johnny Ringo. The Doctor & Steven find that Dodo has left with Holliday & Kate. Ringo arrives and kills Charlie the barman. Dodo demands Holliday take her back to Tombstone. Steven says he's looking for Holliday and rides off with Ringo. Earp, anticipating more trouble, is trying to summon his brothers to Tombstone. The Doctor reports Charlie's murder to Earp, who leaves with him and Batt Masterson to investigate. Ringo & Steven have found Kate but not located Dodo & Holliday. The Clantons break Phin out of jail, shooting the younger Warren Earp in the process.

I've spent years thinking this story was rubbish, it's not, is such great fun and I'm loving it! Historically inaccurate, maybe, but still good fun. However it went down like a lead balloon at the time achieving low viewing figures and audience ratings. It's said that this, and difficulties during the production, were a major factor in Innes Lloyd deciding to kill off the historical story later on in the year.

Johnny Ringo is played by Laurence Payne, who'll be back many years later as Morix in The Leisure Hive, and Dastari in The Two Doctors. Doc Holliday is played by Anthony Jacobs. He brought his young son Matthew along to the set during recording. Matthew Jacobs would go on to write the 1996 Paul McGann Doctor Who TV Movie.

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