Doctor Who (TV Series) A Holiday for the Doctor (1966) User Reviews

John Wayne Must Be Turning In To His Grave

[Theo Robertson · 6/10 · 13 August 2013]

Suggestive spoilers to all four episodes

Having a sudden attack of toothache the Doctor lands the Tardis and finds himself in America in the 19th century . In a case of mistaken identity the Doctor finds himself being confused with Doc Holiday which considering he's in Tombstone in October 1881 is a dangerous thing

This was universally considered the worst thing the programme produced in the 1960s and because no one had access to video copies and UK Gold didn't start broadcasting until 1992 it reputation remained . It should be noted the people slating it were the same ones who claimed The Web Planet was an all time masterpiece but you can understand fans back in the day who were wanting to see alien planets and monsters having to endure four weeks of pseudo historical twaddle but that's to miss the point . Where as the story The Chase possibly tried to deconstruct the Daleks this story might not deconstruct the Western genre but is highly entertaining

In some ways it resembles The Romans from the previous year . If that one was CARRY ON CLEO this one is definitely CARRY ON COWBOY . . The cast have a whale of a time trying and failing to portray tough , butch balls of machismo from an era when men were men , women were thankful and life on other planets hadn't been thought of because HG Wells hadn't started writing books . Shame Rimmer ( The man who always appeared as a token American in every British production of everything ) manages to convince with his North American accent being from Canada . No one else does . It's that sort of production

The Gunfighters never takes itself seriously . and won't appeal to any aficionado of the Western genre . Good I say and if John Wayne was still alive I'd personally buy the DVD and send it to him for making countless dire mythical movies that I have no interest in sitting through . Pride of place goes to The Ballad Of Last Chance Saloon where Steven Taylor ( Peter Purves proving why he became a presenter and didn't stay in the acting profession ) being forced to sing . One wonders if this story influenced John Barrowman to enter show business ? He'd be able to do the accent but not even Barrowman would be able to do pantomime feel of the story which is laugh out loud funny

Camp , laughable , totally unconvincing , bad history , but never ever boring The Gunfighters works as four episodes of DOCTOR WHO at its most watchable though certainly far from its best . The poor feedback from the TV audience led the production team to drop historical stories and become horror lite science fiction for the masses which got the formula right midway through the Troughton era which is what the Great British perceive the show as . Despite the negativity this story has it's still great entertainment as long as you never take it seriously

Doc Holliday, Doctor Caligari and Doctor Who

[boblipton · 7/10 · 25 September 2011]

In search of a dentist for a toothache, a grumpy Doctor lands the TARDIS in a likely place -- Tombstone Arizona, where Doc Holiday practices the profession. Within short order the travelers are arrested by Wyatt Earp and the fun begins.

One of the things that the classic DOCTOR WHO did was the occasional straight historical story, in which the only science-fiction element was the TARDIS and its occupants. This had died out of regular production by 1968 and there is no equivalent in the modern show: there's always an alien monster behind the plot.

This one compensates for its straight historical nature by poking good-natured fun at its fictional nature, starting off with am extremely low Point of View shot from underneath a wagon while "The Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon" is sung in the background. The extreme POV continues throughout the episode, with a moving camera that maintains an independent viewpoint throughout, like the sardonic camera-work that Louis Feuillade had favored fifty years before. The production looks like an American production from the 1950s, and the American accents produced by British actors sound a bit strained, but it's an amusing romp altogether.

The entire roll call of Dime novel shows up in this rare excursion into America, with not only the Earp brothers and the Clantons -- Ike Clanton is played by William Hurndell, who would fill in as the First Doctor when needed after Hartnell's death -- but also Calamity Jane and Johnny Ringo heightening the metafictional nature of the narrative as the Doctor is set up by Doc Holliday as his stalking horse. All in all, an amusing set-up for an unlikely romp, even by the standards of DOCTOR WHO.

The Gunfighters: Part 1 - Mostly below par Wild West adventure

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 6/10 · 19 August 2014]

Review of all 4 parts:

The Gunfighters

This is one of my less favourite Hartnell stories but it is not his worst. While it has some problematic aspects I am not keen on it is quite fun in the early parts especially and has some definite highlights.

It is a 4 part story beginning with A Holiday For The Doctor. It is set around the lead up to the gunfight at the OK Corral in the wild west town of Tombstone 1881.

The story is a mostly comedic escapade for the TARDIS crew in the wild west. The comedy works well at times but not very well quite a lot of the time for my taste. The drama also works well at times but not so well at others, with a various scenes not being very successfully executed.

The biggest plus is that William Hartnell is very good in this story. He is a funny, sparkling and magnetic personality. A far cry from his original detached persona.

Peter Purves is also mostly strong but the negatives are that most other performances are pretty weak and overall the story is unsuccessful in its writing (Donald Cotton's script becomes mostly silly) and disappointing in its on screen production values (the accents and linking 'ballad' are mostly cringeworthy).

There are scenes that can feel to me like an embarrassment, particularly in the pretty poor third episode, with silly scenarios and dodgy accents.

Back to the positives though, parts 1 and 2 are fun in many ways and not at all boring. If the whole thing was like Parts 1 and 2 and if it didn't have the ballad it would be an enjoyable adventure because it really isn't bad up until half way through.

This is an interesting attempt to do something different and deserves credit for that. It has been reported by researchers that it was let down by producer Innes Lloyd and script editor Gerry Davis lack of interest in it due to their dislike of historical stories. They did a lot of great scifi stories after this but certainly did not like history based stories. I do think it was not very well executed in the last couple of episodes especially and it didn't reach its potential with some weak guest cast.

It is a reasonably entertaining romp early on at least. A lot better than the weakest Doctor Who stories.

My Ratings: Episodes 1 & 2 - 6/10, Episode 3 - 4/10, Episode 4 - 5/10. Overall - 5.25/10.

Watch in the contexts of having just seen the film High Noon

[TARDIS_Tech_Support · 9/10 · 27 November 2023]

This is truly a love letter to American Western films, espeically High Noon with the constantly repeating song interlude between acts. But I rated this so high due to the interaction between The Doctor and Doc Holiday, which was top notch.

If you're not a fan of 1950s and early 1960s western films, it's unlikely you're going to "get", that is understand and truly enjoy, this episode. It's a connected experience, a sort of "You had to be there" type of feel.

Nonetheless, I feel as if it's still watchable, though only maybe a 5 out of 10 for a non-fan of western movies.

I still have 22 characters to go... there.

Watching this is like having toothache.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 4/10 · 24 January 2019]

Fresh from the hangover with the Celestial Toymaker, The Doctor and co. land in......the wild west. Fans must have been wondering what on Earth was going on, from the bizarre to the downright bonkers. When I watched this episode I was struck by the production values, I thought it looked superb, the costumes, the sets, Sheena Marshe, in particular looked awesome. I'm afraid I can't really find many other positives, I dislike the whole feel of it, it's intensely silly, and will only get sillier as it progresses, Part 1 is the most serious.

Lynda Baron, I love you for playing Captain Rack, and of course giving us the fabulous Nurse Gladys Emmanuel, but for giving your vocals to 'The Ballad of the last chance saloon,' not your finest moment, that song is excruciating, and so distracting.

It has a few laughs I guess, and it's nice that we see Steven and Dodo's costumes from the missing previous episode, but A Holiday for The Doctor is quite literally toothache.

A underrated Story for the Reviewers

[wetmars · 8/10 · 28 September 2020]

When the First Doctor, Steven and Dodo arrive in the town of Tombstone in 1881, the Doctor's only aim is to find a dentist. Adamant that they should only stay a night in Tombstone, the Doctor finds their stay prolonged when he inadvertently becomes involved with a group of gunmen out to kill Doc Holliday.

Review of four parts -

I personally enjoyed watching this story, I have again learned about another historical event, upon researching on this story, people hated this story because "The story was hackneyed, ridiculous and dull.", "A weak and puerile plot.", "This story, in short, should never have been made, and will forever remain a true embarrassment to Doctor Who", and "The script, even for a children's programme, was absolute rubbish.", I do not know anything about the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

I liked the music in this story, I have no problem with it. It has to be one of my top 10 favorite Hartnell stories, not making fun of the other Dalek stories, I enjoyed them too, Old Wild West stories are the best, there's something about it that makes it so enjoyable.

Too bad Peter Purves hated working on this story because he and Hartnell didn't get along with Rex Tucker.

8/10.

Pastiche, Parody Or Worse?

[timdalton007 · 3/10 · 5 March 2014]

(Note: A review of the entire serial)

The Gunfighters is a story I've had for a long time (since New Years Eve 2007 as a matter of fact) but it's only been recently that I've finally gotten around to watching it. It's a story that just hasn't interested me very much despite my interest in the Hartnell historical stories that's grown over the past few years. Having finally seen it, I can't say I'm very much impressed with it.

It's a really odd story, isn't it? The problem I have with The Gunfighters is the same problem that I do with Unicorn And The Wasp from more recent times. By that I mean that I found that episode couldn't quite make up its mind as to whether or not it was a Agatha Christie pastiche or a parody. The Gunfighters has the same problem with how it deals with the Western genre. The performances in particular more often than not aim for the parody element, especially with Anthony Jacobs' Doc Holiday (Jacobs being the father of McGann TV Movie writer Matthew Jacobs).

The gunfight at the O.K. Corral is one of the more famous events from the Wild West and it's perhaps no surprise that when Doctor Who got around to doing a Western, it would pick that as its basis which isn't a problem in and of itself as it effectively disregards the actual events outright. One wonders why Donald Cotton didn't just set the story in a fictional town with fictional characters.

I'm afraid I must invoke the clichéd criticism of the story about THAT song called the Ballad Of The Last Chance Salon. I can see what it was trying to be used for: it's part parody of songs from such Western films as High Noon as well as attempting to use it as a kind of Greek chorus for the story. The problem ultimately it's overused (several times in the first episodes alone) to the point of being rendered ineffective.

Yet there's also moments where the story is clearly not trying to be a parody or the like. Take for example the opening scene where the TARDIS first arrives in Tombstone where Steven and Dodo, initially excited about arriving in the Wild West, quickly discover that the romanticized image they have in their minds is nowhere near the truth. Take also the attempted lynching of Steven that acts as the cliffhanger to the second episode of the story and the opening minutes of the third episode as well which is also presented in a more serious manner.

Then there's the gunfight itself. In both its staging and its stark presentation, is very much out of step with the four episodes worth of story that has preceded it. Even the performances, especially that of Anthony Jacobs' Doc Holiday, are toned down and quite serious. It's the story's most shining moment and I can't help but wish that the rest of the story had been as good as the gunfight was.

Ultimately, it's hard to find The Gunfighters disappointing as a story. It's a story that can't quite decide how it deals with the genre or the events that it presents across four episodes. While it has its moments, the story ultimately doesn't succeed as either a parody or pastiche. Perhaps it's no surprise then that Doctor Who wouldn't do another Western episode for the better part of half a century...

Review for the whole serial

[laurawanco · 4/10 · 2 April 2021]

Whenever Doctor Who does an episode set in the past they usually stick to British history, which is pretty fitting, but every now and again they'll stray from that. This is one of those rare occasions. It feels very different from the serials before it, the travelers kinda take a back seat to the plot and mostly just watch things unfold. That's not to say they're not involved in the events, but they're very passive. It comes across feeling like a completely unrelated western that Doctor Who walked in on. Dodo is far less annoying here though which is appreciated and Steven has some great moments just having fun in the wild west. The Doctor's pacifism is on full display here (although he apparently owns a gun despite not liking them), it's a strange take on it though as he'll constantly say he doesn't approve of violence, but not offer any alternative. They also will not stop playing this stupid song (the Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon), at first it seemed like they were just trying to set the mood, but after the first 10 times it practically just becomes a scene transition. A lot of times it's just the same lyrics over and over, but sometimes they'll come up with new bits that decline in quality as it goes on.

Review of entire serial

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 9 November 2023]

THE GUNFIGHTERS is a particularly weak serial for the first Doctor, perhaps the weakest of his entire run, although I've certainly not seen all of them. The problem with this one is that it's so abnominally straight, with nary a sci-fi element in evidence (aside from the Doctor and the Tardis, of course). The story sees the travellers landing at the OK Corral shortly before the famous gun battle, and meeting various historical characters alongside BLUE PETER presenter Peter Purves in a comedy role. Lynda Baron sings an endless ballad, the American accents are dodgy, and the final battle one of the cheapest ever staged. It's not good.

Just plain awful!

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 22 November 2023]

I have seen quite a few "Dr. Who" episodes but rarely feel any need to review them. After all, the early ones are pretty cheesy and had very small budgets, so it's hard to fault them. But with "A Holiday for the Doctor", the series takes a HUGE step backward! It's hard to watch and after a few episodes of this series, we all began screaming every time that godawful woman began singing. Yes...through all the episodes, some unseen woman sings to describe everything you just saw. The style of the singing is terrible and the purpose of the singing eluded us. After all, she's singing about what we just saw...so why sing at all?? And she sings again and again and again and again!! Add to that the overuse of a cliched story of the Clantons/Earp feud and you've got a series that is just hard to like...and pretty easy to dislike.