Johnny Ringo (The Gunfighters Episode 3)

The one where it's curtains for Charlie the barman...

I was very keen on finding out whether director Rex Tucker allowed the Clantons to actually put the noose around Steven's neck, because it's a pretty grim visual for a teatime children's programme. But yes, stuttery Phineas Clanton tightens the rope around Steven's neck, which I think is taking Wild West realism a little too far for the target audience. Mind you, I'm also well aware that rough and ready depictions of the Wild West were rife on British TV screens in 1966, thanks to countless imported US Western series such as Rawhide, Wagon Train and Bonanza, so maybe I'm being too much of a 21st century snowflake? Kids in '66 could take allusions to hanging in their stride!

A quick word for Rex Tucker here. He directs The Gunfighters with lots of style and panache, indicative of an experienced man who'd been directing and producing TV since 1950. He uses high shots quite often, notably looking down on the Last Chance Saloon from the top of the stairs, but also when Holliday, Kate and Dodo arrive at the Wagon Hotel. Perhaps the most striking use of the high shot in Johnny Ringo is for the death of Charlie the barman, who lies spreadeagled across his bar, liquor sploshing from a bottle onto the floor.

"So it's curtains for Charlie," croons Lynda Baron in that ubiquitous earworm ballad. "That barman of fame; He met Johnny Ringo; And he knew Johnny's name. He knew Johnny's name and he spoke it out loud; Now Charlie the barman has gotten a shroud."

Laurence Payne is excellent as Ringo, swaggering into the saloon dressed in black and lighting a cigar. He oozes charisma but also danger, and the entire scene between Payne and David Graham as jittery Charlie drips with tension. Payne gives Ringo real presence, as befits the part, and although he sometimes struggles to keep his accent twangy, the character arrives on the screen fully-formed. Johnny Ringo feels like a genuine threat throughout the scene, until the end where it's proven what a bastard he truly is when he shoots Charlie dead in cold blood. With so many dodgy performances in The Gunfighters, it's great to have someone who knows what they're doing.

Have you noticed that little ol' Warren Earp doesn't look unlike Matt Smith? Martyn Huntley is certainly a handsome chap and is probably the actor who best masters the Wild West accent of the whole cast, so it's a real shame he doesn't last very long, gunned down by the Clantons when they break Phineas out of jail. "It's curtains for Warren..." Yes, yes, thanks Lynda...

The Clantons regroup thanks to their father Pa (his real name was Newman Haynes Clanton), played by Reed de Rouen. Reed was only 49 when he filmed The Gunfighters, whereas the real Pa Clanton would have been 65 (but looked about 85 in pictures - see the bottom of my review for episode 1 to see the real historical figures). But then, the casting of this story hasn't been the most historically accurate anyway. For instance, the real Wyatt Earp was only 33 in 1881, but actor John Alderson was already 50, while Bat Masterson was only 28, whereas actor Richard Beale clocked in at 45! Doc Holliday was 30 in 1881, while actor Anthony Jacobs (father of Doctor Who TV Movie writer Matthew) was 48... The inconsistencies go on!

Another lovely scene is that between Holliday and Dodo at the Wagon Hotel. She insists he take her back to Tombstone as he promised, and points a gun at him, threatening to shoot. "I shall try not to kill you," she says. Once Holliday agrees to her demands, she crumples under a wave of nerves, and later faints when she learns that Doc would've killed her if she'd carried on threatening him. It's a lovely little comedic scene in the Carry On Cowboy vein (released in cinemas just six months earlier) and shows that Jackie Lane did have some talent for comedy.

Incidentally, I wonder where the Wagon Hotel is located? It's quite close to Tombstone, closer then 30 miles away, so it could well be Sierra Vista, which is 19 miles away. It only takes a couple of hours by bicycle to get between the two, so if Holliday, Kate and Dodo were on horseback (which I presume they were), that works out well. There's no Wagon Hotel in Sierra Vista today though, but you can stay the night at a Days Inn for less than £50!

So by the end of the episode, there's blood on the sawdust and it looks like the action's heading for a showdown at the O.K. Corral! Yee-hah!

First broadcast: May 14th 1966

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: Laurence Payne brings some Man in Black class as Johnny Ringo.
The Bad: Sheena Marshe is just that little bit too shrill and shouty to make Kate a character you can like.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

NEXT TIME: The O.K. Corral...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: A Holiday for the Doctor (episode 1); Don't Shoot the Pianist (episode 2); The O.K. Corral (episode 4)

Find out birth/death dates, career information, and facts and trivia about this story's cast and crew at the Doctor Who Cast & Crew site: http://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/the-gunfighters.html

The Gunfighters is available on DVD as part of the Earth Story box set. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Earth-Gunfighters-Awakening/dp/B004T9DSTI