IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE (OK) CORRAL?

 

Episode 4 scene posed image colourized image by Clayton Hickman.

If there's one thing that British film and TV can't do very well in terms of genre realisation, it's the Western-that unique look and feel resides exclusively with America. When Classic Who tried it with the amiable if rather lightweight comedy drama The Gunfighters, based on the events of the infamous Gunfight at the OK Corral, it was met with ratings decline and derision by audiences who found it too phoney. the failure ultimately used as a handy scapegoat by the series then production team in changing the series format and sadly phasing-out of the historical adventures by the start of the Troughton era. 

I've only watched the story twice and, though many fans (and Peter Purves) enjoy it, I personally found it a struggle, especially with the awful ballad that hurts the overall storytelling. Fortunately, the finale episode shoot-out at the legendary OK Corral is well handled for the time it was made, and Hartnell proves himself adept with some fun light humour moments given to him by writer Donald Cotton.

HAPPY 57TH BIRTHDAY!

The absolutely superb Radio Times publicity photo shoot, taken by Ray Rathbourne, that heralded the Tenth Anniversary epic The Three Doctors in such exciting and mysterious style. Surely, this is one of the all-time great images ever taken for the series, at a time when the 1973 TV viewing audience were hungry to find out how the magnificent three-of-one would ultimately get together. It's hard to believe that such an important cover image would have competition for cover selection at the RT, but back in the day internal dramas could have seen Cilla Black's then new season of her music show on BBC 1, airing on the same night as Who's opening episode, being promotion used instead of it!

HAPPY FIFTY-SEVENTH BIRTHDAY TO 'DOCTOR WHO'!

WILL THE REAL MEL...?

His post regeneration amnesia deliberately inflicted by his old enemy The Rani, who is now in the outlandish guise of squeaky-clean companion Mel, the new incarnation of our Time Lord hero has more questions than answers plaguing his manipulated abilities linked to 'Strange Matter', in this scene from Time and the Rani.

'VIDEO NASTY!'

The constantly manipulated Governor of the Varos mining/slave colony (Martin Jarvis, always a great WHO guest star) faces the potential death judgement of his people in one of the many memorable and often criticised adult themed moments of darkness in Vengeance on Varos. Interestingly, Philip Martin originally concocted his script for the later stages of the Peter Davison era- it would been very interesting seeing the Fifth Doctor immersed in the troubled realms of Varos, and would perhaps have felt even more atmospheric and believable before the final twist of fate coming for our hero with the tragic events of The Caves of Androzani.

'WHO' IS THAT MASKED MAN?

He's no stranger to courting attention, but when the Fifth Doctor's near-participation in costumed carnival lands him in deadly trouble, there's little time for mirth whilst searching for a murderer. A fun publicity image from Terrence Dudley's always enjoyable two-part, purely historical season nineteen tale, Black Orchid. Producer John Nathan-Turner in interviews always stated he would have liked to have directed this curio tale, and, having seen his later second unit directing work on The Five Doctors and The Curse of Fenric, I think he would have done a very good job with it.

Another press publicity image.

THE BEAUTY OF 'FRED'!

Bringing both beauty and class to her role as the female Time Lord, Romanadvoratrelundar (aka 'Romana', or just plain 'Fred'!), model/actress Mary Tamm was quite the casting and publicity coup for the series with her arrival alongside Tom Baker's (mouth-bandaged) Doctor in 1978, having appeared in several major films (including the thriller The Odessa File, alongside Jon Voight). As the duo searched for the elusive segments of The Key to Time over Season Sixteen, the idea of a fellow Time Lord companion from the elite working with our hero was clearly prior inspired by the female Gallifreyan character of Rodan (Hilary Ryan), during the events of The Invasion of Time.

PRISONER AND HOSTAGE!

 

The infamous Stangmoor Prison is under UNIT control and most of its inmates, formerly manipulated by The Master, have been either killed or rounded-up- all bar Mailer (William Marlowe, in an impressive performance) - a villainous thug with a modicum more intelligence than others of his ilk, soon taking Jo Grant by gunpoint hostage in front of a surprised and seeming helpless Doctor. A great end of episode cliff-hanger moment from Don Houghton's excellent second story for the early phase of the Pertwee era - the action/chiller The Mind of Evil. This scene publicity image is certainly one of the most recognisable from the fan-loved six-parter. 

"DO NOT FIGHT IN HERE!"

In the dark lair of the cunning Emperor Dalek, a civil war has started amongst his race, in this terrific image captured on a stage at Ealing Studios for the conclusion to The Evil of the Daleks, a masterpiece from the Patrick Troughton era surviving only by one singular episode at this time yet soon likely to be animated fully over the next few years by BBC Worldwide. We can but hope that the animation is at best on a par with the re-done The Power of the Daleks, or at least a cut above the mildly disappointing work done with the recent Fury from the Deep.

I remember first seeing this atmospheric image published in Gary Levy's ego-driven mega-rant (but always highly readable) DWB, circa late 1984. 

A link below to an article from Starburst magazine on the state of Missing Episodes post 2013 - the piece is a few years old now but still has continuing relevancy in some areas.

https://www.starburstmagazine.com/features/feature-doctor-who-the-missing-episodes