Key Crew working on
THE GUNFIGHTERS who have previously worked on the show:
- Donald Cotton (Writer)
- Innez Lloyd (Producer)
Who: Before And After #1556 / Doctor Who: Key Crew: Story #25 - The Gunfighters
Name: Rex Tucker [1913 - 1996]
Role(s): Director [4 episodes]
Year(s): 1966
Stories: The Gunfighters part 1: A Holiday For The Doctor - The Gunfighters part 4: The O'K Corral
Note(s):
- Contributed to the lyrics of the song "The Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon" in the story
- Requested that his director's credit be removed from the closing captions of the final episode - "The O.K. Corral" - following a disagreement with producer Innes Lloyd over the editing of the gunfight sequence
He had a significant impact upon the very beginnigs of 'Doctor Who'.
- Despite gaining no on-screen credit, in May 1963 he became the programme's first producer, as an 'interim' or 'caretaker' until Sydney Newman was able to find a permanent replacement. Also, if the programme had been filmed for its intended launch date - August 24, 1963, he would have been the director of 'An Unearthly Child' making him the first producer AND director to work on the show
- On 28 May 1963, he became the first in a very long line of people to send a memo to his superiors about the unsuitability of Lime Grove Studio D for Doctor Who. His memo to Donald Wilson [BBC drama department Head of Serials]worked, inasmuch as it got Wilson, Ayton Whitaker [Drama Group Administrator at the BBC] and Ian Atkins [Controller of Programme Services for Television at the BBC] to accept the word of an experienced director that Lime Grove simply didn't meet the technical requirements of a programme like Doctor Who. It also resulted in Wilson supporting the notion of Riverside Studios as an acceptable substitute, should studios at Television Centre prove unavailable
- He began the process of recruiting staff for the show. He was the original point of contact between 'Doctor Who' and composer Tristram Cary. Though Cary would ultimately not provide the theme and incidental music for the first serial, he would be in place to score The Daleks and The Daleks' Master Plan, cementing some musical punctuation into the fabric of Doctor Who. Tucker would also bring back Cary for The Gunfighters
- He was involved in initial casting for the show. He was the first person to offer the role of the Doctor to an actor (Hugh David). He held casting sessions for the part of Susan and Miss McGovern, (who would become Barbara Wright).
- He was responsible for tempering writer C. E. Webber's contributions to early 'Doctor Who'. He rejected Webber's story 'The Giants' - the first of three attempts to write a story about a miniaturised TARDIS crew. This story would have been the programme's first serial, the one he was slated to direct
Before Who: Director Credits
Films: The Tempest [version 1 ? Broadcast date May 10] (1951), The Tempest [version 2 ? Broadcast date May 13] (1951), The Silver Swan (1952), Victory (1958), Afternoon in River Walk (1961)
Television: The Three Musketeers [6 episodes] (1954) / The Mulberry Accelerator [6 episodes] (1955) / St. Ives [6 episodes] (1955) / Triton [4 episodes] (1961) / Suspense [2 episodes] (1963) / Jane Eyre [6 episodes] (1963) / Madame Bovary [4 episodes] (1964) / The Ordeal of Richard Feverel [4 episodes] (1964) / The Mill on the Floss [4 episodes] (1965) / For Whom the Bell Tolls [4 episodes] (1965) / Eugenie Grandet [3 episodes] (1965-1966) / A Farewell to Arms [3 episodes] (1966)
After Who Films: Hassan (1970), Mr. Wodehouse Speaking (1972)
Television: The Wednesday Play [2 episodes] (1966-1967) / The Paradise Makers [6 episodes] (1967) / Point Counter Point [5 episodes] (1968) / The UK$1,000,000 Bank Note [4 episodes] (1968) / Sinister Street [6 episodes] (1969) / Paul Temple [1 episode] (1970) / Z Cars [1 episode] (1972)