The ''Doctor Who'' theme music is a piece of music written by
Australian
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal A ...
composer
Ron Grainer
Ronald Erle Grainer (11 August 1922 – 21 February 1981) was an Australian composer who worked for most of his professional career in the United Kingdom. He is mostly remembered for his television and film score music, especially the theme mus ...
and realised by
Delia Derbyshire
Delia Ann Derbyshire (5 May 1937 – 3 July 2001) was an English musician and composer of electronic music. She carried out notable work with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop during the 1960s, including her electronic arrangement of the theme ...
at the
BBC Radiophonic Workshop
The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was one of the sound effects units of the BBC, created in 1958 to produce incidental sounds and new music for radio and, later, television. The unit is known for its experimental and pioneering work in electroni ...
. Created in 1963, it was one of the first
electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...
signature tunes for television. It is used as the theme for the science fiction programme ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'', and has been adapted and covered many times.
Although numerous arrangements of the theme have been used on television, the main melody has remained the same. The theme was originally written and arranged in the key of
E minor
E minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative major is G major and its parallel major is E major.
The E natural minor scale is:
:
Changes needed ...
. Most versions of the theme – including the current arrangement by
Segun Akinola
Segun Akinola (born 1993) is an English composer for television and documentaries. He took over from Murray Gold as the director and composer of the music for '' Doctor Who'' from " The Woman Who Fell To Earth" in 2018 until " The Power of the ...
– have retained the use of the original key, with exceptions being
Peter Howell (
F# minor) and
Keff McCulloch
Keff McCulloch is an English composer best known for his electronic music for ''Doctor Who'' in the late 1980s.
In 1987, he was employed by producer John Nathan-Turner to arrange the ''Doctor Who'' theme music for the Seventh Doctor, Sylvester ...
's (
A minor
A minor is a minor scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats and no sharps. Its relative major is C major and its parallel major is A major.
The A natural minor scale is:
:
Changes ...
) arrangements.
Although widely listed in reference works, and many series soundtrack albums, under the title "Doctor Who Theme", its official title is "Doctor Who", although its initial sheet music release used the now-deprecated form "Dr. Who".
History
1960s
The original 1963 recording of the ''Doctor Who'' theme music is widely regarded as a significant and innovative piece of electronic music, recorded well before the availability of commercial synthesisers.
Delia Derbyshire
Delia Ann Derbyshire (5 May 1937 – 3 July 2001) was an English musician and composer of electronic music. She carried out notable work with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop during the 1960s, including her electronic arrangement of the theme ...
(assisted by
Dick Mills
Dick Mills (born 1936) is a British sound engineer, specialising in electronic sound effects which he produced at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
Mills was one of the original staff at the Radiophonic Workshop, joining in 1958 as a technical as ...
) of the
BBC Radiophonic Workshop
The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was one of the sound effects units of the BBC, created in 1958 to produce incidental sounds and new music for radio and, later, television. The unit is known for its experimental and pioneering work in electroni ...
used
musique concrète
Musique concrète (; ): " problem for any translator of an academic work in French is that the language is relatively abstract and theoretical compared to English; one might even say that the mode of thinking itself tends to be more schematic, ...
techniques to realise a score written by composer
Ron Grainer
Ronald Erle Grainer (11 August 1922 – 21 February 1981) was an Australian composer who worked for most of his professional career in the United Kingdom. He is mostly remembered for his television and film score music, especially the theme mus ...
. Each note was individually created by cutting, splicing, speeding up and slowing down segments of
analogue tape containing recordings of a single plucked string,
white noise
In signal processing, white noise is a random signal having equal intensity at different frequencies, giving it a constant power spectral density. The term is used, with this or similar meanings, in many scientific and technical disciplines, ...
, and the simple
harmonic
A harmonic is a wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'', the frequency of the original periodic signal, such as a sinusoidal wave. The original signal is also called the ''1st harmonic'', the ...
waveforms of
test-tone oscillators which were used for calibrating equipment and rooms, not creating music.
The main, pulsing bassline rhythm was created from a recording of a single plucked string, played over and over again in different patterns created by splicing copies of the sound, with different pitches and notes achieved by playing the sample in different speeds. The swooping melody and lower bassline layer were created by manually adjusting the pitch of oscillator banks to a carefully timed pattern. The non-swooping parts of the melody were created by playing a keyboard attached to the oscillator banks. The rhythmic hissing sounds, "bubbles" and "clouds", were created by cutting tape recordings of filtered white noise.
Once each sound had been created, it was modified. Some sounds were created at all the required pitches direct from the oscillators, others had to be repitched later by adjusting the tape playback speed and re-recording the sound onto another tape player. This process continued until every sound was available at all the required pitches. To create dynamics, the notes were re-recorded at slightly different levels.
Each individual note was then trimmed to length by cutting the tape, and stuck together in the right order. This was done for each "line" in the music – the main plucked bass, the bass slides (an organ-like tone emphasising the grace notes), the hisses, the swoops, the melody, a second melody line (a high organ-like tone used for emphasis), and the bubbles and clouds. Most of these individual bits of tape making up lines of music, complete with edits every inch, still survive.
This done, the music had to be "mixed". There were no multitrack tape machines, so rudimentary multitrack techniques were invented: each length of tape was placed on a separate tape machine and all the machines were started simultaneously and the outputs mixed together. If the machines fell out of sync, they started again, maybe cutting tapes slightly here and there to help. In fact, a number of "submixes" were made to ease the process – a combined bass track, combined melody track, bubble track, and hisses.
Grainer was amazed at the resulting piece of music and when he heard it, famously asked, "Did I write that?" Derbyshire modestly replied, "Most of it." However the BBC, who wanted to keep members of the Workshop anonymous, prevented Grainer from getting Derbyshire a co-composer credit and a share of the royalties.
The theme can be divided into several distinctive parts. A rhythmic bassline opens and underlies the theme throughout, followed by a rising and falling set of notes that forms the main melody which is repeated several times. The
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
, also known as the "
middle eight
The 32-bar form, also known as the AABA song form, American popular song form and the ballad form, is a song structure commonly found in Tin Pan Alley songs and other American popular music, especially in the first half of the 20th century.
A ...
", is an uplifting interlude in a
major key
In music theory, the key of a piece is the group of pitches, or scale, that forms the basis of a musical composition in classical, Western art, and Western pop music.
The group features a '' tonic note'' and its corresponding ''chords'', al ...
that usually features in the
closing credits
Closing credits or end credits are a list of the Cast member, cast and Film crew, crew of a particular Film, motion picture, television program, or video game. Where opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear clos ...
or the full version of the theme. During the early years of the series the middle eight was also often heard during the opening credits (most notably in the first episode, ''
An Unearthly Child
''An Unearthly Child'' (sometimes referred to as ''100,000 BC'') is the first serial of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast on BBC TV in four weekly parts from 23 November to 14 December 1963 ...
'').
The theme is written in the E minor
phrygian mode
The Phrygian mode (pronounced ) can refer to three different musical modes: the ancient Greek ''tonos'' or ''harmonia,'' sometimes called Phrygian, formed on a particular set of octave species or scales; the Medieval Phrygian mode, and the modern ...
.
The theme has been often called both memorable and frightening, priming the viewer for what was to follow. During the 1970s, the ''
Radio Times
''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...
'', the BBC's own
listings magazine
A listings magazine is a magazine which is largely dedicated to information about the upcoming week's events such as broadcast programming, music, clubs, theatre and film information.
The BBC's ''Radio Times'' was the world's first listings m ...
, announced that a child's mother said the theme music terrified her son. The ''Radio Times'' was apologetic, but the theme music remained.
Derbyshire created two arrangements in 1963: the first was rejected by the producers, but was released as a single. The second arrangement, a slightly modified version of the first, was used on the first episode of the programme. The two 1963 arrangements served, with only minor edits and additions requested by the producers, as the theme tune up to 1980 and the end of
Season 17
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...
. The most notable of these edits were addition of 'electronic spangles', and
tape echo, from the second episode of
Patrick Troughton
Patrick George Troughton (; 25 March 1920 – 28 March 1987) was an English actor who was classically trained for the stage but became known for his roles in television and film. His work included appearances in several fantasy, science fiction ...
serial ''
The Faceless Ones
''The Faceless Ones'' is the mostly missing eighth serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 8 April to 13 May 1967.
In this serial, the Sec ...
'' (1967) onwards (although it was originally made for preceding serial ''
The Macra Terror
''The Macra Terror'' is the completely missing seventh serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 11 March to 1 April 1967.
In this serial, ...
'', a production error led to the previous arrangement still being used; this also occurred in episodes 4 and 5 of ''
Fury from the Deep
''Fury from the Deep'' is the completely missing sixth serial of the fifth season in the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which originally aired in six weekly parts from 16 March to 20 April 1968.
In this serial, the D ...
'').
1970s
During the
Third Doctor
The Third Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He was portrayed by actor Jon Pertwee. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lord fro ...
's era, beginning in 1970, the theme tune was altered. The theme was edited to match the new credit sequence, with an added stutter/pre-echo to the bassline at the start of the theme, a shortened introduction and part of the main motif repeated to fade at the end of the titles. The "middle eight" was no longer used in the opening sequence. Over the closing credits, parts of the tune were duplicated as required for the theme to end with the credits, rather than fading out as it had previously. The "sting", an electronic shriek, was added to punctuate the episode
cliffhanger
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhang ...
s and serve as a lead-in to the closing theme from ''
The Ambassadors of Death
''The Ambassadors of Death'' is the third serial of the seventh season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in seven weekly parts on BBC1 from 21 March to 2 May 1970. Written by Trevor Ray, Te ...
'' (1970) onwards, with the "middle eight" also falling out of use in the closing credits from this serial. The first three serials of
Season 8
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In tempera ...
reverted to the 1967 arrangement before reinstating the Third Doctor's arrangement for the last two serials of that year. During the
Fourth Doctor
The Fourth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Tom Baker.
Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lord from the ...
era, the "middle eight" was heard on only four episodes during his first six seasons – ''
The Invasion of Time
''The Invasion of Time'' is the sixth and final serial of the 15th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 4 February to 11 March 1978. It features the fin ...
'' parts 3, 4 and 6 and ''
The Armageddon Factor
''The Armageddon Factor'' is the sixth and final serial of the 16th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 20 January to 24 February 1979. It was the las ...
'' part 6. The adoption of
Peter Howell's arrangement in 1980 re-instated the section.
In 1972, there was an attempt by
Brian Hodgson
Brian Hodgson (born 1938) is a British television composer and sound technician. Born in Liverpool in 1938, Hodgson joined the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in 1962 where he became the original sound effects creator for the science fiction programm ...
and
Paddy Kingsland
Paddy Kingsland (born 30 January 1947) is a composer of electronic music best known for his incidental music for science fiction series on BBC radio and television whilst working at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Educated at Eggar's Grammar Sch ...
, with Delia Derbyshire acting as producer, to modernise the theme tune using the Radiophonic Workshop's modular "
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
" synthesiser (named after the Workshop's location at Delaware Road). The "Delaware" arrangement, which had a distinct
Jew's harp sound, was not well received by BBC executives and was abandoned. The master tapes were given to a fan at the 1983 Longleat celebrations by Hodgson and were never returned. The episodes that used it were redubbed with the 1970 Derbyshire arrangement, but lacking the short bassline stutter at the beginning of the music. The Delaware version was accidentally left on some episodes which were sold to Australia, and survives today in this form. (The complete version of this arrangement of the music is included as an extra on the
DVD release of ''
Carnival of Monsters
''Carnival of Monsters'' is the second serial of the tenth season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 27 January to 17 February 1973.
In the serial, set ...
''; it is also included on the CD release ''Doctor Who at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop: Volume 2: New Beginnings 1970–1980''.)
The first single arising from the show to make the UK Singles Chart was "Dr. Who" by
Mankind
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, an ...
. The track was based on the theme music and was Mankind's only hit single. Released by
Pinnacle
A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was mainly ...
on 25 November 1978, the song peaked at Number 25 in the UK Singles Chart and ran for 12 weeks in the BBC Top 75.
1980s
For
season 18, Radiophonic Workshop staffer
Peter Howell provided a new arrangement performed on
analogue synthesiser
An analog (or analogue) synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog signals to generate sound electronically.
The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s, such as the Trautonium, were built with a variety of ...
s, and having a more dynamic and glossy but less haunting feel. Its bassline was created on a
Yamaha CS-80
The Yamaha CS-80 is an analog synthesizer released in 1977. It supports true 8-voice polyphony, with two independent synthesizer layers per voice each with its own set of front panel controls, in addition to a number of hardwired preset voice set ...
synthesiser, with reversed echo added, adding to its characteristic "zshumm" sound and emphasising especially the bass slides (which are otherwise still more upfront than in the Derbyshire theme). The sting at the beginning was also created with the CS-80, using its unique
ring modulator
In electronics, ring modulation is a signal processing function, an implementation of frequency mixing, in which two signals are combined to yield an output signal. One signal, called the carrier, is typically a sine wave or another simple w ...
section. The opening line of the main melody was played on an
ARP Odyssey Mk III, the second on an
EMS Vocoder
A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''voice'' and ''encoder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation.
The vocoder was ...
5000, and the "middle eight" and the brass section on a
Roland Jupiter-4
The Roland Jupiter-4 (JP-4) was an analog synthesizer manufactured by the Roland Corporation between 1978 and 1981. It was notable as the company's first self-contained polyphonic synthesizer, and for employing digital control of analog ci ...
. The 1980 arrangement added the sting to the opening theme as well, while the "middle eight" was included in the closing theme arrangement of all episodes. Howell's theme is in the key of
F♯ minor
F-sharp minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative major is A major and its parallel major is F-sharp major (or enharmonically G-flat major).
T ...
. The full version mix also contains a section that Howell calls the "Trombone Stop" which is a part in the record on which the brass sounds like it goes up a flight of stairs towards the climax note at the end on which the rerverse sting is added.
The Howell theme was eventually replaced by a new arrangement by
Dominic Glynn
Dominic Francis Glynn (born 27 September 1960 in Cuckfield, Sussex) is an English electronic composer.
Glynn is a prolific composer of music for television and film. His work includes the arrangement of the ''Doctor Who'' theme music which se ...
for
Season 23
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...
's ''
The Trial of a Time Lord
The twenty-third season of British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', known collectively as ''The Trial of a Time Lord'', aired in weekly episodes from 6 September to 6 December 1986. It contained four adventures: ''The Mysterious ...
'' (1986). This version – again synthesizer-driven, like the Howell arrangement, only this time using digital synthesizers – was made to sound more mysterious than previous renditions but was only used for this single season of the series. Glynn's theme reverts to the traditional key of E minor, even though it is slightly detuned in some episodes (perhaps as a result of a mistake in the dubbing stage). The bassline was performed on a
Roland Juno-6
The Roland Juno-60 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the Roland Corporation between 1982 and 1984. It followed the Juno-6, an almost identical synthesizer released months earlier. The Juno synthesizers introduced Roland's digitally control ...
synthesiser, while the melody and filtered noise effects were performed on a
Yamaha DX21
The Yamaha DX21 is a digital controlled bi-timbral programmable digital FM synthesizer with a four operator synth voice generator which was released in 1985. It uses sine wave-based frequency modulation (FM) synthesis. It has two FM tone genera ...
and
Korg 770
, founded as Keio Electronic Laboratories, is a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instruments, audio processors and guitar pedals, recording equipment, and electronic tuners. Under the Vox brand name, th ...
respectively. The theme removes the bass slides which were featured in all previous official arrangements, and is instead merged into the main bassline.
The Glynn arrangement was itself replaced by a new arrangement by
Keff McCulloch
Keff McCulloch is an English composer best known for his electronic music for ''Doctor Who'' in the late 1980s.
In 1987, he was employed by producer John Nathan-Turner to arrange the ''Doctor Who'' theme music for the Seventh Doctor, Sylvester ...
for the
Seventh Doctor
The Seventh Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', and the final incarnation of the original Doctor Who series. He is portrayed by Scottish actor Sylvester McCoy.
W ...
's era beginning with
season 24
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...
(1987). McCulloch's arrangement was made using a
Sequential Circuits Prophet-5
The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the American company Sequential. It was designed by Dave Smith and John Bowen in 1977, who used microprocessors, then a new technology, to create the first polyphonic synthesizer with full ...
synthesiser, with the initial 'sting' replaced by a crashing explosive sound. Producer
John Nathan-Turner
John Nathan-Turner (''né'' Turner; 12 August 1947 – 1 May 2002) was an English television producer. He was the ninth producer of the long-running BBC science fiction series ''Doctor Who''. He was also the final producer of the series' first ...
stated that the new music, logo and title sequence were to signal a fresh start to the programme. This was the first version of the theme since the little-used 1973 Delaware version to incorporate the "middle eight" into the opening credits (as well as the closing, although the closing credits saw them extended slightly). McCulloch's theme is in the key of
A minor
A minor is a minor scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats and no sharps. Its relative major is C major and its parallel major is A major.
The A natural minor scale is:
:
Changes ...
. Delia Derbyshire was reportedly unimpressed with McCulloch's version.
1996
The 1996
''Doctor Who'' television movie used a fully orchestrated version, arranged by
John Debney
John Cardon Debney (born August 18, 1956) is an American composer and conductor of film, television, and video game scores. His work encompasses a variety of mediums and genres including comedy, horror, thriller, and action-adventure. He is a ...
. This contained a new introduction, being a quieter piece of music over which part of the
Eighth Doctor
The Eighth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Paul McGann.
The character was introduced in the 1996 TV film ''Doctor Who'', a back-door pilo ...
's (
Paul McGann
Paul John McGann (; born 14 November 1959) is an English actor. He came to prominence for portraying Percy Toplis in the television serial ''The Monocled Mutineer'' (1986), then starred in the dark comedy ''Withnail and I'' (1987), which was a ...
) opening narration was read, leading into a
crescendo
In music, the dynamics of a piece is the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings still require interpretation by the performer dependi ...
into the "middle eight", a departure from previous versions of the theme. Debney's version of the theme begins in A minor, but after the middle eight the main melody is transposed back to E minor, as in the original score. Less evident in this version of the score is the rhythmic bassline that opens and underscores all previous (and later) televised versions of the theme; a bassline is present, but it does not rise and fall in the same way. Debney is the only composer that receives screen credit during the movie, with the by-then-deceased Grainer not being credited on screen for composing the theme. Debney at one point was nearly asked to compose a new theme due to licensing issues regarding the Grainer composition.
2000s
When
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on cult science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'', the ...
began to produce Eighth Doctor audio plays in 2001 (beginning with ''
Storm Warning
At sea, a storm warning is a warning issued by the National Weather Service of the United States when winds between 48 knots (89 km/h, 55 mph) and 63 knots (117 km/h, 73 mph) are occurring or predicted to occur soon. The wi ...
''), they approached composer
David Arnold
David Arnold (born 23 January 1962) is a British film composer whose credits include scoring five James Bond films, as well as ''Stargate'' (1994), '' Independence Day'' (1996), ''Godzilla'' (1998) and the television series ''Little Britain'' ...
, who produced a new arrangement of the ''Doctor Who'' theme for the Eighth Doctor. The Arnold arrangement was used for every Eighth Doctor audio play until 2008's ''
Dead London
''The Eighth Doctor Adventures'' is a Big Finish Productions audio play series based on the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who''. It sees the return of Paul McGann reprising his role as the Eighth Doctor from the 1996 ...
''. They proceeded to use this theme arrangement again from 2012's ''
Dark Eyes'' onward.
In 2005, the television series was revived.
Murray Gold
Murray Jonathan Gold (born 28 February 1969) is an English composer for stage, film, and television and a dramatist for both theatre and radio. He is best known as the musical director and composer of the music for ''Doctor Who'' from 2005, unti ...
's theme arrangement featured samples from the 1963 original with further elements added: an orchestral sound of low horns, strings and percussion and part of the Dalek
ray-gun
A raygun is a science-fiction directed-energy weapon that releases energy, usually with destructive effect.Jeff Prucher, ''Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction,'' Oxford University Press, 2007, page 162 They have various ...
and TARDIS materialisation sound effects. Rapidly rising and falling strings were added to create a
counter-melody
In music, a counter-melody (often countermelody) is a sequence of notes, perceived as a melody, written to be played simultaneously with a more prominent lead melody. In other words, it is a secondary melody played in counterpoint with the prima ...
alongside the main motif.
The sting once again served as the lead-in to the theme, but Gold omitted the "middle eight" from both the opening and closing credits. Gold has said that his interpretation was driven by the title visual sequence he was given to work around. Gold created a variation on his arrangement for the closing credits of "
The Christmas Invasion
"The Christmas Invasion" is a 60-minute special episode of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on BBC One on 25 December 2005. This episode features the first full-episode appearance of David Te ...
", which was performed by the
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
The BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) ( cy, Cerddorfa Genedlaethol Gymreig y BBC) is a Welsh symphony orchestra and one of the BBC's five professional radio orchestras. The BBC NOW is the only professional symphony orchestra organisatio ...
. Unlike his arrangement for the 2005 series, this version restored the "middle eight"; it was also used for the closing credits of the
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
and
2007 series.
A soundtrack of Gold's incidental music for the new series was released by Silva Screen Records on 4 December 2006. Included on the album are two versions of the theme: the 44-second opening version, as arranged by Gold, and a longer arrangement that includes the middle eight. Often erroneously cited as being the same as the end credits version, this second version is in fact a new arrangement and recording. Gold also created another new arrangement of the theme which was performed by the
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
The BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) ( cy, Cerddorfa Genedlaethol Gymreig y BBC) is a Welsh symphony orchestra and one of the BBC's five professional radio orchestras. The BBC NOW is the only professional symphony orchestra organisatio ...
during a special televised concert, ''Doctor Who: A Celebration'' which was broadcast in November 2006 as part of the annual
Children in Need appeal. A
second soundtrack with music from the third series plus the 2007 Christmas special, ''
Voyage of the Damned
''Voyage of the Damned'' is a 1976 drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, with an all-star cast featuring Faye Dunaway, Oskar Werner, Lee Grant, Max von Sydow, James Mason, and Malcolm McDowell.
The story was inspired by actual events conc ...
'', was released on 5 November 2007.
In November 2007, following the BBC's announcement that it was requiring all series to implement a shorter closing credits sequence, Murray Gold produced a third version featuring additional drums, piano and bass guitar and a variation of the string counter-melody while retaining the original Derbyshire electronic melody line, used from the Christmas 2007 episode. The 2008 series featured a modified arrangement of this version.
In 2005, a new orchestral arrangement by
Christopher Austin
Christopher Austin (born 14 November 1968) is a British conductor, and an arranger and orchestrator of film and television scores.
Austin originally intended to become a composer. He studied at the University of Bristol with Adrian Beaumont ...
was commissioned by the BBC for the ''
Blue Peter
''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Tel ...
''
prom
A promenade dance, commonly called a prom, is a dance party for high school students. It may be offered in semi-formal black tie or informal suit for boys, and evening gowns for girls. This event is typically held near the end of the school yea ...
and performed by the
BBC Philharmonic
The BBC Philharmonic is a national British broadcasting symphony orchestra and is one of five radio orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The Philharmonic is a department of the BBC North Group division based at Med ...
. It has also been performed by the
BBC Symphony Orchestra
The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...
as part of the celebration of 75 years at
Maida Vale
Maida Vale ( ) is an affluent residential district consisting of the northern part of Paddington in West London, west of St John's Wood and south of Kilburn. It is also the name of its main road, on the continuous Edgware Road. Maida Vale is p ...
.
2010s
From "
The Eleventh Hour" the theme received a complete reworking to tie in with the new cast, production design and title sequence design. Arranged by Murray Gold, this theme, while still retaining Gold's counter-melody, has the bassline and electronic melody redone by Gold on a synthesizer. The reworking was something of a departure from all previous arrangements, with a prominent new melodic fanfare theme playing in the opening bars, and a percussion sound accenting each quaver of the rhythm. The end credits featured only a short arrangement with introductory fanfare and the final notes of the main theme. The only exception to this was at the end of "
The Beast Below
"The Beast Below" is the second episode of the fifth series of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was written by executive producer and head writer Steven Moffat and broadcast on BBC One and BBC HD on 10 April 20 ...
", where the full theme tune begins under the trailer for "
Victory of the Daleks
"Victory of the Daleks" is the third episode in the fifth series of British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. Written by Mark Gatiss and directed by Andrew Gunn, it was first broadcast on BBC One on 17 April 2010.
In the epis ...
". This is the only episode with this arrangement to feature the 'middle eight'.
A leaked playlist for the
2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony
The opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on the evening of Friday 27 July 2012 in the Olympic Stadium, London, during which the Games were formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the pr ...
suggested that the theme would be performed, but this did not occur.
The theme and title sequence was revised yet again for the 2012 christmas special, "
The Snowmen
"The Snowmen" is an episode of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', first broadcast on Christmas Day 2012 on BBC One. It is the eighth ''Doctor Who'' Christmas special since the show's 2005 revival and the first to be ...
", to coincide with a change of companion. This new piece retains the melodic fanfare of the opening bars, as well as Gold's bassline and lead – albeit with all of them modified (with the latter two's timbre modified – especially the bassline, and the lead dipping slightly downwards during the first high B note) and lacking both the heavy use of percussion from the previous arrangement, and removing the counter-melody that featured in all previous Gold arrangements. However, for the end credits of this episode, the previous arrangement was still used. This arrangement was revised further for "
The Bells of Saint John
"The Bells of Saint John" is the sixth episode of the seventh series of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. It premiered in the United Kingdom on 30 March 2013 on BBC One; the episode was the first of the second ha ...
", featuring a more prominent bassline and removing the electronic beeps during the opening fanfare. The end credits were updated to use this version of the theme, now featuring the main melody repeated twice, in place of the fanfare. The ending of the opening theme was altered to incorporate some orchestral elements from the 2010–2012 version, along with some other minor changes. The 'sting' is unusually quiet in this closing arrangement, often being drowned by the last seconds of the 'next time' trailer and the start of the actual theme.
A further revision of the arrangement was made for the 50th Anniversary special "
The Day of the Doctor
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
". The fanfare over the opening bars was absent for the first time since 2010, and more of the electronic elements were removed or replaced (but the percussion and bassline were made more prominent, and the bass slides were re-instated as well) . The 'middle eight' section was also reinstated, for the first time since 2010's "
The Beast Below
"The Beast Below" is the second episode of the fifth series of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was written by executive producer and head writer Steven Moffat and broadcast on BBC One and BBC HD on 10 April 20 ...
".
For the 2013 Christmas special, "
The Time of the Doctor
"The Time of the Doctor" is an episode of the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who'', written by Steven Moffat and directed by Jamie Payne, and was broadcast as the ninth ''Doctor Who'' Christmas special on 25 December 201 ...
", the theme used throughout Series 7 Part 2 was reinstated.
The arrangement of the theme was once again revised in 2014 to mark the introduction of
Peter Capaldi
Peter Dougan Capaldi (; born 14 April 1958) is a Scottish actor, director, writer and musician. He portrayed the Twelfth Doctor, twelfth incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' (2013–2017) and Malcolm Tucker in ' ...
as the
twelfth incarnation of
The Doctor. This version removed the opening fanfare of the 2010–2012 and 2012–13 versions, returning to the traditional opening bars with a prominent bassline, accompanied by bells and a variety of futuristic sound effects, as well as a new sting as the theme opens. This leads into the main melody, now more electronic and screech-like in homage to the
Howell
Howell may refer to:
Places
In the United Kingdom
*Howell, Lincolnshire, England
In the United States
*Howell, Georgia
* Howell, Evansville, a neighborhood of Evansville, Indiana
*Howell, Michigan
* Howell, Missouri
*Howell, Utah
* Howell C ...
and
Glynn
Glynn () is a small village and civil parish in the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council area of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies a short distance south of Larne, on the shore of Larne Lough. Glynn had a population of 2,027 people in th ...
themes of the 1980s. The 'middle eight' is absent from any broadcast version of the theme, and as such the closing credits cut straight to the main melody as they did in Series 7 Part 2. However, it was reinstated for an extended version of the theme released on the series 8
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
album in May 2015.
As of the third episode of Capaldi's debut season, "
Robot of Sherwood
"Robot of Sherwood" is the third episode of the eighth series of the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who''. It was written by Mark Gatiss and directed by Paul Murphy, and was first broadcast on BBC One on 6 September 2014.
...
", the new 2014 theme was suddenly polished further, blending in the intro transition sound and bass elements of the 2008 version.
In the
fourth episode of the
ninth series, the intro has an electric guitar playing throughout, which continues from the Doctor playing
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
's Fifth Symphony in the pre-intro scene on an electric guitar.
The theme music received another revision in 2018 for
Jodie Whittaker
Jodie Whittaker (born 17 June 1982) is an English actress who is best known for portraying the thirteenth incarnation of the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' (2017–2022) and as Beth Latimer in ''Broadchurch'' (2013–2017).
She came to prominence ...
's first series as
the Doctor, this time by new composer
Segun Akinola
Segun Akinola (born 1993) is an English composer for television and documentaries. He took over from Murray Gold as the director and composer of the music for '' Doctor Who'' from " The Woman Who Fell To Earth" in 2018 until " The Power of the ...
. Akinola's version of the theme incorporates several elements of previous versions of the theme, including the melody line from the original 1963 version and cliffhanger "sting" introduced in 1970, remixed with newly synthesised elements and a drum-based bassline rhythm.
Remixes and remakes
* "
Embryo
An embryo is an initial stage of development of a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male spe ...
" was the first Pink Floyd song to contain an excerpt of the theme, appearing in live performances in 1971, although in "Embryo" only the first two bars of the theme would play, as opposed to a much longer segment in "Cymbaline". Oddly, these two songs were often performed at the same concerts. "
One of These Days", the opening track of
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
's 1971 album ''
Meddle
''Meddle'' is the sixth studio album by English rock band Pink Floyd, released by Harvest Records. The album was produced between the band's touring commitments, from January to August 1971 at a series of locations around London, including EM ...
'', echoes the theme about 3 minutes into the track. The reference was made more explicit in live performances.
In addition, their song "
Sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...
" has a bassline very similar to the theme song's bassline and the opening 3 notes of the main theme are played at 06.47, whilst live performances featured a much longer excerpt of the theme.
* In 1986,
BBC Records
BBC Records was a division of the BBC founded in 1967 to commercially exploit the corporation's output for radio and television for both educational and domestic use. The division was known as BBC Radio Enterprises (1967–1970), BBC Records ( ...
released a
7" single
In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separate ...
titled ''Doctor Who: Theme from the BBC-TV Series'' featuring the original Ron Grainer theme arranged by Dominic Glynn on side one, and ''Doctor Who'' "Cosmic Remix" by
Mankind
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, an ...
on side two. Additionally, they issued it as a three-track
12" single also including the original theme interpreted by Delia Derbyshire. The 12" vinyl outer sleeve features a 3-D hologram featuring
Daleks
The Daleks ( ) are a fictional extraterrestrials in fiction, extraterrestrial race of mutants principally portrayed in the British science fiction on television, science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. They were conceived by write ...
as well as other ''Doctor Who'' villains. This release was also issued as a cassette
maxi-single
A maxi single or maxi-single (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song.
The first maxi singles
Mungo Jerry's first single, "In the Summertime" was the ...
featuring the same tracklist, and in virtually the same 12" hologram sleeve except for a die-cut section featuring a clear plastic blister to house the cassette case.
* In 1988,
The Timelords (also known as The JAMs and later The KLF) released the single "
Doctorin' the TARDIS
"Doctorin' the Tardis" is a 1988 electronic Novelty record, novelty pop Single (music), single by the Timelords ("Time Boy" and "Lord Rock", aliases of Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty, better known as The KLF). The song is predominantly a Mashup (m ...
" on their own
KLF Communications
The KLF (also known as the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, the JAMs, the Timelords and other names) are a British electronic band formed in London in 1987. Bill Drummond (alias King Boy D) and Jimmy Cauty (alias Rockman Rock) began by releasing h ...
label. The song used samples from ''Doctor Who'',
Gary Glitter
Paul Francis Gadd (born 8 May 1944), best known by his stage name Gary Glitter, is an English former singer, songwriter, and record producer. He achieved success during the glam rock era of the 1970s and 1980s, and his career ended after he w ...
's "
Rock and Roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
(Part 2)", and
Sweet
Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones ...
's "Blockbuster", including samples from ''
Genesis of the Daleks
''Genesis of the Daleks'' is the fourth serial of the twelfth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was written by Terry Nation and directed by David Maloney, and originally broadcast in six weekly parts from ...
''. The single reached number one in the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
on 12 June, and also charted highly in Australia and New Zealand.
A latter USA release of the CD single by
TVT Records
TVT Records (Tee-Vee Tunes) was an American record label founded by Steve Gottlieb. Over the course of its 24-year history, the label released 25 Gold, Platinum and Multi-Platinum releases. Its roster included Nine Inch Nails, Ja Rule, Lil Jon, ...
featured an extended tracklist; including an instrumental version that was commonly played during
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
pledge drive
A pledge drive is an extended period of fundraising activities, generally used by public broadcasting stations to increase contributions. The term "pledge" originates from the promise that a contributor makes to send in funding at regular interval ...
breaks during their broadcasts of
the series
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
in the USA. Unlike the UK or European releases, this remained in print for some time after the popularity of the single among sci-fi retailers. The song, along with "Rock and Roll (Part 2)", was combined with
Green Day
Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a powe ...
's "
Holiday
A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...
" for "Dr. Who on Holiday", a track on the
mash up album ''
American Edit''.
* English electronica duo
Orbital covered the song which became a regular part of their live shows and is heard as background music in the comedy film ''
Haggard
Haggard may refer to an adjective reflecting exhaustion or poverty.
Haggard may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Haggard (band), a German symphonic metal group
* ''Haggard'' (TV series), a British comedy television series
* '' Ha ...
''.
*In 2002 after archiving and digitizing the original masters of various original themes in the 1990's,
Mark Ayres
Mark Ayres is an electronic musician, composer and audio engineer.
Ayres studied music and electronics at Keele University. He also worked as a sound engineer at TV-am between 1982 and 1987. As a television composer, he became known for providi ...
used Derbyshire's original masters to mix full stereo and surround sound versions of the theme. Ayres revised the mix in 2006, for the ''Doctor Who'' DVD box set "The Beginning", as the 2002 mix contained an editing error in the bassline. He then used the original Howell master in 2007 to revise the mix, and the Glynn master in 2008 for the DVD's and Bluray releases. Currently, the master multitracks have never been released, neither as 'remix
Stem
Stem or STEM may refer to:
Plant structures
* Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang
* Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure
* Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...
pack'. The masters can only be used for commercial use with a project or license supplied by
BBC Studios
BBC Studios is a British content company. It is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC that was formed in April 2018 through the merger of the BBC's commercial production arm and the BBC's commercial international distribution arm, BBC Worldwide. ...
.
*In 2013, Doctor Who fan Marinedalek released a remake of the Howell theme titled 'Howell's Odyseey'. The remake since it first uploaded in 2013 attracted many Doctor Who fans on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
mainly for how accurately it sounds to the original theme in itself. The theme used virtual software synthesizers (VST's) to recreate the sounds. The sounds of the CS80 was made on a Memorymoon ME80, the sounds of the main melody lead was made on a virtual ARP Odyseey and the Vocoders were made using 2 plugins, the TAL Vocoder and the Imageline Vocoder. In addition, the Middle 8 was produced using the TAL-U-No-LX which has an arpgeddiator like the Jupiter 4.
* In 2014 Dominic Glynn revisited his 1986 arrangement, releasing a digital four-track mini-album of remixes entitled "The Gallifrey Remixes".
* In 2017 British musician
Hank Marvin
Hank Brian Marvin (born Brian Robson Rankin, 28 October 1941) is an English multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and songwriter. He is widely known as the lead guitarist for The Shadows, a group which primarily performed instrumentals and was the ba ...
, previously lead guitarist in
The Shadows
The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...
, recorded a cover version of the theme for his solo album ''Without a Word''.
* In 2018 Filipino indie electro-rock band Stereodeal released their own cover version of the tune,
which they also played live occasionally.
* Also in 2018, British comedian
Matt Berry
Matthew Charles Berry (born 2 May 1974) is an English actor, comedian, musician, and writer. He is best known for his roles in comedy series such as '' The IT Crowd'', ''Garth Marenghi's Darkplace'', ''The Mighty Boosh'', ''Snuff Box'', ''What ...
recorded a version of the music for his album of retro TV theme covers, ''Television Themes''.
* There is an EP by
Giuseppe Ottaviani
Giuseppe Ottaviani (; born 12 November 1978) is an Italian DJ and record producer. He's best known for his 2019 album, EVOLVER, which included the hit singles Tranceland, 8K, & Panama. A long-time veteran of trance music, Ottaviani is also a me ...
called Doctor Who.
See also
*
List of ''Doctor Who'' music releases
*
List of music featured on ''Doctor Who''
* "
Doctor in Distress"
*
List of ''Doctor Who'' composers
*
"Uprising" (Muse song)
References
External links
Lost tapes of the ''Doctor Who'' composerA history of the ''Doctor Who'' themeBBC link to original ''Doctor Who'' theme excerpt(with video, RealMedia format)
BBC Radiophon-A-Tron – Mix Your Own Version of the ''Doctor Who'' theme!Doctor Who Matt Smith at Glastonbury 2010 with Orbital playing the Theme
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doctor Who Theme Music
Theme music
Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...
Television drama theme songs
Electronic compositions