"Doctorin' the Tardis" is a 1988 electronic

novelty Novelty (derived from Latin word ''novus'' for "new") is the quality of being new, or following from that, of being striking, original or unusual. Novelty may be the shared experience of a new cultural phenomenon or the subjective perception of an ...

pop single by the Timelords ("Time Boy" and "Lord Rock", aliases of

Bill Drummond William Ernest Drummond (born 29 April 1953) is a Scottish artist, musician, writer, and record producer. He was a co-founder of the late-1980s avant-garde pop group the KLF and its 1990s media-manipulating successor, the K Foundation, with wh ...

and Jimmy Cauty, better known as

The KLF 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 ...

). The song is predominantly a mash-up of the ''Doctor Who'' theme music and Gary Glitter's " Rock and Roll (Part Two)" with sections from " Blockbuster!" by

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, ketone ...

. The single was not well received by critics but was a commercial success, hitting number one on the UK and New Zealand singles charts, and reaching the top 10 in Australia, Finland, Ireland and Norway. The Timelords followed up their chart-topping record with a "how to have a number one" guide, ''

The Manual (How to Have a Number One the Easy Way) ''The Manual (How to Have a Number One the Easy Way)'' is a 1988 book by "The Timelords" ( Jimmy Cauty and Bill Drummond), better known as The KLF. It is a step-by-step guide to achieving a No.1 single with no money or musical skills, and a case ...

''.

Context

The release of "Doctorin' the Tardis" followed a self-imposed break from recording of Drummond and Cauty's sampling outfit,

The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu 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 ...

(The JAMs). The single continued The JAMs' strategy of sampling and juxtaposing popular musical works. However, unlike the cultish limited releases of The JAMs, in which Drummond's

Clydeside Greater Glasgow is an urban settlement in Scotland consisting of all localities which are physically attached to the city of Glasgow, forming with it a single contiguous urban area (or conurbation). It does not relate to municipal government ...

rapping and social commentary were regular ingredients, "Doctorin' The Tardis" was an excursion into the musical mainstream, with the change of name to "The Timelords" and an overt reliance on several iconic symbols of 1970s and 1980s

British popular culture British culture is influenced by the combined nations' history; its historically Christian religious life, its interaction with the cultures of Europe, the traditions of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland and the impact of the British Empir ...

, including Gary Glitter's " Rock and Roll Parts 1 and 2", the '' Doctor Who'' theme song, ''Doctor Who's''

Dalek 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 ...

s and the

TARDIS The TARDIS (; acronym for "Time And Relative Dimension In Space") is a fictional hybrid of the time machine and spacecraft that appears in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its various spin-offs. Its exterior a ...

's " Blockbuster!" and

Harry Enfield Henry Richard Enfield (born 30 May 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer and director. He is known in particular for his television work, including '' Harry Enfield's Television Programme'' and ''Harry & Paul'', and for the creation and ...

's character 'Loadsamoney'. "We were going to make a dance record", Drummond explained, "a house recording using the Doctor Who theme tune... Jimmy had been working on some rhythms for it and he played it for me in the car when we were driving down to the studio... and I said 'that's a Glitter beat, we can't have a Glitter beat on a house record, that won't work at all'... y thethird day f working on itwe realised we'd got a number one single". "We just had to go with it in the end" agreed Cauty.The KLF interview, ''

Snub TV ''Snub TV'' (also known as simply ''Snub'') was an alternative culture television program that aired from 1987 to 1989 as a segment on the '' Night Flight'' overnight programming on the USA Network, and subsequently for three seasons on the BB ...

'', 30 January 1989 Drummond recalled the experience in a

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

interview with Richard Skinner in late 1990. Skinner called the record an "aberration", to which Drummond pleaded "guilty", adding that "we justified it all by saying to ourselves 'We're celebrating a very British thing here... you know, something that

Timmy Mallett Timothy Luke Mallett (born 18 October 1955) is an English TV presenter, broadcaster, and artist. He is known for his striking visual style, colourful glasses, loud shirts, and giant pink foam mallet, known as "Mallett's Mallet", as well as hi ...

understands'". In a KLF Communications information sheet, Drummond called "Doctorin' the Tardis" "probably the most nauseating record in the world" (a claim also made on the label of the record itself) but added that "we also enjoyed celebrating the trashier side of pop".

Ford Timelord

Credit for the "Talent" behind the song was attributed not to Drummond (Time Boy) and Cauty (Lord Rock) but to "Ford Timelord", Cauty's 1968 Ford Galaxie American police car reg plate "WGU 18G", formerly known as the JAMsmobile. The car, which had previously appeared on the cover of The JAMs' album '' Who Killed The JAMs?'', was thematically tailored to The JAMs, depicting their 'pyramid blaster' emblem on its doors and the number 23 on its roof; it was also Cauty's daily driver. Cauty and Drummond claimed that Ford gave them instructions on how to make the record. Ford featured prominently on the sleeve of "Doctorin' the Tardis", where he is quoted as saying "Hi! I'm Ford Timelord. I'm a car, and I've made a record", and "...I mixed and matched some tunes we all know and love, got some mates down and made this record. Sounds like a hit to me". Promotion of the single centred around Ford Timelord who was even "interviewed" on television. The "Doctorin' the Tardis"

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

features Ford Timelord driving around the countryside in pursuit of some rather crudely designed Daleks, his wailing siren audible throughout. The music video was filmed in central

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, England. Two of Wiltshire's landmarks, the

Cherhill White Horse Cherhill White Horse is a hill figure on Cherhill Down, 3.5 miles east of Calne in Wiltshire, England. Dating from the late 18th century, it is the third oldest of several such white horses in Great Britain, with only the Uffington White Horse ...

and the Lansdowne Monument, can be seen in the video. The video was filmed in part at the now defunct RAF Yatesbury, a Royal Air Force base in

, and—according to The Timelords—cost in the region of £8,000 to make.

Critical reception

'' Melody Maker'' described "Doctorin' the Tardis" as "pure, unadulterated agony ... excruciating". ''

Sounds In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

'' reasoned that it was "a record so noxious that a top ten place can be its only destiny", calling it a "rancid reworking of ancient discs". In a retrospective look at novelty records and a defence of the genre, Peter Paphides wrote in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

s music monthly that "the one novelty record most people admit to liking is 'Doctorin' The Tardis' by The Timelords... The reason for this, presumably, is that it's nice to be in on the same joke as arch pop ironist Bill Drummond. Fine, but let's not forget that if The KLF weren't passionate about how brilliantly dumb pop can be they wouldn't have got to Number One." The "reason we purport to hate novelty records", he argued, "is because we continue to romanticise the creative process. We feel that our intelligence is insulted by novelty." A 1994 piece in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' called "Doctorin'" a "piss-take". "It was a triumph for Trash Art and it spent exactly one week at the top of the chart. Perfect." Music critic Tom Ewing, writing for Freaky Trigger, later gave the song a 9/10 in a series where he individually reviews every UK number one single ever, saying it mixes the Doctor Who theme tune "with the pop sounds of 1974, the year of glam rock and

Davros Davros () is a character from the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He was created by screenwriter Terry Nation, originally for the 1975 serial ''Genesis of the Daleks''. Davros is a major enemy of the se ...

, scarves on the Rollers and scarves on the new Doctor, glitterbeat and “Blockbuster” airhorns. It's a companion piece to "

Theme From S'Express "Theme from S-Express" is an acid house song by British electronic dance music group S'Express, from their debut studio album, ''Original Soundtrack'' (1989), written and produced by Mark Moore and Pascal Gabriel. One of the landmarks of early ...

" in that sense and just as good – part of the same rediscovery of the 70s, beckoning the boy gangs of yobs and nerds onto the dancefloor, the ones

Mark Moore Mark Moore (born 12 January 1965) is a British dance music record producer and DJ. He was founder of the dance / sampling pioneers S'Express, and runs the London nightclubs, 'Electrogogo' and 'Can Can'. Biography Moore began his DJ career ...

didn't invite to his party. You could put it in a line of descent from “

Hoots Mon "Hoots Mon" is a song written by Harry Robinson, and performed by Lord Rockingham's XI. It was a number-one hit single for three weeks in 1958 on the UK Singles Chart. It is based on the old Scottish folk song " A Hundred Pipers". It was also o ...

” and “ Mouldy Old Dough” too – novelty monsters which catch a time more truly than some of the serious songs do."

Legacy

The Timelords released one other product on the strength of "Doctorin' the Tardis", a 1989 book called ''

'', in which they candidly described the logistical processes and efforts that sealed the record's commercial success. After The Timelords, Drummond and Cauty became The KLF. An American CD reissue of the single in 1991 lists the artist as The Timelords/The KLF, and features both a KLF track (the original Pure Trance version of " What Time Is Love?") and "Gary In The Tardis" (retitled "Gary Joins The JAMS" on this release), a version of "Doctorin' the Tardis" with vocals by Gary Glitter referencing his own songs. While The KLF's string of "Stadium House" singles, beginning with " What Time Is Love?", found large popular appeal and worldwide chart success, other later specific attempts of Drummond and Cauty to top the charts were less successful. The KLF's " Kylie Said to Jason" in 1989 failed to achieve the chart success for which it was designed, peaking outside the Top 100, and Cauty's novelty project Solid Gold Chartbusters with Guy Pratt, which was designed to achieve a 1999 Christmas number one single, did not reach the UK Top 40. A track on the 2005 '' American Edit'' mash-up project, titled "Doctor Who On Holiday" combines "Doctorin' the Tardis" with Green Day's " Holiday".

Formats and track listing

"Doctorin' the Tardis" was given an international single release on 23 May 1988. In the US it was re-issued in 1991, containing The KLF's " What Time Is Love? (Pure Trance Original)". The formats and track listings are tabulated below: The song was released on streaming services as part of the " Solid State Logik 1" album on 1 January 2021. Key *DR - "Doctorin' the Tardis" (radio edit / 7" Mix) (3:37) *DC - "Doctorin' the Tardis" (Club Mix / 12" Mix / Mega Mix / Extended Mix) (8:15) *DM - "Doctorin' the Tardis (Minimal / Instrumental)" (4:28) *DV - "Doctorin' the Tardis (Video Mix)" (2:20) *GT - "Gary in the Tardis" (3:26) *GM - "Gary in the Tardis (Minimal)" (4:08) *GJ - "Gary Joins The JAMs" (usually 6:22) *W - "What Time Is Love? (Pure Trance Original)" (7:06)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

* Discogs.com
KLF Communications discography
1988 singles Timelords songs UK Singles Chart number-one singles UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles KLF Communications singles Music based on Doctor Who Novelty songs Number-one singles in New Zealand Mashup songs Song recordings produced by the KLF 1988 songs Songs written by Jimmy Cauty Songs written by Bill Drummond Songs written by Gary Glitter Songs written by Mike Leander Songs written by Nicky Chinn {{authority control