Review Summary: An exhaustive and satisfying collection that spans 50 years of TV in four discs or less, and a good way to celebrate 50 years of sci-fi music.
It's not very often that television can hold the claim of lasting 50 years on end, and whether Canadian network executive Sydney Newman knew it or not, he was onto something truly ambitious. His vision? A time traveling alien who travels in a time machine through the seas of time and space, who can reinvent himself upon death and chooses companions to go on journeys with him. Now it's not easy for a show like his to last 50 years, as The Doctor himself changes every few or so years. And so must the show- writers, show runners, costume/prop/special effects teams, actors, and the main focus here: music. Since Ron Grainer and Delia Derbyshire began making the soundtrack for this sci-fi horror show for the whole family, the music department has undergone a number of changes as well, and all composers- said two primary composers, Peter Howell, Dominic Glynn, Keff McCulloch, John Debney and current composer Murray Gold- are highlighted well enough in this mammoth four disc collection.
The theme itself deserves a special mention. How it came to be is quite an interesting story in itself- it is often considered the first ever piece of electronic music, as it was composed entirely on objects that aren't instruments- an oscillator, a single plucked string and tape cutters. It was so ahead of its time that Ron Grainer reacted in shock to its sound, asking, "did I really write that???". And since then it's gone through various different forms- perhaps my favourite of which being Peter Howell's 1980-1986 arrangement, composed entirely on two keyboards, and his voice. Yes, that's right, he sings into the mic, but you think it's a synthesizer. And there's a synth that sounds suspiciously like a guitar, adding the power of rock to Doctor Who. Perhaps the most cringe-worthy is Dominic Glynn's cheesalicious, chock-filled-with-synth variation used for one serial during Colin Baker's era. Unlike Howell's, it's jarring and the synth is even
out of tune. And then the variations with more epic sweep, such as Debney's and all five of Gold's variations, are worth listening to, and it's interesting to hear how such a scary and atmospheric song can made to sound like a battle anthem with much ease.
Now, getting to the music aside from the theme, this four disc behemoth does a good job at choosing some of the best music from the show's run, and it's interesting to hear how the music has "evolved" through the years. Even in the show's era where it over relied on synth, there is some good stuff to be found. However, an entire disc devoted to the new era is featured here, which has a good selection of songs such as the heartbreaking and tear-jerking "The Doctor Forever" and "Vale Decem", to the playful and adventurous "I Am the Doctor" and "The Wedding of River Song". And to be honst, this is the most interesting disc, which brings me to a negative I have with this collection- there really isn't much to say about the music on classic
Doctor Who. Sure, it does the job and fits the situations well, but much of them are just background filler with a few notes at most. So it goes without saying the most interesting part of the classic
Who music is Peter Howell's. While mostly relying on synths, the music is enough to make up for it as there are some eerie and haunting melodies to be found here. "The Caves of Androzani" suite is suitably depressing, given that this is a very depressing story that culminates in Peter Davison regenerating to Colin Baker. His "Five Doctors" suite is also very interesting, and does sum up the playful and adventurous nature that this 20th anniversary special takes to.
So overall, if you're a Whovian like I am, then you can take solace in knowing that if you don't want to shell out the ridiculous price of $25 for a single season soundtrack (I swear,
The Wall by Pink Floyd costs less nowadays), this $35 four disc set is worth your money and proves to be much bang for your buck. There's enough music to save you the trouble of going and buying tons of soundtracks and skipping through all the filler to find something worthy of being called a "standout", and it sums up all the eras that Doctor Who has gone through rather quite well. Now even despite the fact that I'm a die-hard fan of
Doctor Who, I'd say that if the stories and Doctors interest you more than the music, your money can better be spent on building your
Who DVD collection, but ultimately if you need to own any CD, then this is most definitely it.
