Wish i could, Paul, but this is the first time since it came back with Eccleston that I'm wholly unenthused by the idea of the Christmas special and ensuing series. Apathetic.
I just watched the Comic Relief special with Rowan Atkinson, Jonathan Pryce and allsorts. Does that count at all?
(Hey, the first episode ain't on youtube or available for Amazon or Netflix streaming, and I don't own it, sue me. I did watch the first two stories a couple of years ago, including the really cracking Dalek introduction, so I know what's what.)
(PS You oughta rename the thread with Doctor Who, Paul, so interested parties will click on it. I almost skipped it myself.)
Wish i could, Paul, but this is the first time since it came back with Eccleston that I'm wholly unenthused by the idea of the Christmas special and ensuing series. Apathetic.
Ah well, TG my post on this side of the site was actually just about the original theme from the Classic Series. See? No mention of Murray Gold (though I love his music anyway)! So you can still celebrate. And you'll see on the other side that my main method of celebrating the anniversary is also saluting the past as much (if not more) as looking forward.
Me? This year's festive special doesn't hold much promise for me either, but I ALWAYS look forward to new Doctor Who. And don't forget that after the next series we could see plenty of change with the new management.
I just watched the Comic Relief special with Rowan Atkinson, Jonathan Pryce and allsorts. Does that count at all?
(Hey, the first episode ain't on youtube or available for Amazon or Netflix streaming, and I don't own it, sue me. I did watch the first two stories a couple of years ago, including the really cracking Dalek introduction, so I know what's what.)
(PS You oughta rename the thread with Doctor Who, Paul, so interested parties will click on it. I almost skipped it myself.)
Good point. Had to really change it too, as it was originally meant to be for the day itself. But yes, any way of celebrating is ok. Celebrating it is the main thing.
I love the theme -- both in its original incarnation and all its later permutations -- but I tried to sample some of those recent albums from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and I didn't manage to latch on to much in terms of musicality. Sure, very interesting experimentation, but it has more in common with bruitisme than music per se, IMO.
Wish i could, Paul, but this is the first time since it came back with Eccleston that I'm wholly unenthused by the idea of the Christmas special and ensuing series. Apathetic.
Ah well, TG my post on this side of the site was actually just about the original theme from the Classic Series. See? No mention of Murray Gold (though I love his music anyway)! So you can still celebrate. And you'll see on the other side that my main method of celebrating the anniversary is also saluting the past as much (if not more) as looking forward.
Me? This year's festive special doesn't hold much promise for me either, but I ALWAYS look forward to new Doctor Who. And don't forget that after the next series we could see plenty of change with the new management.
Great stuff. The sixties ones are groundbreaking, the seventies are cool. The eighties are lacklustre and the rest are what you get in modern times. That's the title sequences.
I love all the versions of the theme apart from the second Colin Baker one (Trial of a Time Lord), and the Sylvester McCoy one. The former I call the rubber band between the teeth version/the weakest, and the latter the paper and comb version (ok, or a kazoo) or the most hideous.
The last two of all, being the last Matt Smith era version (another lacklustre one) and your "Screaming Cats theme" (the one for Peter Capaldi) are the worst Murray Gold gave us since it came back and join the ranks of the above poor ones.
I find I actually love all the iterations of the theme, even the current theme. I was delighted to hear the over the top electronic sound. Thanks for posting the links to them.
I wish that video didn't say "as Ron Grainer intended" in brackets, because it misleads many people.
This version in itself is too far ahead of its time.
Of course this version is hideous, and lead many to say "thank God Grainer never did his own version for the show". In truth, he was of course very complimentary about Delia's 'realisation' as a Radiophonic masterpiece.
The other thing to remember is that if the original had been a typical jazzy action piece adorning many US shows, and in the sixties British ITC series like Grainer's own Man in a Suitcase, we'd be none the wiser anyway never having experienced the Radiophonic Workshop's finest hour.
But Thor, if I read you correctly that you'd sampled a few RW collections, I'm assuming you mean those of other tv projects other than Doctor Who. That series is one of the few examples of the Workshop servicing a drama based tv series. They mostly did documentaries, educational programmes and radio. A need somewhat different to the kind of scores we preoccupy ourselves with. As a kid growing up I grabbed a few albums, and was often left wanting, though still enjoyed some of those experimental sounds. And there are a smattering of pleasant tunes and themes along the way. So much so that last year I had the privilege of experiencing a concert.
Of course in the 80s Who started to use the Workshop more in 'our' type of capacity. Genuine tv scoring. Some of those I do like, and there were a number of collections of those from Silva Screen that would be more 'palatable'.
I wish that video didn't say "as Ron Grainer intended" in brackets, because it misleads many people.
This version in itself is too far ahead of its time.
Of course this version is hideous, and lead many to say "thank God Grainer never did his own version for the show". In truth, he was of course very complimentary about Delia's 'realisation' as a Radiophonic masterpiece.
The other thing to remember is that if the original had been a typical jazzy action piece adorning many US shows, and in the sixties British ITC series like Grainer's own Man in a Suitcase, we'd be none the wiser anyway never having experienced the Radiophonic Workshop's finest hour.
What you have to remember is that this was 1963 and there is no reason to think that back then Ron would have arranged Doctor Who in the style of "sixties British ITC series like his own Man in a Suitcase," which was, of course, several years later.
He was told what was required by producer Verity Lambert and wrote accordingly, producing a manuscript "with the sound colours for each line defined." The Radiophonic Workshop & Delia Derbyshire then played their own part in making the theme the classic it still is it today.
The reaction to this video on Youtube is hysterically funny. Posts like "Thank god for Delia," "Delia did us all a favour" and "Delia saved us all" -- the impression is given that Ron's arrangement would have been similar to this (1980) version but luckily it was rescued by Delia.
Ron *wanted* to work with the The Radiophonic Workshop because he knew what they were capable of doing -- he had worked with them before.
This 1980 version was just something he did in the style of the day for a compilation album. He did something similar with his "Tales of the Unexpected" theme for the same album.
I'm genuinely surprised that so many people are finding it difficult or impossible to understand this.
I wish that video didn't say "as Ron Grainer intended" in brackets, because it misleads many people.
This version in itself is too far ahead of its time.
Of course this version is hideous, and lead many to say "thank God Grainer never did his own version for the show". In truth, he was of course very complimentary about Delia's 'realisation' as a Radiophonic masterpiece.
The other thing to remember is that if the original had been a typical jazzy action piece adorning many US shows, and in the sixties British ITC series like Grainer's own Man in a Suitcase, we'd be none the wiser anyway never having experienced the Radiophonic Workshop's finest hour.
What you have to remember is that this was 1963 and there is no reason to think that back then Ron would have arranged Doctor Who in the style of "sixties British ITC series like his own Man in a Suitcase," which was, of course, several years later.
He was told what was required by producer Verity Lambert and wrote accordingly, producing a manuscript "with the sound colours for each line defined." The Radiophonic Workshop & Delia Derbyshire then played their own part in making the theme the classic it still is it today.
The reaction to this video on Youtube is hysterically funny. Posts like "Thank god for Delia," "Delia did us all a favour" and "Delia saved us all" -- the impression is given that Ron's arrangement would have been similar to this (1980) version but luckily it was rescued by Delia.
Ron *wanted* to work with the The Radiophonic Workshop because he knew what they were capable of doing -- he had worked with them before.
This 1980 version was just something he did in the style of the day for a compilation album. He did something similar with his "Tales of the Unexpected" theme for the same album.
I'm genuinely surprised that so many people are finding it difficult or impossible to understand this.
I know he said something along the lines of "did I actually write that?" Otherwise I can assure you NOTHING surprised me. I know that compilation album is typical of it's kind. So, just in case... I know what you're saying here.
Without Grainer there would be nothing for the Workshop to make that iconic job of. Sometimes I read people saying that basically it's all to do with what Delia did, which as we know is rubbish. Without the composition in the first place there would be no iconic theme.
