George Chrysostomou looks at the best music moments from Doctor Who since its revival…
Doctor Who has long been synonymous with iconic music. With its initial theme breaking down barriers, incorporating unique sounds and techniques into a main stream TV show, Doctor Who has been at the cusp of some of the best music on the small screen. With great big, adventurous orchestral pieces and smaller, more intimate character themes, Doctor Who has a huge range of musical scores to draw from. This article looks at the series since the 2005 soft reboot and the eight best musical pieces to come out of those many episodes. It would be remiss of me not to mention Murray Gold in this, whose work has been instrumental to the success of the themes of the show, as well as the spin-offs such as Torchwood and The Sarah Jones Adventures. Here is therefore, the top 8 best music from the timey wimey series…
The Long Song: The Rings of Akhaten
The start of this list is courtesy of the Matt Smith era of Who, featuring in Series 7, Episode 7, as the people of Akhaten sing to ward off the evil parasite in the sky, trying to get it to ‘wake up.’ It accompanies a moving speech about the Time Lord’s memories that is one of Smith’s best performances of the show and adds a sense of depth and tragedy to the scene. The lead vocals, that of a young girl seen throughout the episode, are simplistic yet effective, being one of the few songs on this list that’s related to the plot. Warm and moving, this song and speech lifted a mediocre episode, becoming a memorable part of the series, despite what came before being less than stellar.
Vale Decem: The End of Time Part 2
The next offering comes from the David Tennant era of the show and is perhaps stuck in fans minds as being heavily linked to the end and that iconic quote ‘I don’t want to go.’ The music of the Tenth Doctor’s regeneration was emotional and powerful enough to bring many people to tears. Beautifully accompanying the scene, this was perhaps not only the musical height of the two parter we were treated to over the Christmas period. Finishing off a fantastic episode and a memorable run for Tennant, the score given was fitting for the dramatic occasion.
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Originally published November 18, 2018. Updated November 22, 2018.
