The Top 8 Music Moments from Doctor Who

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 AkhatenThe 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 2The 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.Continue on to the next page…The Cybermen Theme: Multiple The Cybermen are already iconic villains, dating back to the original run of Doctor Who, but with the metallic thud of their feet and cries of ‘delete,’ they also have an accompanying theme that is both ominous and bold; reflective of the steel monsters that are emerging from the shadows. This theme is used throughout the whole of new Who, in various arrangements and different instruments, but has remained as consistent as the Cybermen themselves. Due to its familiarity, it is now often used to tease the arrival of these heartless former humans.Doomsday: Doomsday An emotional ending for another character, this affected a lot of viewers at the time and continues to till this day. The parting of Rose and The Doctor was a moment that already had the potential to be a tear jerker, but the addition of this well crafted and powerful theme set the stage for something really memorable. Some have pointed to the Doomsday theme as being one of the best in all of Doctor Who and whilst it has had many challengers since then, certainly remains one of the most poignant and respected pieces of music from the series.SEE ALSO: 5 Obscure Doctor Who Villains Who Should Return in Series 11Continue on to the next page…Eleventh Doctor Theme: Multiple A much more adventurous piece, the Eleventh Doctor’s theme was one that captured his young spirit and longing for fantastical journeys into unknown realms. The example I have chosen here is alongside one of Smith’s best speeches, in the series finale of his debut year. Whilst the theme has been used many times since then and continued to evolve with the character, this is perhaps one of the purest uses of it. A manchild shouting and laughing at the world, ready for whatever challenges comes his way.The Shepard’s Boy: Heaven SentA Peter Capaldi entry now and in my opinion, the best of his run. Riffing a little off of his own theme, but becoming integral to this continued scene in Heaven Sent, the appropriately titled Shepard’s Boy is both warm and impactful, as the Doctor relives the same events over and over again, dying repeatedly. This thoughtful theme not only added much more to the sequence, but also stood out above the interesting dialogue, to become one of the themes that fit the visuals of a scene best in this list. This actually reminds me a little of a Harry Potter score and that is absolutely a compliment.Melody Pond: A Good Man Goes to WarThe next song on this list owes its credit to a lot of the scores that accompany Gallifrey and River Song. This big moment in the arc of the Pond’s culminates in the identity of River being revealed to her own parents. Whilst the story itself is grand here, the music that accompanies it is sweet and gentle for a while, before building to the revelation that this episode is giving us. No other music would fit as perfectly into this scene as what was produced and I believe the scene was uplifted by the composers operatic choices.This Is Gallifrey: Mulitple Continue on to the next page…Much like the richness of the Melody Pond theme above, the song of Gallifrey has a history and power to it, entrenched with the Time Lords. Ebbing and flowing, this theme has been used across the series to show the strength and power, the danger and eventual return of the Doctor’s home planet. Here it is being used to remember the past of the Doctor, with the more violent ending becoming very symbolic of the threat that Gallifrey poses; a threat that the Doctor would have to face much later.Title Sequence: Multiple Whilst that is the end of my list, it seemed to be inappropriate not to mention the theme that is synonymous with the series. The opening credits of Doctor Who has evolved over time and here is a video demonstrating that. However, there is always a similarity between them, always a freshness and always a quality score. Indeed, the series may just have some of the best themes in all of sci-fi.George Chrysostomou

The Top 8 Music Moments from Doctor Who

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