Listen to that sound. That weird, sliding, electronic scream that opens every episode. It isn't just a theme song. It’s a ghost in the machine. When the Doctor Who original television soundtrack first hit British airwaves in 1963, people didn’t just listen; they recoiled. They were baffled. Honestly, most of the audience had never heard anything like it because, technically, it wasn't even "music" in the traditional sense. It was a collection of manipulated frequencies and spliced tape loops birthed in a basement room at the BBC.
Delia Derbyshire. Ron Grainer. These are the names you need to know. Grainer wrote the notes on paper, but Derbyshire—working at the legendary BBC Radiophonic Workshop—turned those notes into a shimmering, haunting reality. She used oscillators and white noise. She hand-cut bits of magnetic tape and stuck them together with sticky tape to create rhythm. It was manual labor. It was gritty. It was punk rock before punk existed.
The Raw Magic of the Radiophonic Workshop
You’ve got to understand the context of the early 1960s. Synthesizers weren't something you could just go buy at a shop. They didn't really exist as we know them today. The Doctor Who original television soundtrack was forged in a world of "musique concrète." This meant taking a real-world sound—maybe a plucked string or a metal strike—and slowing it down, speeding it up, or playing it backward until it sounded like something from the Crab Nebula.
The theme tune itself? That iconic "whoosh" was created by manually adjusting the pitch of an oscillator while recording to tape. The "bubbling" bassline came from a single plucked string, sampled and repeated with agonizing precision. It’s weird to think about now, but there were no computers involved. Zero. Just human hands and a lot of patience.
Why the 60s Sound Hits Different
During the era of the First and Second Doctors (William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton), the music was often sparse. It felt lonely. Composers like Dudley Simpson started to become the backbone of the show's soundscape. Simpson is a legend. He basically defined the sound of 70s Doctor Who, but his early work was about atmosphere. He knew when to let the silence do the talking.
Sometimes, the show used "library music." This is basically stock music they bought off the shelf to save money. If you watch The Tomb of the Cybermen, that chilling music isn't "original" to the show, but it’s become synonymous with those silver giants. It’s eerie how well it fits.
The Dudley Simpson Empire and the Shift to Synth
If you’re a fan of the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, you know the Dudley Simpson sound. It’s orchestral but weirdly small. He’d use a handful of musicians—maybe a horn, some percussion, a woodwind—and make them sound like a collapsing empire. It was theatrical. It felt like the BBC’s version of a grand opera on a shoestring budget.
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But then, 1980 happened.
The BBC decided to go "modern." They sacked Simpson—which was a pretty controversial move at the time—and handed the keys to the kingdom back to the Radiophonic Workshop. They wanted more electronics. More "space" sounds. This gave us the Peter Howell era. The theme song got a massive, synth-heavy facelift. It was shiny. It was aggressive. It sounded like the 80s had arrived with a vengeance.
The 80s: From Malcom Clarke to Mark Ayres
This period of the Doctor Who original television soundtrack is polarizing. Some people love the bleeps and bloops; others find them a bit thin compared to the orchestral days. But you can't deny the creativity.
- Malcolm Clarke: He did The Sea Devils back in the 70s using a massive VCS3 synthesizer. It sounded like a fever dream.
- Paddy Kingsland: He brought a more melodic, almost "prog-rock" feel to stories like The Visitation and Logopolis.
- Mark Ayres: He came in at the very end of the original run. His work on The Curse of Fenric is genuinely cinematic. He was pushing the hardware of the late 80s to its absolute limit.
The music was no longer just background noise. It was a character. When the Doctor ran down a corridor, the synthesizers ran with him. It was frantic.
The Murray Gold Revolution
When the show came back in 2005, everything changed. Russell T Davies brought in Murray Gold, and suddenly, the Doctor Who original television soundtrack went from a basement project to a full orchestral explosion. Gold didn't just write tunes; he wrote themes for everything.
You had "Rose's Theme." You had the "Vale Decem" for the Tenth Doctor’s exit. These weren't just electronic textures; they were emotional gut-punches. The music became "cinematic." Some old-school fans complained it was too loud or too "in your face," but it’s hard to argue with the results. Gold’s music defined the New Who era for over a decade. He turned the show into a space opera.
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He used the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Think about that jump. From Delia Derbyshire cutting tape in a tiny room to a 70-piece orchestra recording in a massive hall. It’s a hell of a trajectory.
The Segun Akinola Era: A Return to Roots?
When Jodie Whittaker took over as the Thirteenth Doctor, Segun Akinola was hired to bring a different vibe. He moved away from the bombast of Murray Gold. He went back to those electronic, ambient roots. He actually sampled the original 1963 theme sounds to create his own version. It was a nice nod to the past while feeling very modern—lots of deep bass and "found sound" textures.
It was more subtle. It was "soundscapey." It divided the fanbase again, but that’s basically a tradition for Doctor Who music at this point. If everyone likes it, you’re probably doing it wrong.
Collecting the Soundtracks: A Completionist's Nightmare
If you’re looking to actually own the Doctor Who original television soundtrack, you’re going to need a lot of shelf space. For decades, it was hard to find this stuff. You had the occasional "Best of" LP or a 7-inch single of the theme tune.
Then came Silva Screen Records.
They have been doing the lord's work. They’ve released multi-disc sets for almost every modern season and are slowly but surely digging through the archives for the classic stuff. You can find "The Daleks" or "The Krotons" on vinyl now. It’s wild.
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What to Look For
- The Radiophonic Workshop Compilations: Essential for the 60s and 80s "lab" sound.
- The 50th Anniversary Collection: A massive 4-CD beast that covers the whole timeline.
- Vinyl Reissues: There’s something about hearing the 1963 theme on a spinning record. It just feels right. The pops and clicks of the vinyl blend into the white noise of the original recording.
Why Does This Music Still Rank?
Google loves authority, and the authority on this topic comes from the sheer history of the BBC. The Doctor Who original television soundtrack is a case study in how music evolves alongside technology. From tape loops to Fairlight CMI samplers to digital workstations.
It’s also about the emotional connection. Most people remember where they were when they heard the "Oods" singing or when the "TARDIS" sound effect first kicked in. That sound—the grinding, groaning noise—is actually a recording of a set of house keys being scraped along a piano wire.
That’s the secret. It’s all "fake" sounds making real emotions.
Common Misconceptions
A lot of people think Ron Grainer "wrote" the music you hear in the credits. He wrote the melody. But he didn't make the sounds. When he heard what Delia Derbyshire had done with his notes, he famously asked, "Did I write that?" Her reply? "Mostly." She deserved a co-composer credit, but the BBC rules at the time were strictly against it. It’s a bit of a tragedy, honestly. She’s the unsung hero of electronic music.
Also, many think the music is always the same. It isn't. Every era has a different "DNA." The 70s are woodwinds and tension. The 80s are Yamaha DX7s and digital coldness. The 2000s are soaring strings.
How to Experience the Soundtrack Today
If you want to really "get" the Doctor Who original television soundtrack, don't just listen to it on your phone speakers. Get a decent pair of headphones.
- Listen for the layers: In the early stuff, try to hear the different tape loops.
- Watch the episodes: See how the music reacts to the monsters. In The Daemons, the music is almost folk-horror. In The Caves of Androzani, it’s a techno-thriller.
- Check out the live Proms: The BBC has done several "Doctor Who Proms" at the Royal Albert Hall. Seeing an orchestra play this music live changes your perspective on it.
Actionable Steps for Fans and Collectors
- Start with the "Doctor Who: The 50th Anniversary Collection": It's the best entry point to see which era of music you actually prefer before buying specific season soundtracks.
- Support the Archive Releases: Look for the Mark Ayres-restored soundtracks. He’s spent years cleaning up old tapes that were literally rotting in vaults. The sound quality on the recent "The Collection" Blu-ray sets is the best these tracks have ever sounded.
- Explore the Radiophonic Workshop: If you like the 60s sound, look up the standalone work of Delia Derbyshire and John Baker. It’s "library music" but it’s basically the blueprint for modern electronic artists like Aphex Twin.
- Follow Silva Screen Records: They are the primary source for physical releases. They often do limited edition colored vinyl which, let's be honest, looks great on a shelf even if you're just streaming the music on Spotify.
The music of Doctor Who is a living thing. It’s a 60-year experiment in what happens when you let creative people play with sounds they aren't "supposed" to use. Whether it’s a scratched piano wire or a $100,000 synthesizer, it’s all part of the same mad journey through time and space.