Classic Tunes of the Week: 8. Daleks and Thals, by Malcolm Lockyer (1965)

In memory of the late Ray Cusick, the imaginative designer behind the iconic design and look of the Daleks, who sadly passed away a few days ago, I'd thought I would choose a Dalek-themed music track in tribute. Here's a wonderful theme composed for the Daleks by Malcolm Lockyer for the 1965 film re-adaption of the classic Doctor Who story, The Daleks, rather unimaginatively called Dr. Who and the Daleks and famously starred the renowned Horror and Science Fiction film actor, Peter Cushing as the Doctor.

This track is actually called Daleks and Thals, and features a very obvious musical rip-off of the James Bond theme, however, the melody and other sections produce a rather fantastic little piece. Film music fans will notice is that even though this is the theme Lockyer used throughout the movie for the Daleks, this particular recording is actually the released single version of the theme, neatly summarised as a nice little pop-like instrumental.

Enjoy.

8. Daleks and Thals, by Malcolm Lockyer (1965)

My thoughts on...Doctor Who - Series 6 (2011)

Matt Smith’s first year as the Doctor in Series 5 last year was an outstanding triumph. In fact it was the best series Doctor Who had produced since 1989, with classic episodes abound, and such a consistency in quality writing that I don’t think anybody expected to see so soon. In a previous post last year, I wondered if this was the beginning of Doctor Who’s second golden age (the first being 1970-1977). However, like many others I sadly spoke too soon.

The new Doctor Who series this year was something of a mixed bag. Very brave, experimental, with more complex writing than ever before, but it wasn’t always pulled off successfully. Steven Moffat’s season story arc in particular, tried to create a large narrative that played with the conventions and ideas about Time Travel, even having parts of the narrative itself travel through time to occur in different parts of the story arc progression, contrary to the logical progression of story narrative.

I don’t have a problem with this approach, although it’s clear that many of the casual and older audience did. Being in my mid-twenties, I enjoyed this fresh and different approach to storytelling. I found it simple to understand, but it’s clear that the older and casual audience did not, probably because they are less used to change in narrative storytelling conventions, and also because I suspect that the casual audience in particular use Television more as a medium for entertainment to have running in the background like the Radio, and move their attentions away for a five minute chat, before going to back to the TV, hoping they haven’t missed anything. Personally, I find this quite an insulting attitude to Drama on Television. No wonder the critics think its “dumbing down”. A TV Drama writer should be allowed to write a complex and clever script without fear of criticism from less intelligent or casual viewers. Having said that though, Steven Moffat’s story arc did have some quite noticeable flaws.

Although, the story arc successfully supported the events of The Impossible Astronaut two-part opener, you couldn’t help but think that in second half of the series, a lot of the developments were rushed, without proper room for the build up of dramatic tension and character development. Let’s Kill Hitler is a classic example of this. All the ideas and actions were good and sound, but they all happened so quickly we weren’t able to care about them. The Tesselecta and the people behind them are never really examined or explained, the backstory of Melody Pond is whizzed through in a few minutes, and Melody decides to save the Doctor only half an hour after poisoning him. The latter scene in particular was clearly meant to be a powerful and emotionally moving moment, but because there was no time for a believable character development that would lead up to it, I didn’t really believe in or feel for that moment. Let’s Kill Hitler and Steven Moffat tried to cram a 90-minute storyline into a 45-50 minute episode, and it doesn’t work. The episode is still rather good in its component parts, but it fails to make us care about it. The Wedding of River Song is much less rushed in comparison, but also feels somewhat hollow and sterile, perhaps as a consequence, because in the long term, the audience have never convincingly been sold River Song as a character to care for.

That was the main reason for series 6 feeling a disappointment, but there were others too. The Curse of the Black Spot and Closing Time felt like some of the weakest episodes for several years, which was a surprise considering the wealth of great talent on them. Closing Time was especially disappointing given how good The Lodger had been, completely wasting the inclusion of the Cybermen, and producing one of the most cringeworthy and risible resolutions I'v ever seen in a Doctor Who  episode. Thankfully, it wasn’t all bad news, there were still some amazing classics to behold and enjoy, particularly The Doctor’s Wife, The Girl Who Waited, and The God Complex, which stand high among the best of Doctor Who episodes. The Girl Who Waited was probably my favourite of the series, and showcased the best of a TARDIS team (Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill) that I've come to love over the last two years.

So in short, despite the failings of series 6 it was far from a failure, and still quite good in comparison to earlier David Tennant seasons, but I think series 5 raised everyone’s expectations to a degree higher than was possible to keep up. With the Doctor now back into the Universe, hoping to be be involved in more smaller-scale adventures, there’s still hope that one day Doctor Who’s new golden age will still take place.

My visit to Doctor Who at the Proms (Sunday 25th July)

I have been to a few classical concerts over the last few years –Rachmaninov, Film themes, Tchaikovsky – all were really fantastic, and this concert was no exception. I was one of the lucky 10,000 people to have booked a ticket to see Doctor Who at the Proms. I attended the Sunday performance on the 25th July, and it was also the first time I had personally seen Doctor Who music performed live. And I absolutely loved it.

The ‘Madman with a Box’ intro was inspired, and Yamit Mamo’s vocals were just beautiful, with the added reverb making them sound magical. It was definitely one of my favourite pieces of the concert. Then two fun and lighter pieces followed – ‘An Untimely Arrival’ and John Adams’ ‘Ride in a Fast Machine’, which was an interesting, if rather experimental piece. The highlight for most people I suspect though was Murray Gold’s main theme for Series 5, listed as ‘I am The Doctor’, which was as absolutely magnificent as it was meant to be, and another favourite of mine. I also enjoyed the performance of Holst’s ‘Mars’ from The Planets, which seemed particularly energetic.

Of course, it wasn’t too long before the Monsters came out, first Judoon and Cybermen, followed by an ‘Ironside’ and an all-new Supreme Dalek, and later Silurians and Vampires would fill the hall later on. Even The Doctor himself, appeared in character for a brief spot of audience participation.

Most of the rest of the concert featured more of Murray Gold’s more incidental music such as ‘Battle of the Skies’, ‘Liz, Lizards, Vampires and Vincent’ and ‘The Pandorica Opens’, which although were still good, lacked the epic and melodious nature of his most loved themes. Fortunately, there were more of those to come.

My most favourite piece of the concert though, was ‘Amy’ (Amy’s Theme), which was epic, magical, moving, rousing, and definitely the most powerful piece of music of the day. I just love it to bits. It just seemed to have everything.

There was also an extended flashback to the Russell T. Davies era via a performance of ‘This is Gallifrey’ with an added new arrangement of ‘Vale Decem’ – the 10th Doctor’s Regeneration theme. ‘Vale Decem’ in particular was a spectacular piece to hear live, after it’s impressive appearance in The End of Time, with Mark Chambers once again wowing the audience with his high vocals. The arrangement was also fascinating too, with a powerful organ playing out underneath it’s powerful climax, making the ending feel very Dudley Simpson-esque (Dudley Simpson composed incidental music for Doctor Who between 1964 and 1979).

After an entertaining performance of ‘Song of Freedom’, the best TV theme in the World (the Doctor Who theme of course) was performed brilliantly by the orchestra, although the bass line was sadly lost once more. After such a brilliant, I am in no doubt that Murray Gold must surely be Doctor Who's best ever incidental music composer.

As a side note though, I was disappointed with the reaction to the Doctor Who Proms by outside media, saying that Doctor Who fans were so swept up by Matt Smith and the monsters that they wouldn’t appreciate the genius of the older classical music in the concert, which I find very insulting. I became a big fan of classical music at around the same time that I became a Doctor Who fan (1995), and I’m sure that anyone over the age of 10 who loves Murray Gold’s music will be able to equally appreciate and love the music of other classical composers. Any below that age will of course be more affected by a Cyberman or Matt Smith, because they’re too young to have educated and defined tastes in Music, it should go without saying. Sometimes, I think cynicism should be a sin.

Back to the bright side, overall I had a fantastic day out. I heard some amazing Doctor Who music live, seen Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill on Stage (albeit unfortunately at a great distance), and even had time to look round London afterwards. I even saw glimpses of Doctor Who royalty such as the Peter Davison family, Mark Gatiss, and even accidentally walked in the way of Steven Moffat and son (sorry Steven) (I was embarrassed for over an hour). A day to remember.

My Reflection on Doctor Who - Series 5 (2010)

Over 3 weeks ago now, the New Series 5, or Season 31 (as I like to call it) of Doctor Who finished in spectacular style with The Big Bang. The last few weeks have allowed time for the last 13 episodes to sink in, and looking back, I’m both happy and excited that it was a resounding success, not just as a series by itself, but also as a forward-thinking, positive improvement in the quality of Doctor Who on the whole.

Not that it was in an absolute mess beforehand mind you; both Series 4 and The Waters of Mars were a world away from the dire excesses of Series 2 in 2006, but I felt generally that the programme was gradually slipping into more lazy, self-indulgent, and celebratory story-telling – living off Doctor Who’s recent past successes. After Steven Moffat took over head-writing and executive duties from Russell T. Davies though, he made Series 5 an effective reboot that while paid respect and homage to the magnificence of the Russell T. Davies era, returned the programme back to a clear and firm sense of direction and purpose, the like of which hadn’t been seen since Series 1 back in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston as The Doctor. Then as now, with Matt Smith and Karen Gillan, there was a great dynamic and developing relationship between both Doctor and companion, and a strong Story arc that overall lived up to its promise.

Now though, lightning seems to strike twice for the new revived incarnation of WHO. As with Series 1, Series 5 has put Doctor Who back on the map as a brilliant, imaginative and quality show. And its stars have excelled too. What Matt Smith lacks in gravitas, he more than makes up for in character and performance; and Karen Gillan is proving to be one of the most fun and interesting companions ever.

Although, I still feel that New WHO is a distance away from the height of its powers. Even though this is the best the programme has been in a decade, it still hasn’t quite matched the heyday of the show in the 1970’s, even with better production values. The Big Bang may have finished off the Series well, but it could have worked even better had Steven Moffat not tried to out-epic Russell T. Davies in the scope of his writing. I am confident though, that if his early success this year is anything to go by, then his future series are sure to be amazing. Who knows? We may soon even enter the best Golden years Doctor Who has ever had! It has never been a more exciting time to be a Doctor Who fan! (Well not for my generation anyways.)