Though I’m a big fan of late 80s Doctor Who composer Mark Ayres, I’m afraid his personal favorite of his TV scores has to go down as my least favorite. Of course, it could just be that my view of the episode in question, a zany but sinister romp with evil robotic clowns in a twisted circus called – you guessed it – The Greatest Show In The Galaxy – is that it’s less than a classic, and maybe I’m lumping my opinion of the music in with that as well. In many places, especially the more eerie passages, Ayres’ music held the show together and even sounds good away from the little screen, but the action cues threaten to break into a dance beat at any moment, and the “source music” (music which is played in a scene which the characters can hear, as opposed to the usual “incidental music”) which puts slightly different twists on age-old circus themes, is positively grating. Proceed with caution if you get this album – it’s a circus in and of itself!
- introduction – Doctor Who Theme (1:35)
- The Psychic Rap (0:49)
- Invitation to Segonax (3:55)
- Bellboy and Flowerchild (1:43)
- A Warning (0:50)
- Fellow Explorers (1:51)
- The Robot Attacks (1:06)
- Something Sinister (2:47)
- “Welcome, One and All!” (1:16)
- The Circus Ring (2:17)
- Deadbeat (0:38)
- Eavesdropping (4:06)
- “Let Me Entertain You” / Stone Archway (4:12)
- The Well (4:23)
- Powers on the Move (2:42)
- Sifting Dreams (3:14)
- Survival of the Fittest (2:01)
- Bellboy’s Sacrifice (2:59)
- Plans (2:11)
- The Werewolf / “Request Stop” (5:50)
- The Gods of Ragnarok (3:42)
- Playing for Time (10:21)
- Entry of the Psychic Clowns (3:28)
- Liberty Who (2:25)
- Psychic Carnival (2:03)
- coda – Kingpin’s New Circus (0:36)
- epilogue – Doctor Who theme (2:56)
Released by: Silva Screen
Release date: 1992
Total running time: 75:56