Shakedown: The Return Of The Sontarans – music by Mark Ayres

Posted on by Earl Green
2 min read

I bought this without having seen the video production from which it sprang, simply on the strength of Mark Ayres of Doctor Who fame having done the music. Two of his scores from the show’s last season in 1989 are among my favorite soundtracks. While the Shakedown soundtrack is not bad, it’s not exactly in the same mold as The Curse of Fenric or Ghost Light. While it boasts, like those two scores, a synth-orchestral feel – and, indeed, many of the mock-orchestral sounds available through current synthesizer technology are far more convincing than those Ayres used in 1989 – what the music from Shakedown most resembles is the collection of Dudley Simpson reproductions on the Doctor Who Pyramids of Mars disc. That really sums up this entire album in a nutshell. There are many synthesizer sounds which really come off as silly in the 90s unless you take into account that the composer was raised on the sound of Dudley Simpson’s Who scores of the ’60s and ’70s. Most fans who grew up listening to the same material will instantly recognize the source of the sound Ayres has achieved, although most who have been spoiled by the much more sophisticated sounds of Christopher Franke, Dennis McCarthy and John 4 out of 4Williams may find the approach to be amateurish. However, Ayres exhibits more flair with his synth-percussion and infuses his work with more brass than strings, and includes a very interesting operatic vocal in one (presumably) climactic track. Considering that the Sontarans – the alien menaces who return in this movie – were themselves products of mid ’70s Doctor Who, the style of the music is appropriate.

Order this CD

  1. Shakedown – main title (2:05)
  2. The War Wheel (0:55)
  3. Working Dress (0:48)
  4. Sail Drill / Virtual Rigging (2:22)
  5. The Storming of the Tiger Moth (4:41)
  6. A Bit of This, A Bit of That (3:58)
  7. Engine Room (2:18)
  8. Return of the Sontarans (5:30)
  9. Survival At All Costs (1:02)
  10. Robar Remembered (1:46)
  11. A Glorious Death (2:27)
  12. Monster Hunt (1:23)
  13. Worthy Enemies (5:19)
  14. Epilogue and End Title (3:32)
  15. Theme from Shakedown (5:53)

Released by: Silva Screen Records
Release date: December 20, 1995
Total running time: 44:17

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