Tag: Dick Mills

Categories
1987 2023 D Doctor Who Music Reviews Soundtracks Soundtracks by Title T Year

Doctor Who: Time And The Rani – music by Keff McCulloch

5 min read

Order this CDSo, picture this if you can: it’s the end of 1987, and my local PBS station presents the four-part Doctor Who story Time And The Rani in “movie” format during a pledge drive, talking about how viewer support keeps imported shows like Doctor Who on the schedule. Wow! I’m getting to see Sylvester McCoy’s first episode as the Doctor the same year it premiered! And the following week, Doctor Who was no longer on the schedule, leaving my home-recorded VHS tape of Time And The Rani as my only specimen of the seventh Doctor’s adventures until a tape trade in 1991 or so brought the rest of his televised adventures to me. By the time I saw any more of McCoy’s Doctor Who tenure, I had to experience it via Target novelizations and soundtracks such as the 25th anniversary album and the 1991 release of The Curse Of Fenric soundtrack. I’d go back and rewatch Time And The Rani a lot in that time, too, just trying to envision what the rest of the shows were like. Its soundtrack was burned into my brain.

And now, at least, it’s burned on a CD for everyone to hear independent of the dialogue and sound effects. I’ve always held the view that, for all of the awkwardness of Time And The Rani as a whole (not only is there a new Doctor, but incoming script editor Andrew Cartmel‘s influence was hardly felt on the scripts, which were originally conceived for Colin Baker’s Doctor), it holds a lot of charm as well, and one of my favorite elements was the soundtrack. It was Keff McCulloch’s first score for the show, as well as his first film or TV score of any kind, and it’s both identifiably ’80s and very atmospheric. In the CD liner notes, McCulloch pleads guilty on perhaps overusing the “orchestral stab” sample, and while that may be true, he’s hardly the only composer working during that period whose work over-relied on that sound. (I used to have a Yamaha keyboard with “orchestral stab” on it, and I too used the hell out of both that and the “handclaps” which would feature prominently in later McCulloch scores.)

The most interesting thing about the score for Time And The Rani, in hindsight, is that it brings a pop music sensibility to Doctor Who’s music that hadn’t been heard since, arguably, the last time Paddy Kingsland had scored the show during the BBC Radiophonic Workshop’s early ’80s heyday of handling all of the series’ music. The various iterations of “Future Pleasure” have vocal samples that may sound whimsical now, but were still part of the Art of Noise‘s playbook when this music was first heard on TV – pretty cutting-edge stuff for television scoring. But the numerous musical visits to “The Tetrap Eyrie” and especially “Cliffhanger In The Eyrie” have a superbly eerie atmosphere. In an admittedly synthesized way, some of these tracks hint at an orchestral future for Doctor Who’s sound.

Bonus tracks reveal the evolution of McCulloch’s take on the Doctor Who theme from demo to the version used on the show, as well as the evolution of elements of the score. In particular, the gradual cluttering-up of what was a perfectly good piece of music for the new Doctor picking his new wardrobe was eye-opening; I wonder who made the decision that what that scene really needed was the sound of breaking glass as punctuation. (There was no breaking glass as part of the scene itself, where the sound comes across as a comedy affectation that really didn’t boost the scene’s chances of being taken seriously.)

4 out of 4With its mind-bendingly colorful cover artwork and the sounds within, this long overdue release is a reminder that, regardless of what some fans might claim, all was not lost when it came to late ’80s Doctor Who. I still have a lot of love for this score, orchestral stabs and all. It may be a more challenging listen for those who have been raised on 21st century Doctor Who’s less-sampled orchestral sound, but for those of us who watched the show in something not far removed from real time, this was the sound of the Doctor’s travels, and it’s a delightful nostalgia trip.

  1. The Rani Takes the TARDIS (Sound Effects) (0:22)
  2. Leave the Girl, It’s the Man I Want (0:23)
  3. Doctor Who (Opening Theme) (0:54)
  4. Einstein (0:21)
  5. A Nice Nap (0:34)
  6. Urak and Ikona (1:12)
  7. The Death of Sarn (1:05)
  8. Bull in a Barbershop (0:24)
  9. Not Your Enemy (1:52)
  10. The Tetrap Eyrie (1) (0:46)
  11. Landscape (0:25)
  12. New Wardrobe (1:27)
  13. Mel and the Bubble Trap (1:04)
  14. Mel and the Bubble Trap (continued) (1:33)
  15. The Tetrap Eyrie (2) (0:44)
  16. Wait Here (0:56)
  17. Memory Like An Elephant (1:18)
  18. Faroon, Ikona and the Mourning (1:34)
  19. Urak Nets The Rani (1:39)
  20. Pulses (0:26)
  21. The Rani’s TARDIS (1:03)
  22. You’re a Time Lord (0:39)
  23. She’s Coming (0:29)
  24. Cliffhanger in the Eyrie (1:30)
  25. Doctor on the Loose (Part 1) (0:55)
  26. Doctor on the Loose (Parts 2-4) (1:28)
  27. Doctor on the Loose (Part 5 – The Bubble Trap) (0:33)
  28. Faroon Forlorn / Doctor on the Loose (Part 6) (0:46)
  29. Future Pleasure (4:58)
  30. Beez (0:47)
  31. Hologram Mel (1:29)
  32. Just the Expert (0:24)
  33. As Sentimental as He Is (0:17)
  34. Fixed Trajectory (0:48)
  35. Second Bluff (0:47)
  36. All as Planned (0:20)
  37. The Brain (2:08)
  38. The Brain (reprise) (1:19)
  39. Dissidents to Heel (0:40)
  40. March of the Tetraps / Anklet Death (1:48)
  41. The Rani Explains (1:48)
  42. Urak Overhears (0:27)
  43. Loyhargil (1) (0:48)
  44. As You Snore So Shall You Sleep (0:38)
  45. Loyhargil (2) (0:14)
  46. Where there’s a Will (0:27)
  47. Loyhargil (3) (0:24)
  48. The Rani Leaves (0:20)
  49. Undoing The Rani (2:08)
  50. Fingers Crossed (0:21)
  51. Not Forgotten (0:54)
  52. Time and Tide Melts the Snowman (0:15)
  53. Doctor Who (Closing Theme) (1:13)
     
    Bonus Tracks
  54. Doctor Who 1987 (2:40)
  55. The Death of Sarn (part, alternative version without rattle) (0:22)
  56. Two “stings” (1m10 and 1m12) (0:18)
  57. New Wardrobe (original mono mix without overdubs) (0:57)
  58. New Wardrobe (overdubs) (0:57)
  59. New Wardrobe (original mono TV mix as used) (0:58)
  60. She’s Coming (unused version 1) (0:43)
  61. Cliffhanger in the Eyrie (unused version 1) (1:30)
  62. Cliffhanger in the Eyrie (Part Two Reprise edit) (1:18)
  63. Future Pleasure (original master) (4:32)
  64. The Brain (25th Anniversary Album edit) (3:03)
  65. Doctor Who Theme 1987 (original demo) (2:54)
  66. Doctor Who Opening Title 1987 (original demo) (0:43)
  67. Doctor Who Closing Title 1987 (original demo) (1:16)

Released by: Silva Screen Records
Release date: November 24, 2023
Total running time: 76:05

… Read more
Categories
2017 Artists (by group or surname) Non-Soundtrack Music R Radiophonic Workshop

The Radiophonic Workshop: Burials In Several Earths

3 min read

The Radiophonic Workshop is back, minus the BBC. If the band’s retinue of veteran analog electronic music pioneers can keep turning out original material like this, it might result in a new generation of fans wondering why they were slumming it for the BBC for so long. The Radiophonic Workshop is made up of former members of the storied BBC Radiophonic Workshop, an experimental electronic music & effects department of the BBC founded in the late 1950s to provide unique music and sounds for the steadily growing output of the BBC’s radio and television channels. The work, in those days before samplers and digital synthesizers, was grueling; membership in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop was always fairly limited because you had to love what you were doing, working with oscillators a beat and tone generators and analog reverb and tape loops. The Workshop remains, perhaps unjustly, best known for the original Doctor Who theme music dating back to 1963, but its body of work spread so much further than that…until the BBC closed the Workshop’s doors in the 1990s.

But its members, it turns out, weren’t averse to workshopping their unique sound without Auntie Beeb paying the bills. Having spent over a decade as a touring group recreating their sound the old-fashioned way for audiences who already knew their work and audiences only just discovering them, the Radiophonic Workshop has now gifted us with a new album with the unmistakable sound that gained them a following in the 1960s and ’70s. Is it abstract? At times, yes – about 13 minutes into the lead track, you’d swear they were trying to make a musical instrument out of the sound of the Liberator’s teleport from Blake’s 7. Everything from white noise to whalesong crops up. But what’s amazing is how tuneful it is at times. Echoing piano is a constant presence, along with actual guitar work (Paddy Kingsland, whose Doctor Who and Hitchhiker’s Guide scores in the early ’80s were ear-wormingly hummable, take a bow). There are a few places where a groove emerges from the soundscape and the Radiophonic Workshop proceeds to rock out.

Not a bad feat considering that some of these gentlemen are past what many touring musicians would consider retirement age.

4 out of 4The real fascination of Burials In Several Earths is that it’s electronic music created in a way that has almost been lost to time and the march of technology. That description doesn’t really do it justice though – that sounds more like the description of a tech demo. The Radiophonic Workshop is making actual music this way, delighting audiences on stage, and bolting new chapters onto a legacy of ridiculously hummable short tunes from a bygone age. At times ethereal, at times exciting, the one thing Burials isn’t is boring.

Order this CD

  1. Burials In Several Earths (18:58)
  2. Things Buried In Water (22:01)
  3. Some Hope Of Land (25:15)
  4. Not Come To Light (3:58)
  5. The Stranger’s House (11:23)

Released by: Room 13
Release date: May 19, 2016
Total running time: 1:21:35

… Read more
Categories
2000 D Doctor Who Soundtracks Television

Doctor Who, Volume 1: The Early Years 1963-1969

4 min read

Order this CDThe second title in the BBC’s series of remastered sound effects and music compilations is impressive in its scope, even though it leans much more heavily in the direction of effects than it does music.

The musical selections on Early Years are limited primarily to the various minor revamps of the ubiquitous Doctor Who theme, as well as a handful of fleeting cues from several other episodes – many of which, surprisingly, are considered “lost” shows, their videotape masters having disappeared from the BBC’s archives. The sound effects accompanying the show’s first-ever regeneration – in which the role of the Doctor is handed to a new actor by the incumbent Doctor in a metamorphosis sequence – is among the biggest of these surprises (and makes me pine even more for BBC Video’s upcoming home video release of The Tenth Planet, the four-parter from which those effects originate, even if its all-important fourth episode will basically by a slide show on tape).

Perhaps the coolest piece of music is “Time In Advance” by BBC Radiophonic Workshop veteran John Baker. This cue, which actually originated with another show but was tracked as background source music in at least two Doctor Who episodes, is heard in two forms: its original ethereal form, and an unbelievable combination of the original cue and a light jazzy piano accompaniment overdubbed. The latter of these is gorgeous even by modern standards, and makes me want to hear more. It’s tragically brief.

As for the sound effects, many of the sounds heard here did not appear on the excellent 1993 30 Years At The Radiophonic Workshop compilation – such as the distinctive “Dalek Control Room” effects which were used in nearly every Dalek-related adventure from 1963 to 1988 – making this one a worthwhile investment for vintage FX buffs.

Given the CD’s heavy emphasis on effects, I can recommend this safely for rabid Doctor Who enthusiasts…but what about casual fans? Unless you’re that intrigued by the theme arrangements and various incidental music snippets I’ve discussed here, I’d pass on it, were I you. But for Doctor Who completists, this is a promising preview of how the Beeb plans on handling future music releases related to the Time Lord’s twenty-seven years on television.

  1. Music: Doctor Who (original theme) (2:21)
  2. TARDIS exterior hum and door (0:23)
  3. Entry into the TARDIS (0:40)
  4. TARDIS original takeoff sequence (1:47)
  5. Music: Doctor Who (original title music) (2:09)
  6. TARDIS takeoff (1:23)
  7. Skaro: petrified forest atmosphere (1:46)
  8. TARDIS computer (1:08)
  9. Dalek city corridor (1:01)
  10. Dalek control room (0:26)
  11. Capsule oscillation (0:19)
  12. Explosion; TARDIS stops (1:10)
  13. Sleeping Machine (0:52)
  14. Sensorite speech background (1:10)
  15. Dalek spaceship lands (0:16)
  16. TARDIS lands (0:11)
  17. Chumbley constant run (0:27)
  18. Chumbley at rest (0:28)
  19. Chumbley sends message (0:07)
  20. Chumbley dome (0:19)
  21. Chumbley dies (0:11)
  22. Activity on Dalek ship control panel (0:46)
  23. Energy escapes (0:22)
  24. Machinery in TARDIS goes wild: regeneration (1:03)
  25. Regeneration runs down (0:09)
  26. The Doctor’s transitional trauma (0:52)
  27. Music: The Fish People (0:37)
  28. Heartbeat Chase (1:57)
  29. Music: Chromophone Band (1:56)
  30. Controller chimes (0:10)
  31. Music: Time In Advance (3:19)
  32. Propaganda sleep machine (1:08)
  33. Music: Doctor Who new opening theme, 1967 (0:51)
  34. Sting & web / cobweb pulsates (2:04)
  35. 4 stings (0:18)
  36. Music: Mr. Oak and Mr. Quill (0:39)
  37. Lead-in to Cyber Planner (0:14)
  38. Cyber Planner background (0:37)
  39. Music: Cyberman stab and music (1:32)
  40. Rocket stab (0:08)
  41. Birth of Cybermats (0:44)
  42. Cybermats attracted to Wheel (0:39)
  43. Rocket in space (1:49)
  44. Music: Interior rocket (suspense music) (1:55)
  45. Music: Servo Robot music (1:28)
  46. Wheel stab (0:14)
  47. Cosmos atmosphere (1:08)
  48. Music: Alien ship music (1:00)
  49. Jarvis in a dream state (0:47)
  50. Floating through space (1:14)
  51. 2 stabs (0:11)
  52. TARDIS (new landing) (0:18)
  53. Galaxy atmosphere (1:04)
  54. Tension builder (A) (0:45)
  55. Tension builder (B) (0:40)
  56. Tension builder (C) (1:06)
  57. Low sting (0:10)
  58. TARDIS: extra power unit plugged in (1:53)
  59. Music: Zoe’s Theme (1:19)
  60. White void (1:16)
  61. Music: Time In Advance (2:48)
  62. Cyberman brought to life (1:12)
  63. Cyber invasion (2:11)
  64. The learning hall (2:40)
  65. Entry into the machine (1:33)
  66. Sting (0:19)
  67. Music: Machine and City Theme (1:49)
  68. Music: Kroton Theme (2:13)
  69. TARDIS land (0:25)
  70. Alien control centre (0:27)
  71. Time zone atmosphere (0:40)
  72. Dimensional control (0:49)
  73. War Lord arrival (0:16)
  74. Silver box: the Doctor calls for help (1:02)
  75. Time Lord Court atmosphere (1:18)
  76. Music: Doctor Who closing titles (0:41)

Released by: BBC Music
Release date: 2000
Total running time: 78:23

… Read more