Who-ray

At 5.15pm on Saturday 23rd November 1963, Doctor Who made it's debut on BBC One.

 

Incredibly - and notwithstanding a 16-year 'rest' from the small screen, bar a one-off movie in 1996 - Doctor Who is celebrating it's 60th anniversary not alone as an ongoing series but arguably bigger than it's ever been before, with the Disney boosting the BBC's financial and global reach even further.

 

If you're a fan, whether that began during the TV series' first run from 1963 to 1989 or with the hugely successful reboot in 2005, there is much to enjoy at the moment. BBC iPlayer kicked off November by adding most of the original run of Doctor Who episodes to the 150+ of the current series to watch for free.

 

Tonight on BBC Four, the first appearance of The Daleks from 1963 will be re-presented as a 75-minute edit in colour for the first time. The technology available now to produce the current TV series and repackage the old for a new audience could only be dreamed of six decades ago.

 

The icing on the cake is of course the double whammy two new Doctors before the end of 2023. First up is David Tennant, who played the Tenth incarnation of the Doctor from 2005 to 2010 and is returning as the Fourteenth iteration. Looks similar but not the same...

 

Tennant made his first 'full' on-screen appearance, in a brief encounter with Davros (kind of) and the Daleks (well, one of the them) for BBC's Children In Need telethon. It was short, it was irreverent, it was fun and a nice way to kick start the 60th anniversary.

 

The BBC also chose Children In Need to celebrate Doctor Who's 30th anniversary in 1993. The show had been off-air since 1989 so anticipation was high. This is what we got.

The original broadcast was in 3D, though arguably most of the acting was of the 2D variety with dialogue that would have had the cast frequently chewing the scenery. Not the revival that fans were hoping for, to say the least.

 

David Tennant will appear again on Saturday and will be on our screens for the next three weeks. From there, Ncuti Gatwa will make his debut as the fifteenth Doctor, including the return of the Christmas Day special which became a staple during the first decade of the revived series.

 

I thought Jodie Whitaker was a great Doctor Who but that period of the show suffered from episodes that looked fantastic but were frankly a bit dull and unengaging, miscast in some cases and didn't give the lead actor enough to work with. Although it may feel like a backwards step, with the return of former showrunner Russell T. Davies, the energy and buzz around the series is palpable and personally, I'm excited to see what's ahead.

As this is supposed to be a music blog, I should add something more than the opening video by The Timelords (aka The KLF), shouldn't I? 

 

Last February, as a birthday gift for my mate Shane, I posted a 20-track, 60(ish) minute mish-mash of Doctor Who songs and snippets, including Matt Smith (Doctor #11) appearing with Orbital at Glastonbury, Jon Pertwee (Doctor #3) teaching Dry Cleaning a thing or two about sprechsang, The KLF unofficially celebrating 25 years of Doctor Who and getting a UK #1 for their trouble and of course that classic theme tune (twice). As I'm in a celebratory mood, you can find it again here.

 

Happy birthday, Doctor, all of you!

Who?

Happy birthday to my friend, Shane, and unquestionably the World's Greatest Doctor Who Fan™

 

Having lit the blue touch paper with that last statement, I'm now going to stand back and distract you with some music. I did a previous birthday mixtape that wove in a number of Doctor Who-related songs and cover versions, but I didn't really feel I'd given it my all on that occasion.

So, here it is, over an hour of Doctor Who music, mostly variations on Ron Grainer's theme tune, taking in electronica, techno, dubstep, glitterbeat, disco, dub, psychedelia and synth pop.

Tom Baker (aka the "Fourth Doctor") kicks off proceedings with links from BBC2's Doctor Who Night in 1999, before launching into the "new" theme tune that heralded the 1980s and the transition from his seven-year tenure to the (then) youngest ever Doctor Who lead, Peter Davison. It also marked the end of Doctor Who on Saturday nights, until the show's resurrection in 2005.

Dalek i was co-founded by Alan Gill, David Hughes & David Balfe in 1977 and continued until the early 1980s, releasing what I think was a posthumous third and final cassette-only album in 1986. Alan Gill is possibly better known for his brief stint with The Teardrop Explodes in 1980-1981, during which he co-wrote the band's biggest hit, Reward, #6 in the UK in January 1981.

I think four-piece band Mankind were hoping to emulate the success of Meco's discofied version of the Star Wars theme in 1977. They didn't quite, but I was surprised to find that the song managed a respectable #25 and 12 weeks on the UK chart in 1977. More than the song perhaps deserved, but a darn sight better than the Who Cares charity single nearly a decade later. Believe me, the 12" version of that one by Ian Levine is even worse, but at least there's an instrumental on the flipside. It may come as a shock to read that Hans Zimmer no longer includes his contribution to this song on his CV.

Pretty much all of the other 1960s and 1970s selections are taken from Who Is Dr. Who, a quirky collection of cash-in singles, including Frazer Hines (aka (time) travelling companion Jamie McCrimmon & Emmerdale stalwart Joe Sugden) singing in character - but without a Scottish accent - such choice lines as

 

I'm the pride of the Highlands, that's the truth

I do all my travelling in a telephone booth

 

However, Frazer Hines is outdone by "Third Doctor", Jon Pertwee, who delivers what I can only describe as the full William Shatner on his also in character riff over the Doctor Who theme. The record-buying public were clearly unimpressed by either effort, though Pertwee had his revenge in 1980 by crashing Worzel Gummidge into the UK Top 40.

The Sea Devils are one of the greatest Doctor Who creations ever and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop were at the top of their game, providing some out-there and sphincter-troubling incidental music, this serial no exception. Orbital have made no secret of Doctor Who's influence on their music and Paul Hartnoll went one step further by remixing The Sea Devils theme (first broadcast 26th February 1972, fact fans) in 2013 for the show's 50th anniversary. In a lovely bit of symmetry, The Sea Devils will return at Easter for Jodie Whitaker's penultimate appearance as the "Thirteenth Doctor" and the 50th anniversary of their first appearance.

 

Orbital also had a go at the Doctor Who theme tune on their 2001 album The Altogether, but I've included a rousing live version from their triumphant return to Glastonbury in 2010, featuring the then-new "Eleventh Doctor", Matt Smith. 

If a song's been recorded in any other genre, chances are that there will eventually be a reggae and/or dub version along in due course. Depending on your perspective, this is either generally a good thing or complete horseshit, to be avoided at all costs. First up is Dr. Blue & The Time Travellers put through a dubstep rinse by Skream, followed by Dub Syndicate's 1984 collaboration with another Doctor (Pablo), dovetailing into Bristol's Smerins Anti-Social Club, featuring the late ragga MC Tenor Fly.

 

There is an actual piece of music from the series itself, a theme for the character Nyssa, who joined at the tail end of Tom Baker's run and continued for most of Peter Davison's. Prior to Doctor Who, Peter Davison was perhaps best known as Tristan Farnon in the popular BBC adaptation of All Creatures Great and Small. For people of a certain age, he'll also be remembered for writing and performing the theme tune to kids' TV series Button Moon. Davison's daughter Georgia Moffett appeared in a 2008 episode of Doctor Who and ended up marrying "Tenth Doctor", David Tennant. 

 

Any self-respecting Who selection should not be without The Timelords' Doctorin' The Tardis, a UK #1 smash in 1988, ironically a year before the TV show was placed on hiatus (bar a TV movie) until 2005. The Timelords consisted of Jimi Cauty (aka Lord Rock aka Rockman Rock) and Bill Drummond (aka Timeboy aka Kingboy D), who were also behind The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu and The KLF. The Timelords' "frontperson" was Ford Timelord, a talking American police car who provided interviews on behalf of the band. I've unsurprisingly sidestepped the remixes featuring Gary Glitter, but you get two versions here: a minimal, largely faithful take on the theme tune and the full-on Harry Enfield-aping glam rock stomp of the extended 12" mix.

 

Tom Baker pops up again to say goodbye, before we end with - what else? - Delia Derbyshire's groundbreaking original arrangement. Nearly 60 years on, it still sounds like nothing else on this world...or any other, for that matter.

 

This selection's dedicated to Shane, but I hope that there's something here to intrigue or entertain everyone. If not, rest assured that normal service will resume on Friday.

1) "Good evening, I've been expecting you": Tom Baker (1999)

2) Doctor Who Theme: Peter Howell / The BBC Radiophonic Workshop (1980)

3) Dalek I Love You (Destiny): Dalek i (1980)

4) Dr. Who (Full Length Version): Mankind (1978)

5) Dr. Who Dub (Skreamix By Oliver Jones): Dr. Blue & The Time Travellers (2010)

6) Daleks And Thals: Malcolm Lockyer & Orchestra (1965)

7) "Stay where you are!": The Daleks (1964/1965) *

8) Landing Of The Daleks (Uncensored Morse Version): The Earthlings (1965)

9) Doctor ? (Live @ Glastonbury): Orbital ft. Matt Smith (2010)

10) Doctorin' The Tardis (Minimal) (120 BPM): The Timelords (1988)

11) Time Traveller: Frazer Hines (1967)

12) Who Is The Doctor: Jon Pertwee (1972)

13) The Sea Devils (Remix By Paul Hartnoll): Malcolm Clarke / The BBC Radiophonic Workshop (2013)

14) Dr. Who?: Doctor Pablo & The Dub Syndicate (1984)

15) Doctor Who (Version): Smerins Anti-Social Club ft. Tenor Fly (2011)

16) Nyssa's Theme: Roger Limb / The BBC Radiophonic Workshop (1981)

17) Theme From "Button Moon": Peter Davison & Sandra Dickinson (1980)

18) Doctorin' The Tardis (Extended): The Timelords (1988)

19) "I really should get a watch": Tom Baker (1999)

20) Doctor Who (Original Theme): Delia Derbyshire / BBC Radiophonic Workshop (1963)

 

* In addition to "Exterminate!", *You will obey!" and "We are superior beings!", Daleks like to say "Stay where you are!". A lot.

 

Who? (1:02:14) (GD) (M)