The Doctor Who Theme Remake

1980

 I decided from the outset to use as many sound sources as possible. By the time I finished, I had used virtually everything in the workshop, including the ARP Odyssey, EMS Vocoder, Yamaha CS80, Roland Jupiter, Synthi 100, tape manipulation, and many external boxes.

Delia’s version had taken the public by surprise and given them a really new audio experience, in the same way that the programme itself had taken the audience to new worlds and new times. I was excited to do the same. I wanted it to be unclear how it had been done. There were already a few synthesisers on the market and people were playing around, experimenting with them. I couldn’t bear them chatting in the pub with their mates, telling them how I had produced the theme. It would devalue it on the spot. But what if it just didn’t work?

If we decided that, after any amount of trying, it was a bad idea and should be abandoned, the one thing that concerned us was publicity. Not because we were frightened to fail, but because everyone would want to hear the failed attempt. It might even have more notoriety than a successful version. So I had to work in secret….

When Delia created the theme, everything was hard won. Each individual sound had to be made from very basic elements, often using a large oscillator and a lot of patience. This led to there being a smaller variety of sounds in any one piece. Apart from basic oscillators, a lot of sounds were garnered from actual recordings of live objects, which was a time-consuming process. 

I was lucky enough to have a far greater choice of sounds at my disposal and was determined to explore them as much as possible. However, anyone who has dabbled in such things will know that the sounds must still work together. If you can find a complimentary sound that will act as a contrast to the rest then you’re onto a winner.

So when I started work on the middle 8 bars of the theme where the tune breaks away for a short while, I was rooting around for something surprising that would literally give us a break from the main section. 

The middle 8 in Ron Grainer’s composition is a great moment. We’ve been in the moody depths of a minor key till now, and suddenly it’s as if the sun has come out, everything is major chords, positive and promising. It’s something that listeners look forward to, and it needs a bright inviting sound.

I set out around the studios to try and find the ideal sound. I settled on a Roland Jupiter in Paddy Kingsland’s studio….