Pop Music - genuine contemporary or period music

Classical Music - genuine orchestra music by the great composers

The pop songs that weren't

An Unearthly Child The music on Susan’s radio, supposedly by John Smith and the Common Men, is nothing more than a stock track called ‘Three Guitars Mood 2’ by Nelson/Raymond, performed by The Arthur Nelson Group. But never fear: the track was hunted down and released on the Doctor Who album Space Adventures. The Gunfighters The song that runs throughout the story, performed by assorted characters and commenting on the action, was specially written for Doctor Who... and has yet to be commerically released, alas! The War Machines: Episode 1 The pop music played in the background of the Inferno club, where Dodo and Polly spend much of the first episode cheering up Ben, meeting the Doctor and being seduced by WOTAN over the telephone, is all stock music, taken from the music library album ‘The Mood Modern’ (Keith Prowse KPM 1001), released in 1966. The tracks used were all by Jerry Hawksworth, and were titled: ‘Frantic Fracas/The Eyelash/Beat to Begin’ (2’47”) ‘Browbeater’ (0’43”) ‘Latin Gear’ (0’50”) ‘Rhythm n’Beat’ (1’00”) Quite why 'real' pop music wasn't used is anyone's guess; perhaps the production had been warned that using copyrighted music might lead to problems with international sales... or perhaps director Michael Ferguson just had a rubbish knowledge of contemporary music! The Evil of the Daleks: Episode 1 The music on Bob Hall’s radio in the aircraft hanger is a stock track; the BBC production paperwork lists it as ‘Youngbeat’ by Jack Trombey, though this track does not actually match what is heard in the programme (see Space Adventures in the Stock Discography), and the track actually used may never be found again! The Invasion: Episodes 1 - 3 The scenes in Vaughn's offices featured soothing background music that had actually been composed for the Out of the Uknown episode 'Time in Advance' in 1965, by BBC Radiophonic Workshop composer John Baker. The track (also featured in The Macra Terror) was released on CD in 2000 - details are in the Stock Discography. The Green Death: Episode 6 The music at Jo and Cliff’s party – ‘It’ll Never Be Me’ - was recorded by riotous ‘60s band The Pretty Things under the alias of Electric Banana, taken from a stock music album that was not commercially available until 1991. More details are in the Stock Discography. Enlightenment: Parts Three and Four The music played during the party scenes on-board the The Buccaneer was ‘The Milgona’, and was recycled from a BBC Radio 3 documentary that had also been scored by Enlightenment's incidental music composer Malcolm Clarke. It was released on a non-Doctor Who-related record in 1983, shortly after Enlightenment's broadcast; so it's not exactly a pop track, nor a soundtrack release: after much deliberation we decided to put more details in the Stock section! Remembrance of the Daleks: Part One The rock music coming from Ace’s ghetto blaster in Part One was specially written by Keff McCulloch, and features on the isolated music soundtrack on the DVD release. Silver Nemesis: Parts One and Two The jazz enjoyed by the Doctor and Ace (both live and on cassette, jamming the Cybermen's transmissions) was specially composed and recorded by Courtney Pine’s jazz quartet at Lime Grove Music Studios on 12/06/88, 2 weeks before recording began for the serial. The tracks featured were ‘Pe Pi Po’ (01’00”) and ‘Adrian’s Affair’ (0’08”) in Part One, and ‘Frank’s Quest’ (0’06”, 0’25” and 0’04”) in Part Two. All four musicians – Courtney Pine (Saxophone), Adrian Reid (Piano), Ernest Mothle (Double Bass) and Frank Tontoh (Drums) – received on screen credits at the end of the episode. None of the tracks have been recorded for commercial release, though sheet music for each appears to have been available from MCS Music (see http://www.enjamusic.com). Doctor Who – The Movie The song playing on the TARDIS gramophone is ‘In a Dream’ performed by Pat Hodge; the country music in the background at the mortuary is ‘All Dressed Up’; and the rock music playing at the New Year’s Eve party is ‘Ride into the Moonlight’. All three tracks were taken from non-commercial library albums, and were included in full as bonus audio tracks on the BBC DVD release of the film. More details are in the Stock Discography. The Christmas Invasion The song that plays over the final few scenes – as the tenth Doctor finds his new clothes and the Tylers have Christmas dinner – was ‘Song for Ten’, composed by Murray Gold and sung by Tim Phillips as a last-minute replacement for a genuine American pop record that copyright could not be obtained for. A 30-second sample of the track was made available at BBC Online several weeks after transmission; the song was extended and sung by the Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon for a December 2006 CD release; and, on the same day, the full-length Tim Phillips version was behind door number 4 of BBC Online's Doctor Who Advent Calender (as a realplayer streaming file). A live version performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, sung by Gary Williams, formed part of the November 2006 Children in Need concert of Murray Gold's Doctor Who music; this was broadcast (and hence, in theory, bootleggeable) by BBC Radio Wales, BBC One (as part of Doctor Who Confidential) and the digital ‘red button’ broadcast of the concert that followed The Runaway Bride.

Doctor Who's own cover-versions