# Doctor Who at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop Volume 3: The Leisure Hive

Doctor Who at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop Volume 3: The Leisure Hive is the third in a series of compilations showcasing the BBC Radiophonic Workshop's work on the science-fiction programme Doctor Who. The album focused mainly on the Peter Howell synthesiser score for the 1980 serial The Leisure Hive, which received its first full release here. The compilation also collected some Dick Mills sound effects from the story as well as some effects from other 1980 serials Meglos and Full Circle, whose music would be the subject of the fourth volume in the series. The final track was a new remix of the original Delia Derbyshire version of the show's theme tune by series compiler Mark Ayres.

## Background

The committee that oversaw the BBC Radiophonic Workshop limited the number of outside composers who were granted access to its equipment. Due to its close ties to dramatic productions rather than music, the workshop was basically closed to the contemporary musical community except those few "approved" composers, and these were admitted only after attending an orientation familiarizing the musicians with the equipment. One of those approved composers was Tristram Cary, who wrote music for Doctor Who, and their production team for the television series, "notoriously scraped by on the tiniest of budgets, and often relied on music to say what the visuals could not. Cary's abstract representations of desolate alien worlds says much more about their nature than cardboard sets ever could."

## Track listing

| Track # | Artist | Track name | Stories used in |
| 1 | Peter Howell | "Doctor Who: Opening Theme" | various |
| 2 | Peter Howell | "Brighton Beach / K9 Kaput" | The Leisure Hive |
| 3 | Peter Howell | "Into Argolis" | The Leisure Hive |
| 4 | Peter Howell | "The Generator / Intruders" | The Leisure Hive |
| 5 | Peter Howell | "'His Time Has Come' / Earth Shuttle Arrives" | The Leisure Hive |
| 6 | Peter Howell | "Tachyon Terror" | The Leisure Hive |
| 7 | Peter Howell | "Into the Generator" | The Leisure Hive |
| 8 | Peter Howell | "The Hive / Mena Fades" | The Leisure Hive |
| 9 | Peter Howell | "Looking for Mr Brock" | The Leisure Hive |
| 10 | Peter Howell | "Testing Time" | The Leisure Hive |
| 11 | Peter Howell | "The Limitation Program" | The Leisure Hive |
| 12 | Peter Howell | "The West Lodge" | The Leisure Hive |
| 13 | Peter Howell | "The Child of the Generator" | The Leisure Hive |
| 14 | Peter Howell | "The Foamasi" | The Leisure Hive |
| 15 | Peter Howell | "The Argolin Dawn" | The Leisure Hive |
| 16 | Peter Howell | "'We, Pangol'" | The Leisure Hive |
| 17 | Peter Howell | "Re-creation" | The Leisure Hive |
| 18 | Peter Howell | "Rebirth" | The Leisure Hive |
| 19 | Peter Howell | "Back to Work" | The Leisure Hive |
| 20 | Peter Howell | "Doctor Who: Closing Theme" | various |
| 21 | Dick Mills | "Argolis Exterior Planet Atmosphere" | The Leisure Hive |
| 22 | Dick Mills | "Earth Shuttle Arriving" | The Leisure Hive |
| 23 | Dick Mills | "Generator Hall" | The Leisure Hive |
| 24 | Dick Mills | "Boardroom" | The Leisure Hive |
| 25 | Dick Mills | "Hologram" | The Leisure Hive |
| 26 | Dick Mills | "Corridor Background" | The Leisure Hive |
| 27 | Dick Mills | "Generator and Screen" | The Leisure Hive |
| 28 | Dick Mills | "Tachyon Drive Engaged" | The Leisure Hive |
| 29 | Dick Mills | "The Screens of Zolpha-Thura" | Meglos |
| 30 | Dick Mills | "Laboratory Ascends" | Meglos |
| 31 | Dick Mills | "Dodecahedron Energy Beams" | Meglos |
| 32 | Dick Mills | "Mistfall Mist" | Full Circle |
| 33 | Dick Mills | "Operating Room" | Full Circle |
| 34 | Dick Mills | "Starliner Instrument Panel" | Full Circle |
| 35 | Delia Derbyshire | "Doctor Who Theme" (Original Version, New Stereo Remix 2002) (remixed by Mark Ayres) | — |
| Track listing: ||||

## Equipment

Equipment used on this compilation includes:
* Yamaha CS-80
* Roland 100M

## Reception

American author Louis Niebur wrote in Notes that "Doctor Who at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Volume Three: The Leisure Hive, presents in its entirety Peter Howell's score for The Leisure Hive, a synthesizer score that attempts the repeat on a smaller scale the grandeur of Jean-Michel Jarre or Vangelis's contemporary popular music. The warmth of Howell's analog synthesizers, in a studio comprised of a Yamaha CS80, Roland Jupiter 4, 100M Modular, and an EMS Vocoder, radiates throughout the score, emulating the epic force of Gustav Holst's The Planets. Moving away from the alien dissonance of Malcom Clarke's Sea Devils sound, Howell's tonality nevertheless mirrors the 'science fiction' nature of the program through its use of 'futuristic' electronic timbres."