Music of the Spheres ( TV story ) Music of the Spheres was a short episode of " Doctor Who " which first broadcast in audio form on 27 July 2008 as part of the BBC Proms season , during an event known as " Doctor Who at the Proms " . The Proms concert was initially broadcast on radio , and so the mini - episode was initially only seen by the audience at the Royal Albert Hall . Although it was possible to view the episode online following the radio broadcast , " Spheres " was the only " Doctor Who " episode eventually broadcast on BBC One to have actually had its BBC network debut on Radio 3 . The Proms concert , and " Music of the Spheres " , was broadcast on television for the first time on 1 January 2009 , some six months after its radio debut . The short flirted with the notion of breaking the fourth wall in a way never seen before in " Doctor Who " . In the version available online , the viewer got to see none of the action from the Royal Albert Hall . Thus , David Tennant appeared to be spending great lengths of time looking directly into the camera — normally a sure sign that an actor is breaking the fourth wall . Indeed , he " did " break the fourth wall — but only the one separating Tennant from the Royal Albert Hall audience . Other versions of the short , such as the one broadcast by BBC One , captured audience reaction . These shots made it clearer that the Doctor was only interacting with the Albert Hall audience . From the perspective of the " home " audience , the Albert Hall audience was a part of the narrative , and the fourth wall remained intact — if a little battered . Plot . Alone in the TARDIS , the Tenth Doctor is busy composing his own piece of music . He is quickly jotting down his musical score with an ink pen and fingertips covered in inkblots when an alert sounds . Investigating , he realises that there is a teleport breach due to the TARDIS ' s shields being down for just a few minutes . At that moment , a Graske suddenly appears , much to the Doctor ' s annoyance . Before the Doctor can do anything , the Graske inquires to what the harmonious sound echoing through the TARDIS is . The Doctor claims that this is the Music of the Spheres , which is the sound of planet s orbiting star s and stars orbiting the galaxy and galaxies orbiting each other making up the universe , the gravity patterns of which are fed through the TARDIS ' harmonic filter . The Graske claims that he is here to warn the Doctor of a hole in space , which manifests itself near the entrance of the TARDIS . Looking through the hole , the Doctor realises the hole has appeared in the Royal Albert Hall in London , during the Proms . Seizing his chance , the Doctor passes his sheets of music through the hole to the Albert Hall , and asks if the orchestra would play it . He also asks the conductor to step down , as he will conduct the orchestra himself using his Sonic Screwdriver , which he does , rather flamboyantly . He calls the piece " Ode to the Universe " , and thanks the orchestra for playing it , where he realises that the Graske has travelled through the hole , arriving in London . Coming to the conclusion that the Graske was lying to him in order to reach Earth , he stops him from creating any more trouble by reversing the polarity of the neutron flow , which sends the Graske back to the TARDIS . The Doctor then sends him to the end of the galaxy using his screwdriver . He then says farewell to the audience , but not before informing them that everyone is a musician , and that they can hear the Music of the Spheres by closing their eyes , and listening to the universe . Story notes . Ratings . Ratings for " just " this episode were never calculated . It was only aired as a part of " Doctor Who at the Proms " . Production errors . " to be added " Home video releases . " Music of the Spheres " was released on DVD in the UK on 19 January 2009 as a bonus feature with " The Next Doctor " . Also included was the rest of the BBC Proms Doctor Who concert . North American release occurred on 15th September 2009 , marking the first availability of the mini - episode in North America . The DVD version of " Music of the Spheres " appears to differ somewhat from the version originally played at the Albert Hall in that the opening and closing credits - - including the latter ' s use of the original Derbyshire theme arrangement - - are omitted . Doctor Who at the Proms , including " Music of the Spheres " was released to both DVD and Blu - Ray in January 2010 ( UK ) and February 2010 ( North America ) as part of the " Complete 2009 Specials " box set . The special is presented in standard definition in the set . Differing versions . Two different versions of " Music of the Spheres " have circulated on the Internet . One version intercuts the mini - episode with audience reaction shots , as well as showing reaction from Ben Foster and the orchestra , and the Graske running around the stage . A second version is the mini - episode by itself , with no cutaways to the audience ( versions with and without audience sounds have been circulated ) . Both the Proms version and the standalone version include opening and closing credits , and the Derbyshire closing theme . The DVD release utilises an " audience reaction " version , but using different edits than circulated online and , as noted above , omitting the opening and closing credits .