Theme Music

The **Doctor Who theme** was composed by Ron Grainer and made its debut with the title sequence of the *first episode* of the Doctor Who series in 1963. Although it has undergone many rearrangements, this piece of music has remained the sole theme for the series throughout its history, making it one of the most recognisable themes in the history of British television. It is also one of the longest continually-used pieces of theme music in Western entertainment history, surpassed only by the theme from Coronation Street (in use since 1960), and the "James Bond Theme" (in use since 1962).

It has also been used for most licensed works featuring the central Doctor Who characters, with the exception of the two Peter Cushing films of the mid-1960s, spin-off programmes, and the occasional audio production that has not featured any theme music.

Although Grainer has always been credited as the theme's sole composer, several histories of the series indicate that, due to Delia Derbyshire's involvement in creating the theme's iconic initial arrangement, Grainer attempted, without success, to have her credited as co-composer.

## Theme format

The Doctor Who theme consists of several sections which appear variously in the different arrangements, sometimes in different order, and sometimes omitted or modified:

* Introduction section: This consists of the iconic "unnh-ba da-bum, unnh-ba da-bum, unnh-ba-da-da-bum, unnh-ba daa-unh da-danh-ba-da-da-dum..." bassline melody that begins most versions of the theme and carries on underneath.

* Main melody: This is the main tune (ooo-weee-ooooooooo eee-yoo-ooooooooo....) which dominates most arrangements of the theme.

* Middle eight: This is a sweeping phrase of melody that is used to separate repetitions of the main melody. This section of the theme has often been omitted on TV broadcasts, particularly the opening credits.

* Bridge: a brief, percussive phrase that occurs midway through the theme. The bridge is heard on the full-length versions of the Derbyshire, Howell, and Glynn's arrangements but has generally been omitted in all other TV versions of the opening theme. However, it's heard in one of the 1970s Derbyshire closing arrangements, as well as the Howell arrangement.

## Doctor Who

### Origins

Although Ron Grainer has always received sole credit for the theme music, Delia Derbyshire with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop was responsible for all the arrangements for Seasons 1 through 17. She was given the composition by Grainer and asked to create the music. The method she chose was to create each sound from scratch using a variety of methods from pure tones to piano strings. Each sound was then changed in pitch and duration using purely analogue equipment. The final arrangement of the theme was made by making a recording of each section (bass line, melody, etc.) and putting them together to form the final mono track. Her first arrangement was released as a single, but never used as the opening title music. It consists of the main theme and the "middle eight" in an ABABA pattern.

Two versions of this arrangement exist, one with the TARDIS' dematerialisation sound and one without. In addition, a variant version was used for the unbroadcast pilot episode version, which incorporates the sound of a thunderclap at the beginning.

### Seasons 1-4

The studio requested some changes and the second arrangement, used until the middle ofSeason 4, features some wind/wave effects. The master recording for this arrangement has a section that comes after the second repeat of the main melody (which in turn follows the first instance of the middle eight) where the bassline start a loop of two bars each instead of repeating the main theme or the 'middle eight'. This version was heard through the start of the repeated bass in *An Unearthly Child*. On subsequent episodes, it just faded out as needed.

Grainer attempted to obtain co-writer credit for Derbyshire, but was prevented from doing so by BBC rules. Derbyshire, as a result, never received screen credit for this work, although the BBC Radiophonic Workshop did.

### Seasons 4-17

#### Version one

With Patrick Troughton playing the Second Doctor in Season 4, came a new title

sequence and another request for Derbyshire to change the arrangement of the music. This arrangement would be used for by far the longest.

She returned to the first arrangement and added what has been called a "spangle" sound effect. Again, this arrangement was just faded out as needed for the opening title sequence. This third arrangement formed the basic theme from mid-Season 4 through Season 17, although as noted below there were some modifications. The opening video was the first to feature the Doctor's face in the opening credits; this would continue until the end of the classic series in 1989.

Due to a production error, however, the 1963 arrangement continued to be used from Episode One of The Macra Terror (when the new opening was introduced) through Episode One of *The Faceless Ones*. Additionally, that arrangement was also used in the end credits until the end of Season 6.

#### Version two

In Season 7, Jon Pertwee took over from Troughton as the Third Doctor. The music was now an edit of the 1967 arrangement. An overlap edit shortened the lead-in by about 8 seconds and, after the main theme, the music moves to a repeat-to-fade ending. Early episodes have a stutter effect at the start, which disappears after Season 9. For unknown reasons, several episodes at the beginning of Season 8 reverted back to the 1967 arrangement.

In addition to editing the opening theme, the closing theme was edited too. Until Part 1 of *The Ambassadors of Death*, the closing credits had faded in to the main theme and then faded out after the credits. Four new edits were created for Season 7. The first was used in the first few episodes. The other three, were the same except in length. They were 42 seconds, 52 seconds, and 72 seconds long. Each started with a scream sound that was created by using a generated tone falling in pitch and the first few notes of the theme rising to pitch; this sound effect (or variations thereof) would be used to lead into the closing credits of most episodes up until [[1980, and be revived between Season 30-33. This was followed by the main theme. Each one ends with the same whirling sound effect.

* 42-second version: Theme is repeated once before the ending; this version only appeared on the audio LP of Genesis of the Daleks
* 52-second version: Theme is repeated twice; this was the most commonly-used version.
* 72-second version: Features the main theme, the "middle eight", and the main theme again; this was only used on a few of the Fourth Doctor's stories, including Season 15's *The Invasion of Time* and Season 16's *The Armageddon Factor*, both six-part stories that ended their respective seasons. It would likely have also been used for the planned Shada, which would have ended Season 17.

#### Unused arrangement

In 1972, the BBC played with another arrangement, the first not based on the work done in 1963, using the Delaware synthesiser that the Radiophonic Workshop had. Brian Hodgson and Paddy Kingsland, with Delia Derbyshire created what has become known as the Delaware Theme. It was not well received and was not used on any BBC Broadcast in the UK. However, it had already been applied to several episodes before being replaced. At least two episodes sent to Australia and broadcast on ABC still had the Delaware Theme.; these were *Carnival of Monsters*, part 2, (a longer edit than the one used for uk broadcast) and *Frontier in Space*, part 5 (which is a few seconds longer than the uk broadcast).

### Seasons 18-23

Season 18 saw a new producer (John Nathan-Turner) and many changes. The first was a new arrangement of Grainer's theme and a new opening sequence. The new theme was arranged by Peter Howell using his Yamaha CS-80, ARP Odyssey and Roland Jupiter 4 synthesisers as well as his EMS Vocoder, and some additional processing to that recording. He created three recordings — the opening theme, the closing theme, and an extended cut for release as a single. The opening and closing themes followed the pattern set in 1970 with the opening doing a repeat to fade and the closing starting with a scream, the only significant change being that the opening now also started with a scream. However, Howell's theme began in the key of F-sharp minor. This obligated incidental musiccomposers to end their final cue of the episode in the highly unusual key, or something complimentary. Howell therefore has called himself "the guy who just made it difficult for everybody". (DCOM: Meglos) Beyond this unusual feature, his opening remained unchanged aside from some very minor alterations to coincide with the revised Sixth Doctor opening sequence from *The Twin Dilemma* and his closing included the "middle eight" and ended with an explosive sound. This theme was used from Season 18 through unchanged, save for a variation created especially for the twentieth anniversary story *The Five Doctors*. The extended theme also contains a section which Howell himself refers to the Howell Trombone. This section comes after the middle eight plays for the second time and the triads change chords up to the next octave.

### Seasons 24-

    The arrival of Andrew Cartmel as the new script editor called for a new title sequence. Keff McCulloch's arrangement, in the key of A Minor, was the first to feature the "middle eight" as a default part of the opening (although the rejected "Delaware Theme" and the theme used in TV: *An Unearthly Child, Part 1* also featured the "middle eight"). The opening and closing themes are very similar, with the opening being longer. No version was made for release as a single. It was used from Season 24

## K9 and Company

For the *pilot episode* of the failed spin-off series K9 and Company, Ian Levine was asked to compose the theme music. The theme was done using an electronic synthesiser and featured John Leeson as K-9 occasionally saying his name.