Homage to Delia Derbyshire

Sunday, 24 November 2019 - Reported by Chuck Foster

DR Publications have released a homage to Delia Derbyshire composed by Roger Reynolds in celebration of Delia Derbyshire Day, which took place on Doctor Who's anniversary.

Roger says of his work:

I have always thought that Delia Derbyshire never received the recognition due to her for that amazing Doctor Who Theme. And so I decided to concoct a musical piece, as an “Homage” to her, something embodying that enigmatic theme but using today’s digital technology.

I had been working on the “Homage to Delia Derbyshire” for quite a while, without knowing that 23rd November was “Delia Derbyshire Day.

That the final version of my Homage was ready, i.e. completed slightly ahead of time, and just happened to coincide with this specific date is, well, absolute serendipity.

As are my compositional preferences, the piece is, at times, multi-layered using concurrent fragments of the theme played against each other using different instrumentation.

It’s best heard (I think) turned up loud with the sound just washing over you.

The composition comes in two versions, one for headphones and one for speakers: both can be listened to via the DR Productions website.

Listen to the Speakers version on YouTube

With thanks to: Dallas Jones and Roger Reynolds

FILTER: - Music

BBC Radiophonic Music album re-release

Wednesday, 20 February 2019 - Reported by Chuck Foster

BBC Radiophonic Music (Credit: Silva Screen)

The 1968 album BBC Radiophonic Music is to re-released in March on digital and vinyl by Silva Screen.

The album was the tenth released by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and featured electronic works by composers John Baker, David Cain and Delia Derbyshire.

Widely regarded as a major influence on the development of electronic music worldwide, BBC Radiophonic Music is a compilation of short works, often composed as intros to various radio or television programs. Conceived in a time when analogue sampling meant hours of slicing tape with razor blades, BBC Radiophonic Music is brimming with zippy themes, unsettling atmospherics, riffs, loops, clicks and beeps. Insanely catchy yet deeply sinister, this is ‘collage music’, produced, according to Desmond Briscoe of BBC Radiophonic Workshop,"with the intention of entertaining rather than informing".

This is an essential album for analogue and TV theme obsessives, and anyone with an interest in contemporary electronica; mysterious, eccentric and celestial, it is a celebration of one of the UK's most treasured and unique institutions.

Tracklisting:

1. Radio Sheffield - David Cain
2. Radio Nottingham - John Baker
3. Boys and Girls - John Baker
4. Mattachin - Delia Derbyshire
5. Pot au Feu - Delia Derbyshire
6. Time and Tune - John Baker
7. Tomorrow’s World - John Baker
8. Reading Your Letters - John Baker
9. Blue Veils and Golden Sands - Delia Derbyshire
10. The Missing Jewel - John Baker
11. Artbeat - David Cain
12. Fresh Start - John Baker
13. Christmas Commercial - John Baker
14. Sea Sports - John Baker
15. The Delian Mode - Delia Derbyshire
16. Happy Birthday - Delia Derbyshire
17. The Frogs Wooing - John Baker

18. Milky Way - John Baker
19. Structures - John Baker
20. New Worlds - John Baker
21. Ziwzih Ziwzih OO-OO-OO - Delia Derbyshire
22. Festival Time - John Baker
23. The Chase - John Baker
24. Towards Tomorrow - Delia Derbyshire
25. Quiz Time - John Baker
26. P.I.G.S. - John Baker
27. Autumn and Winter - David Cain
28. Door to Door - Delia Derbyshire
29. Factors - John Baker
30. War of the Worlds - David Cain
31. Crossbeat - David Cain
32. Air - Delia Derbyshire
33. Time to Go - Delia Derbyshire

BBC Radiophonic Music is due to be released on 15th March 2019.

FILTER: - Music - Vinyl

Doctor Who - Series 11 Soundtrack

Wednesday, 12 December 2018 - Reported by Marcus

Silva Screen Records have announced they will be releasing the Doctor Who Series 11 Soundtrack in January 2019

The music from the series, composed by Segun Akinola, will be available on CD and on streaming services from 11 January.

The recently completed Series 11 marked the arrival of the Thirteenth Doctor, award-winning actress Jodie Whittaker.

Segun Akinola is a multi-talented composer whose work includes scoring BBC Two’s landmark four-part series Black and British: A Forgotten History, written and presented by Historian David Olusoga. He also scored Shola Amoo’s debut feature film A Moving Image, which had its world premiere at the 2016 LA Film Festival.

Where do I even begin?! Working on series 11 has been nothing short of the experience of a lifetime. I have loved every single minute of it. From working closely with the production team, to writing the character themes to recording the New Year Special, it’s truly been so much fun.

The soundtrack is available for pre-order on Amazon.

Volume One

Series 11 Opening Titles
Getting That Bike
Long Story
This New Nose Is So Unreliable
The Warrior
Sonic Screwdriver
The Doctor
You Really Need To Get Out Of Those Clothes
Three Suns
Make It Through Those Ruins
My Beautiful Ghost Monument
Missing You
Insurance Policy
My Fam
Tsuranga
Resus One
Kerblam
Help In Dispatch
Ranskoor Av Kolos
The Shrine
Keep Your Faith

Volume Two

Thirteen
Get Out That Door
Parks, Rosa Parks
Artron Energy
This Is Very Bad News
Fishing Take Down
Stand Up Now
A Living Icon For Freedom
Umbreen
Thijarian Hive
I Love You Nani
Yaz And Nani End Credits
King James
Tendril
Morax
Reverse The Polarity
Made A New Friend
Rebuilt
Me And My Mates
Series 11 End Credits

FILTER: - Music - series 11/37

Segun Akinola to Score Series 11

Tuesday, 26 June 2018 - Reported by Marcus

The BBC has confirmed that Series Eleven of Doctor Who will be scored by composer Segun Akinola.

Segun Akinola, who trained at The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, will take over from Murray Gold, supplying the incidental music for the series as well as providing a fresh take on the legendary theme tune.

As part of the BAFTA Breakthrough Brit program in 2017, Segun has already been recognised as one of the rising stars among British composers.

Segun’s other work includes scoring BBC Two’s landmark four-part series Black and British: A Forgotten History, written and presented by Historian David Olusoga. He also scored Shola Amoo’s debut feature film A Moving Image, which had its world premiere at the 2016 LA Film Festival, won the Special Recognition in Narrative Directing award at BlackStar Film Festival 2016 and had its European premiere at the 60th BFI London Film Festival in 2016. His score for Dear Mr Shakespeare received an Honourable Mention for the 2017 BSO Jerry Goldsmith Award for ‘Best Original Score for a Short Film’. Recently, he completed the scores for the major three-part series The Human Body: Secrets of Your Life Revealed and two-part series Expedition Volcano, both for BBC Two and PBS.

Chris Chibnal Doctor Who showrunner said:

Welcome to the Doctor Who family, Segun Akinola! We’re over the moon Segun's agreed to join us, to provide the score for the next phase of the Doctor Who adventure. From our very first conversations, it was obvious Segun was a passionate, collaborative and delightful human being as well as a fantastic and bold composer. We’re looking forward to introducing the world to his exciting and emotional soundtracks for the Thirteenth Doctor.

Segun Akinola, said:

Doctor Who is woven into the fabric of British culture and recognised globally. I am absolutely thrilled to be given the privilege of working on such a beloved series and to bring my musical voice to it.

FILTER: - Music - series 11/37

Series 9 Soundtrack Details

Tuesday, 3 April 2018 - Reported by Marcus

Doctor Who - Series 9 (Credit: BBC / Silva Screen)

Silva Screen will release the soundtrack to Series 9 of Doctor Who on 27th April 2018

Premiering in September 2015, the ninth series of Doctor Who featured Peter Capaldi in the title role in his second season. This four-part collection features general cues on discs one and two, the complete score from the episode Heaven Sent on disc three and on disc four the Christmas Special, The Husbands Of River Song.

Five-time BAFTA nominee Murray Gold recently confirmed that he is stepping down from composer duties on the show after 12 years of providing some of the finest music to be heard on contemporary television.

It’s one of the last great morality tales out there but it also celebrates life. For that reason I think it’s a great show for kids. I couldn’t write this much music for it if I didn’t feel that way.

Underlining the breadth of Gold’s composing skill across over 149 minutes of music, this album is also the 12th Silva Screen release of his music since the 2005 Doctor Who revival.

The One in a Thousand
Davros Remembers
A Message from Missy
Meeting in the Square
Finding The Doctor
What Have You Done
Davros Approaches
Some Kind of Submarine
The Ghosts
The Bootstrap Paradox
Finding The Fisher King
Another Ghost Has Appeared
We Need to Get Back to The TARDIS
Directions from The Ghosts
Something in the Spacesuit
Two Days on a Longboat
I Am Ashildr
In a Way, She's a Hybrid
I Call Myself Me
They Need Us
The Last Thing We Need

Deep Cover
Just Come Inside
This is Not a War
Defending The Earth
The Morpheus Song
Saving Rigsy
Madam Mayor
Running from the Raven
Death is Locked In
Face the Raven
Back Home
The General's Regeneration
A Duty of Care
Clara's Diner

A Second Shadow
The Veil
A Fly on a Painting
A Change of Clothes
A Mechanical Maze
Digging a Grave
Tell No Lies
Two Events in Life
Waiting for the Veil
The Final Room
One Confession Away
Break Free
Same Old Day
The Shepherd's Boy

Carol Singers will be Criticised
A Dying Husband
The Finest Surgeon in The Galaxy
The Halassi Androvar
The Husbands of River Song
The TARDIS Can't Take Off
Time to Do it Properly
Harmony and Redemption
Hydroflax in The TARDIS
Whole Again at Last
All the Firewalls in The Galaxy
A Restaurant with a View
The Woman He Loves
The Singing Towers

FILTER: - Music - Series 9/35

Series 9 Soundtrack Coming in 2018

Thursday, 21 December 2017 - Reported by Marcus

Doctor Who Series Nine Soundtrack (Credit: Silva Screen)

Silva Screen Records has announced the the soundtrack release of Murray Gold's music from Doctor Who Series 9 will be released early in 2018

The long-awaited release will be a 4 disc set.

Disc 1 will contain cues from The Magician's Apprentice, The Witch's Familiar, Under The Lake, Before The Flood, The Girl Who Died and The Woman Who Lived

Disc 2 will contain cues from The Zygon Invasion, The Zygon Inversion, Sleep No More, Face The Raven and Hell Bent.

Disc 3 will contain the score from the Series standout episode - Heaven Sent

Disc 4 will contain the score to the 2015 Christmas Special - The Husbands Of River Song

As with the Series 8 release, the first run of CDs will contain an additional booklet collecting Stuart Manning's retro poster designs for each episode.

FILTER: - Music - Series 9/35

Delia Derbyshire honoured with Blue Plaque

Friday, 16 June 2017 - Reported by Marcus

A blue plaque has been unveiled at the childhood home of the woman who realized the original Doctor Who theme music, Delia Derbyshire.

The mark of respect is one of 47 Blue Plaques unveiled as part of BBC Music Day, to commemorate people or places that have influenced the UK’s musical landscape. Those honored include singers, musicians, songwriters, producers, and broadcasters, as well as significant locations that played a major role in the UK's musical heritage.

People commemorated include John Peel and David Bowie, while places getting a plaque include the Brighton venue where Abba won the Eurovision Song Contest.

The final list was selected from BBC Local Radio listeners’ suggestions, as well as those of a committee including music industry experts and BBC representatives.

David Holdsworth, Controller of BBC English Regions, said:

It is hugely prestigious to receive a British Plaque Trust Blue Plaque, as usually only around two are awarded each year. To mark BBC Music Day across BBC Local Radio with 47 blue plaques is a fitting way to commemorate our listeners’ passion and pride for where they live and to celebrate our musical heritage.

The plaque honouring Delia Derbyshire was unveiled by Sixth Doctor Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant who played Peri, who joined BBC Coventry & Warwickshire's Vic Minett to officially perform the ceremony.

Delia Derbyshire's blue plaque unveiled on #BBCMusicDay pic.twitter.com/8WibGs30cX
— BBC Cov Warks (@BBCCovWarks) June 15, 2017

FILTER: - Classic Series - Music - Sixth Doctor

Delia Derbyshire Day

Friday, 10 February 2017 - Reported by Marcus

A project to mark the 80th Anniversary year of Doctor Who legend and Electronic Music pioneer Delia Derbyshire, has won support from The Heritage Lottery Fund.

Delia Derbyshire Day has been awarded £42,600 ($53,000) to help organise a programme of activities and events to celebrate 80 years since the birth of the woman who realised the original Doctor Who Theme music, composed by Ron Grainer.

Highlights planned for the year include

5 May 2017
10 June 2017
5 Aug 2017
Sept-Nov 2017
5 Dec 2017

Anthony Burgess Foundation

Project partners include the Delia Derbyshire Estate, John Rylands Library, University of Manchester, One Education Music, Full of Noises Festival, Digital Women’s Archive North and Band on the Wall.

Nathan Lee, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund North West said

We’re delighted to support this project to shine a light, not only the pioneering impact of Delia Derbyshire’s work, but also on this significant and fascinating part of John Rylands Library. Thanks to National Lottery players, Delia Derbyshire Day can share the musical roots of electronic music to a new generation.

You can follow Delia Derbyshire Day on their website or on twitter.

FILTER: - Music - People

Silva Screen to re-release The Soundhouse

Tuesday, 20 September 2016 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Silva Screen have announced that the 1983 album The Soundhouse, featuring music by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, will be re-released on CD on 7th October with a vinyl pressing to follow on 4th November:

SILVA SCREEN RECORDS PRESENTS THE SOUNDHOUSE

This historic 1983 BBC Radiophonic compilation reflects the advances made in computer technology and electronic music.

In 1979 the Fairlight CMI (Computer Musical Instrument) was launched, the year that the BBC Radiophonic Workshop celebrated its 21st birthday. At the price of a house (approx £30,000) this state of the art piece of equipment was embedded with an 8 bit digital sampling synthesizer capable of emulating acoustic instruments and orchestras alongside the manipulation of sound effects. For the BBC Radiophonic Workshop this was a major change, as previously composers would spend weeks editing small pieces of tape together to create sounds. Ingenuity and creativity in music and sound was still at the forefront for Workshop members but suddenly made a whole lot easier. This 1983 collection (a first time re-release here of the complete album) celebrated these new found freedoms most notably on the opening track where five Radiophonic composers combined to add their own musical identity to a rhythmic percussive sequence from the Fairlight. Highlights include music from the radio production of The Hitchikers Guide To The Galaxy and Fancy Fish based on Saint-Saen's Carnival Of The Animals which was the first BRW project to utilise the Fairlight.

Tracklisting:

Radiophonic Rock - Peter Howell / Roger Limb / Jonathan Gibbs / Malcolm Clarke / Elizabeth Parker / Dick Mills
Lascaux - Peter Howell
Computers In The Real World - Jonathan Gibbs
Seascape - Dick Mills
The Whale - Paddy Kingsland
Rallyman - Roger Limb
Catch The Wind - Dick Mills
Believe It Or Not - Malcolm Clarke
Planet Earth - Elizabeth Parker
Dawn - Jonathan Gibbs
Mainstream - Attr. Henry VIII, arr. Peter Howell
The Unseeing Eye - Malcolm Clarke
Fancy Fish - Camille Saint-Saëns, arr. Peter Howell / Dick Mills
Brighton Pier - Paddy Kingsland
Armagiddean War Games - Dick Mills
Yellow Moon - Roger Limb
Radio Blackburn - Elizabeth Parker
Macrocosm - Dick Mills
Land And People - Peter Howell
Houdin’s Musical Box - A. Le Charpentier, arr. Jonathan Gibbs
Ghost In The Water - Roger Limb
The Milonga - Malcolm Clarke

Competition

To be in with a chance to win a copy of the CD courtesy of Silva Screen, simply answer the following question:

Which of the tracks features prominently during the fifth Doctor adventure Enlightenment?

Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-silvascreen@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Not so secret Seven!". The competition is open worldwide, closing date 9th October 2016. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

FILTER: - Audio - Competitions - Merchandise - Music

Competition Roundup

Tuesday, 3 May 2016 - Reported by Chuck Foster

A roundup of competitions from Doctor Who News that readers may enter:

The Fourth Doctor Adventures: The Paradox Planet/Legacy of Death

The fourth Doctor continues his adventures alongside Romana and K-9:

Whilst travelling in the vortex, the TARDIS is struck by an advanced war machine - a Time Tank! Losing Romana, the Doctor and K9 pursue the Tank to Aoris, a world quite literally at war with itself. Soldiers from the future are attacking the past of their own planet - gathering resources and stealing endangered species. But the past is not without weapons of its own - leaving deadly devices ready to trigger many years ahead after their enemies have been born. Trapped at opposite ends of a temporal war, the Time Lords have two time zones to save. But who is in the right, and who in the wrong? And when history itself is against you, can anybody actually win?

To be in with a chance to win a digital download of the audio adventure courtesy of Big Finish, simply answer the following question:

Name another war that that the fourth Doctor, Romana and K9 found themselves involved in.

Please send your answer along with your name and the email address you have registered with Big Finish, plus where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-bf4d@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Fight the Future". The competition is open worldwide, closing date 15th May 2016. Note: entrants must have an active registration with Big Finish in order to be eligible to receive the prize - new registrations can be easily created on the website for free and with no financial obligation.

BBC Books: In The Blood

The latest literary adventure for the Doctor from BBC Books is In The Blood by Jenny T Colgan:

All over the world, people are venting their fury at one another on social media. Dropping their friends, giving vent to their hatred, and everyone behaving with incredible cruelty. Even Donna has found that her friend Hettie, with her seemingly perfect life and fancy house, has unfriended her. And now, all over the world, internet trolls are dying... As more and more people give in to this wave of bitterness and aggression, it's clear this is no simple case of modern living. This is unkindness as a plague. From the streets of London to the web cafes of South Korea and the deepest darkest forests of Rio, can the Doctor and Donna find the cause of this unhappiness before it's too late?

To be in with a chance to win the book courtesy of BBC Books, simply answer the following question:

What did Donna refer to as an "Outer Space Facebook"?

Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-intheblood@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "Like". The competition is open to UK readers only, closing date 15th May 2016. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

Silva Screen: Radiophonic Workshop 21

Silva Screen have re-released the BBC Radiophonic Workshop's 21st anniversary album on CD:

In 1958 the BBC Radiophonic Workshop opened with the aim to enhance in the main, drama output on the Third Programme (now Radio 3) following the development of new electronic music techniques emanating from Europe. Their work expanded across the BBC to take in TV drama (especially sci-fi), schools programmes and themes. The latter being their most celebrated and well known work, Delia Derbyshire's treatment of Ron Grainer's theme for Doctor Who. This collection, originally released by BBC Records in 1979 to celebrate 21 years of the workshop appears for the first time in its full original form on CD. From The Goons (Bloodnocks Stomach) to the Interval Signal to Doctor Who and Great Zoos Of The World this is a fascinating chronicle of some of the most innovative music ever made. These ground-breaking compositions providing a major influence on music from The Beatles and Pink Floyd and onwards into the contemporary world of Aphex Twin, Orbital and The Chemical Brothers. "The Radiophonic Workshop, I loved all that, it fascinated me, and still does”. - Paul McCartney.

To be in with a chance to win the CD courtesy of Silva Screen, simply answer the following question:

Who wrote the incidental music for the Doctor Who story which featured Paul McCartney?

Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-silvascreen@doctorwhonews.net with the subject "In tune". The competition is open to UK readers only, closing date 15th May 2016. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

BBC Audio

It is still possible to enter our competitions for the BBC Audios Death to the Daleks, The Invasion, Shadow in the Glass, Amorality Tale and The Memory of Winter, which are open to readers worldwide until 8th May 2016 - see our article for full details.

FILTER: - Audio - BBC Books - Big Finish - Books - Competitions - Music

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