9. The Quarks
Watch 'The Dominators' and if you really listen, you'll hear the Quarks. Cuboid servants of the titular Dominators, their every bleep & squawk is one of the best adverts for the Workshop I can think of. Aesthetically, they're not a classic, but open your ears and welcome them in. That man Brian Hodgson's responsible again, and you can hear what must amount to almost their every noise on the 'Doctor Who- 30 Years At The Radiophonic Workshop' compilation. Should you want to hear them kill, go nuts, laugh or explode, you can, and I say should- their delightful chuckles should be enough to brighten the day of the hardest cynic. Make them angry, though, and you'd have felt their boxy wrath. Watch, listen, and quail or giggle before their proto-EBM beats. Yes, it was probably all done just piddling about on a cheap early synth set-up, but like the best minimalist compositions that just seems to make the sonic achievement all the greater, paucity of equipment clearly no barrier in the realm of the imagination. And in this writer's humble opinion, that makes it ' mission accomplished' on the part of the Workshop, adding ever greater excitement and opening up a world of possibilities, especially since the New Radiophonic Workshop came into being. Will they be invited to score for ' New Who'? We can only hope the new team led by creative director Matthew Herbert is invited and accepts the challenge to envelop newer fans in sonic bubbles, soaring to ever greater heights. But, a word in your ear, Mr Herbert, if you come to a gentleman's agreement with Steven Moffatt, ignore the legacy of your predecessors at your peril, young man.