20 Things Doctor Who Wants You To Forget
9. Name That Tune In One
Ask any non-fan to hum the Doctor Who theme tune and nine times out of ten it would be instantly recognisable. That’s not to say that Delia Derbyshire and Ron Grainger’s haunting original melody hasn’t been through various make overs over the last fifty three years. The first major update came in 1980, complete with a radically new title sequence, but prior to this, in 1972 a monstrous perversion of the classic tune was created. It was all thanks to the latest toy - the Delaware synthesizer, with its characteristic tinny Jew’s harp sound.
The update ought to have worked out, given that Derbyshire was involved, but the result was aptly described by Gavin Fuller in the Telegraph as sounding like ‘martians on drugs’. BBC executives stepped in just in time to stop this version from being broadcast in the UK. However, a couple of episodes were mistakenly sold to Australia still containing the abandoned theme.
Unable to complete erase it from history, BBC worldwide decided they may as well use it as a DVD extra (Carnival of Monsters). Anyone who is still smarting about Murray Gold’s radical change to the theme in 2010 would do well to have a listen to the Delaware tune. Perhaps Gold didn’t do so bad after all.