8 Doctor Who Stars With Oscar Gold
3. Hans Zimmer
The German composer has been nominated for an Oscar many times throughout his career. His score for 1994's The Lion King won him his first Oscar, and he won again in 2022 with his evocative score for Denis Villeneuve's Dune. But how does Zimmer connect to Doctor Who? Has he composed a secret, stirring rendition of the Doctor Who theme tune?
Yes and no. A few years before 1988's Rain Man secured Zimmer's first Oscar nomination, he worked on what has now been officially dubbed the Worst Charity Single of all time - Doctor in Distress. The single was designed to drum up support for Doctor Who when it was put on hiatus in 1985. Assembling a cast of popstars, comedians and Doctor Who actors, record producer Ian Levine and freelancer Fiachra Trench set out to tell the story of the series in a 3 minute pop song. It was, Levine concedes "an absolute balls-up fiasco".
Two-time Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer played synth on the track, which contains some Doctor Who theme type stings. So, in some small way, Hans Zimmer did his own version of the Doctor Who theme tune. He deserves a second chance!