Doctor Who Season 11: 10 Reasons To Be Excited

6. The Music Of The Years

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A huge part of the magic of Doctor Who is its music, from the haunting (and as a child - frankly terrifying) theme tune, to the majestic soundtracks, the work of composers such as Murray Gold and Dudley Simpson transport the audience into the stories and trigger our emotional responses.

Gold brought to Doctor Who an orchestral style in the mould of John Williams, complete with recognisable anthems for key characters. The popularity of his themes even led to several Doctor Who proms nights at the Royal Albert Hall.

Enter Segun Akinola, only the second composer to write for the show since its return in 2005. If his CV and the brief snippet in the Comic-Con trailer are anything to go by, we can expect a more stripped back approach. There is something almost primal about his style, powerful bass notes and strong rhythms are the stand out features, in marked contrast to the intricate melodies of some of Gold’s most popular themes.

We’ve yet to hear his new take on the iconic Doctor Who theme, but the anticipation puts one in mind of 2005 – when Gold’s theme tune and the new title credits boldly announced the return of the series.

With a new composer in place we can surely look forward to an even more dramatic reinterpretation, and coupled with a new set of titles, it’s all very exciting.

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Paul Driscoll is a freelance writer and author across a range of subjects from Cult TV to religion and social policy. He is a passionate Doctor Who fan and January 2017 will see the publication of his first extended study of the series (based on Toby Whithouse's series six episode, The God Complex) in the critically acclaimed Black Archive range by Obverse Books. He is a regular writer for the fan site Doctor Who Worldwide and has contributed several essays to Watching Books' You and Who range. Recently he has branched out into fiction writing, with two short stories in the charity Doctor Who anthology Seasons of War (Chinbeard Books). Paul's work will also feature in the forthcoming Iris Wildthyme collection (A Clockwork Iris, Obverse Books) and Chinbeard Books' collection of drabbles, A Time Lord for Change.