DOCTOR WHO:

As you know, Dr. Who has been around since 1963 and has become a National institution in the UK and around the World.

So, it was with great pride when I was asked and agreed to create the new version of the theme and contribute a large amount of the incidental music in 1987 for the stories of the seventh doctor, Sylvester McCoy.

I was responsible for the music for the following stories:

'Time & The Rani', 'Delta & The Bannermen', 'Paradise Towers', 'Remembrance of The Daleks', 'Silver Nemesis', 'Battlefield', 'Dimensions In Time' and 'Shada'.

I met up with the late John Nathan Turner, the show's producer, when my wife at the time was in a Pantomime that John was producing in Brighton, UK, and he suggested that I come up with a new version of Ron Grainer's almost un-improvable theme. John loved what I did and suggested I have a go at some incidentals.

The rest is history. I was one of three composers used over the last three years of the Doctor's existence at the time, the others being Dominic Glynn and Mark Ayres.

The first story was very difficult and very tiring, as you can imagine, but I think 'Time & The Rani' was probably the best work I did for Doctor Who. People ask me where the motivation came from for each piece of music but I really couldn't say.

I was so tired doing that first story, I don't even remember doing it! It just poured out of me. It wasn't until I had time to sit down three years hence and actually listen to the music I had composed that allowed me to take in what I had come up with.

The best and most enjoyable part of the process for me was the actual first meeting to discuss each story and the dubbing of each story at the BBC Studios. It always involved Dick Mills who was responsible for the sound effects in the stories right from the word go. Most of our meetings involved, and were based around coffee and doughnuts!

The Dr. Who fans are the most knowledgeable fans I have ever met. They seem to know every piece I have written for the programme and can literally hum the melodies of the cues I wrote.

They never cease to amaze me when I meet them at conventions and the like. I know some of them liked my music and some hated it but they always show me respect when they meet me which I really appreciate.

Equipment used on the Dr. Who sessions was:

Prophet V Synthesizer
Emulator Sampling Keyboard
Kurzweil Sampling Keyboard
Roland S-50 Sampling Keyboard
Linn Drum Machine
Fender Stratocaster Guitar
Atari 1040ste Computer
Cubase Sequencing Software