Doctor Who

Seasons 1 and 2

Composed By: Murray Gold

1. Doctor Who Theme - TV Series                          2. Westminster Bridge   3. The Doctor's Theme      4. Cassandra's Waltz  5. Siltheen  6. Father's Day  7. Rose in Peril   8. Boom Town Suite                    9. I'm Coming to Get You   10. Hologram            11. Rose Defeats the Daleks                              12. Clockwork TARDIS                                      13. Harriet Jones, Prime Minister                           14. Rose's Theme   15. Song For Ten                 16. The Face of Boe   17. UNIT                           18. Seeking the Doctor  19. Madame de Pomadour   20. Tooth and Claw   21. The Love Dalek             22. New Adventures   23. Finding Jackie             24. Monster Bossa   25. The Daleks                   26. The Cybermen   27. Doomsday                     28. The Impossible Planet  29. Sycorax Encounter   30. Love Don't Roam                                           31. Doctor Who Theme - Album

     Doctor Who has been around for over half a century now, and it's still going strong.  This album contains much of the music from the show, but nowhere near all of it.  Consider it an overview of the music used.  Whole episodes worth of music are condensed into individual tracks, making the album feel disjointed.  In the show, the doctor's theme show up way more often than on the album, making me wish they had included those on the CD.  The problem on the album is that the themes never intermingle with the rest of the music in any meaningful way.

     Also, after having watched older episodes with the Cybermen, their theme here is comparatively weak, despite being one of the stronger tracks on the CD.  In older episodes, these robotic monstrosities had a very electronic and memorable themes.  It seems like such a missed opportunity that Murray Gold wasn't able to put more variety into his music, as style can be just as important as the theme itself.
     And therin lies the biggest issue with this score: stylistically, the themes are too similar, preventing any from really standing out.  There are a few songs that stand above the rest.  But you will have to wade through a lot of monotony to get there.
     My favorite track on the CD is probably "The Face of Boe".  It starts with the strong theme on piano with strings backing it up.  Then the bass is added to great effect for one final play of the theme.  It's short, but wonderful, and wonderfully short.

     As it appears in the show, most of the songs on the album represent an entire episode of music each.  As such, there is thematic development and growth not represented at all on the CD (Particularly with "The Doctor's Theme").  Westminster Bridge is woefully out of place in the first episode, almost turning me away from the show when I first started watching.  The second episode is represented by "Cassandra's Waltz", but there is a lot of music missing here too and the third episode doesn't get any representation.

Score:
Written For Show: (Undetermined)
On Album:  6/10 "Sub-Par"
Words to describe it:  Action-packed, Haunting, and Disjointed