The Pandorica Answers: Theme Tunes

The original Doctor Who theme tune was composed by Ron Grainer and arranged by Delia Derbyshire at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. There have been eight distinct variants of the theme tune on television (4 in the classic era, 1 in the TV Movie, 3 in the revived era).

The next Pandorica Puzzle will be available to view on Friday from 10:00.

The Pandorica Puzzles: Theme Tunes

Which people composed and arranged the original Doctor Who theme tune, and how many official televised variants of the tune have there been from 1963-2010?

Please post your answers in the comments section below.

Doctor Who Live Murray Gold Interview

The Doctor Who composer Murray Gold was also interviewed behind the scenes at a Doctor Who Live performance, where he discussed his variations on the Doctor Who theme tune and how he came up with the tunes for all three Doctors and their assistants.

This video is from Digital Spy, and was originally posted by Combom.

Series 5 Theme Tune Axed?

The new opening theme tune to Series 5 was revealed at the start of 'The Eleventh Hour', meaning that no reviewers were able to comment on the variation before transmission.

The new theme has had mixed reviews, with some fans absolutely dismissing Murray Gold’s latest version, and almost 100 viewers complaining to the BBC.

The latest trailer for ‘The Time of Angels’ includes the theme tune from 2007 at the end of the advert, suggesting that the BBC have decided to revert to the old theme. This has not been confirmed yet, but is very plausible considering that so many fans complained about the new variation, and that the previous trailers for this series had included the new tune.

To compare the theme tunes in trailers, follow the link to ‘Victory of the Daleks’ with the new version, and ‘The Time of Angels’ with the old version.