Doctor Who and the Silurians TV serial |
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Series | Doctor Who |
Date of composition | December 1969 |
Opus number | (No opus number) |
Type of work | Music for an episodic television series |
Duration | 30 mins |
Musical forces | E flat/B flat/A/Bass and Contrabass Clarinet, Clarinet in B flat/A or Soprano/Descant Recorder or Soprano/Alto/Tenor/Bass Krumhorn, Horn, Cello, Piano (prepared and unprepared) and Percussion |
Commissioner | BBC-tv |
Writer | Malcolm Hulke |
Producer | Barry Letts |
Director | Timothy Combe |
Recording session | December 1969 |
Publication status | Manuscript |
Archive location | British Film Institute (BFI) |
Archive contents | |
Notes | Serial in seven 25-minute episodes |
More info… | See the dedicated section about Doctor Who and the Silurians |
…a rather long-drawn-out affair (seven episodes), was only redeemed by what one writer described as; “one of the most hair-raising science fiction scores heard this side of Alpha Centauri.” Interestingly, this was achieved, I later discovered, by means of such instruments as krumhorns and medieval recorders, plus prepared piano effects (plucked notes and banshee-like sounds from inside a grand piano), and not via the Radiophonic Workshop at all. Clearly, here was a composer who needed investigating.
As a score, as a conception, it was very intelligent. He was thinking about these creatures that had been lying dormant in the earth and had come back to life after many, many millions of years, and so he decided to structure his score using largely mediæval instruments: ancient instruments.
It was music you noticed and, I felt, enhanced the scenes.