Doctor Who: The Daleks: music by Tristram Cary (CD review)
‘Doctor Who: The Daleks’ is the original music in episode order from the second ‘Doctor Who’ story as composed by Tristram Cary. As such, much of these musical pieces are snippets between dialogue. Unlike modern day (am I actually calling today ‘modern’ 54 years later?), the music rarely if ever overlapped the talking. If you’re playing in your computer DVD player, expect to raise the volume from time to time, especially with the eerie wind effects and there’s nearly 5 minutes of the Petrified Forest before turning it down later.
Interestingly, there is more music in episode one than the other six, although Mark Ayres in the booklet explains that many of the musical cues were reused in those episodes, too. Speaking of which, the 12 page booklet has a page interview with Tristram Cary from 2003, one page devoted to Ayres and duplicate copies of the CD content padded out with pictures of the Daleks and one of Bill Hartnell as the first Doctor. The Cary interview reveals he had the original tapes he put his music on so you are getting an original dub.
By the by, track 12 is the ‘Dalek Control Room’ and no guessing as to which noise will send a chill down your back now as it did then. Then again, so will ‘Rising Tension’ for obvious reasons.
The final 5 tracks are bonus featuring a variety of special effects.
Obviously, all of this is mood music to set the scenes for what is going on in the story. One should not discount Brian Hodgson and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop who contributed to getting the effects right.
Although ‘Doctor Who wasn’t the first series to use electronic music, this was the first time, outside of the theme music, where it was incorporated into an actual SF story of it set in the future.
If you have any interest in the early ‘Doctor Who’ stories then you will be adding this CD to your collection.
GF Willmetts
September 2017
(pub: Silva Screen Records SILCD1536. 50 minute CD 36 tracks with booklet. Price: £ 8.99 (UK) where it’s cheaper than the regulation £12.29 (UK))
check out websites: www.silvascreenmusic.com and https://silvascreenmusic.greedbag.com/buy/doctor-who-the-daleks-0/