4 ms·

Orbital did it well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H_o6ncUz3g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H_o6ncUz3g

drcwpl 2y ago
This is a superb version. Thanks for sharing
senko 2y ago
The original is, well, OG, but I prefer the Orbital version, esp. when listening on something that won't butcher the bass (ie not a phone, laptop, or cheap headphones).
TheOtherHobbes 2y ago
There's also a version arranged by Ron Grainer. Whatever you're expecting, it's not this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1SZs4xudf8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1SZs4xudf8
- moomin 2y ago
  It definitely wasn’t what I was expecting BUT it is what I should have expected. It has a lot more in common with other TV themes of the time. It’s also different enough to justify the legendary exchange where Grainger reportedly asked Derbyshire if that was really what he wrote. The story goes that she replied “Yes… mostly”
  - 95014_refugee 2y ago
    Worth reading his son @snakesofself's comment below that video for additional context. As a fan of the show, and what it did to advance the art of visual storytelling, learning more (and understanding less!) about the artists just makes the whole thing more interesting and more human.
  - djmips 2y ago
    This version came out in 1980 almost 2 decades after the Derbyshire version and is trying to be hip in a 1980 way using a synth line that is clearly inspired from Derbyshire.
- fdgjgbdfhgb 2y ago
  Oh, Radio Free Skaro uses this version on their podcasts!
- JoeDaDude 2y ago
  I remember reading the following anecdote about Grainer, repeated on Wikipedia, though neither I nor Wikipedia have a source for it: "Grainer was amazed at the resulting piece of music and when he heard it, famously asked, "Did I write that?" Derbyshire modestly replied, "Most of it." [1] [1]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who_theme_music#:~:text=Grainer%20was%20amazed%20at%20the,a%20share%20of%20the%20royalties https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who_theme_music#:~:text....
  - Moru 2y ago
    I heard that one in one of the documentaries I went throught when I followed the first link yesterday. Can't remember where though. I think it was a quote from a phone conversation with Derbyshire.
  - FearNotDaniel 2y ago
    That’s a wonderful anecdote. I would love to know what source material she had to work with… sheet music, demo tape with conventional instrumentation, just a jam session that laid out the basic themes? Probably lost in the mists of time. No, wait, TO THE TARDIS EVERYBODY!!!
- djmips 2y ago
  A version still influenced by Delia Derbyshire's version. Being recorded in 1980 it could use a commodity synth to give it some of the flavour of the Derbyshire arrangement.
- theGnuMe 2y ago
  This is awesome! it would be cool if the next season plays with the theme song every episode… add this one, maybe have a mariachi version and maybe big band… :)
dhosek 2y ago
I always wanted to do a trio version of this with my brothers with me on double bass, one brother on banjo and the third on violin, but alas, my oldest brother died before it could move beyond just being a dream.
dylan604 2y ago
Doctor look out! is permanently burned into my brain from this for the past 20+ years edit: maybe it's the live version or a remix. there's a version in my inventory that definitely has that sample
pvg 2y ago
KLF's more fun take https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsAVx0u9Cw4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsAVx0u9Cw4
- orblivion 2y ago
  I heard this when I was young, and I wasn't that familiar with the Dr Who TV show. So when a hockey game was on TV I thought "oh cool they're playing the Dr. Who song".
  - mzs 2y ago
    And that hockey song was part of Gary Glitter's Rock'n Roll. Here's Part 2: https://youtu.be/Nras3c8r45k https://youtu.be/Nras3c8r45k My personal fav hockey song is Chelsea Dagger by The Fratellis: https://youtu.be/2gDb_axpfeY https://youtu.be/2gDb_axpfeY
    - orblivion 2y ago
      > And that hockey song was part of Gary Glitter's Rock'n Roll Yeah that's the joke, that I was naive enough to think that American sports fans would be into Dr. Who or The KLF.
- LeoPanthera 2y ago
  This track is infamous for being the proof of concept behind the KLF's formula for writing instant #1 chart hits. Once it did indeed go to #1 in the UK, they wrote a book about how to do it, which several other artists followed and also went to #1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manual https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manual
Fluorescence 2y ago
I was an Orbital fan back in the early nineties... and I really hate it. It diminishes the magic of the OG, the breakbeat is lazy and out of place and it has nothing of what made Orbital good which is how their layers would interact with each other in rewarding ways. It's a shame because I could imagine a mix working in their early 90s style like Remind from the brown album e.g. add more synth layers sympathetic with the OG mood/style getting increasingly richer and more intense and acidy until a beat starts emerging from between the layers. By the 00s, they just spin a beat on top like a DJ. Bleugh. Not quite as hateable as the KLF's version at least.
- woopwhoopwp 2y ago
  Orbital has always been a lazy cut and paste band. I mean they have some bangers but their music is generally sterile IMO. Even their synth patches feel stock and uninventive.
- abstractbill 2y ago
  Same, I was a huge Orbital fan back in the day but found their version of the theme lazy and boring. In contrast, around the same time they put it out, Plaid put out a track named Unbank that I'm convinced was inspired by the Doctor Who theme and is imo rather fantastic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc39YRO8HM4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc39YRO8HM4
  - timc3 2y ago
    As soon a I read Unbank I had the tune in my head, it is rather good.
  - djmips 2y ago
    That's interesting. I do hear Derbyshire's influence!
- hnlmorg 2y ago
  I get what you’re saying but it still sounds amazing live. I think it’s one of those tracks that really needs a big rig to come alive. Anything less than that and it can sound a little flat.
TiredOfLife 2y ago
https://youtu.be/M9P4SxtphJ4 https://youtu.be/M9P4SxtphJ4 Craig Ferguson version of Orbital version.

This is a superb version. Thanks for sharing

The original is, well, OG, but I prefer the Orbital version, esp. when listening on something that won't butcher the bass (ie not a phone, laptop, or cheap headphones).

TheOtherHobbes 2y ago

There's also a version arranged by Ron Grainer. Whatever you're expecting, it's not this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1SZs4xudf8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1SZs4xudf8

moomin 2y ago
It definitely wasn’t what I was expecting BUT it is what I should have expected. It has a lot more in common with other TV themes of the time. It’s also different enough to justify the legendary exchange where Grainger reportedly asked Derbyshire if that was really what he wrote. The story goes that she replied “Yes… mostly”
- 95014_refugee 2y ago
  Worth reading his son @snakesofself's comment below that video for additional context. As a fan of the show, and what it did to advance the art of visual storytelling, learning more (and understanding less!) about the artists just makes the whole thing more interesting and more human.
- djmips 2y ago
  This version came out in 1980 almost 2 decades after the Derbyshire version and is trying to be hip in a 1980 way using a synth line that is clearly inspired from Derbyshire.
fdgjgbdfhgb 2y ago
Oh, Radio Free Skaro uses this version on their podcasts!
JoeDaDude 2y ago
I remember reading the following anecdote about Grainer, repeated on Wikipedia, though neither I nor Wikipedia have a source for it: "Grainer was amazed at the resulting piece of music and when he heard it, famously asked, "Did I write that?" Derbyshire modestly replied, "Most of it." [1] [1]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who_theme_music#:~:text=Grainer%20was%20amazed%20at%20the,a%20share%20of%20the%20royalties https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who_theme_music#:~:text....
- Moru 2y ago
  I heard that one in one of the documentaries I went throught when I followed the first link yesterday. Can't remember where though. I think it was a quote from a phone conversation with Derbyshire.
- FearNotDaniel 2y ago
  That’s a wonderful anecdote. I would love to know what source material she had to work with… sheet music, demo tape with conventional instrumentation, just a jam session that laid out the basic themes? Probably lost in the mists of time. No, wait, TO THE TARDIS EVERYBODY!!!
djmips 2y ago
A version still influenced by Delia Derbyshire's version. Being recorded in 1980 it could use a commodity synth to give it some of the flavour of the Derbyshire arrangement.
theGnuMe 2y ago
This is awesome! it would be cool if the next season plays with the theme song every episode… add this one, maybe have a mariachi version and maybe big band… :)

dhosek 2y ago

I always wanted to do a trio version of this with my brothers with me on double bass, one brother on banjo and the third on violin, but alas, my oldest brother died before it could move beyond just being a dream.

dylan604 2y ago

Doctor look out! is permanently burned into my brain from this for the past 20+ years edit: maybe it's the live version or a remix. there's a version in my inventory that definitely has that sample

pvg 2y ago

KLF's more fun take https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsAVx0u9Cw4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsAVx0u9Cw4

orblivion 2y ago
I heard this when I was young, and I wasn't that familiar with the Dr Who TV show. So when a hockey game was on TV I thought "oh cool they're playing the Dr. Who song".
- mzs 2y ago
  And that hockey song was part of Gary Glitter's Rock'n Roll. Here's Part 2: https://youtu.be/Nras3c8r45k https://youtu.be/Nras3c8r45k My personal fav hockey song is Chelsea Dagger by The Fratellis: https://youtu.be/2gDb_axpfeY https://youtu.be/2gDb_axpfeY
  - orblivion 2y ago
    > And that hockey song was part of Gary Glitter's Rock'n Roll Yeah that's the joke, that I was naive enough to think that American sports fans would be into Dr. Who or The KLF.
LeoPanthera 2y ago
This track is infamous for being the proof of concept behind the KLF's formula for writing instant #1 chart hits. Once it did indeed go to #1 in the UK, they wrote a book about how to do it, which several other artists followed and also went to #1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manual https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manual

Fluorescence 2y ago

I was an Orbital fan back in the early nineties... and I really hate it. It diminishes the magic of the OG, the breakbeat is lazy and out of place and it has nothing of what made Orbital good which is how their layers would interact with each other in rewarding ways. It's a shame because I could imagine a mix working in their early 90s style like Remind from the brown album e.g. add more synth layers sympathetic with the OG mood/style getting increasingly richer and more intense and acidy until a beat starts emerging from between the layers. By the 00s, they just spin a beat on top like a DJ. Bleugh. Not quite as hateable as the KLF's version at least.

woopwhoopwp 2y ago
Orbital has always been a lazy cut and paste band. I mean they have some bangers but their music is generally sterile IMO. Even their synth patches feel stock and uninventive.
abstractbill 2y ago
Same, I was a huge Orbital fan back in the day but found their version of the theme lazy and boring. In contrast, around the same time they put it out, Plaid put out a track named Unbank that I'm convinced was inspired by the Doctor Who theme and is imo rather fantastic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc39YRO8HM4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc39YRO8HM4
- timc3 2y ago
  As soon a I read Unbank I had the tune in my head, it is rather good.
- djmips 2y ago
  That's interesting. I do hear Derbyshire's influence!
hnlmorg 2y ago
I get what you’re saying but it still sounds amazing live. I think it’s one of those tracks that really needs a big rig to come alive. Anything less than that and it can sound a little flat.

TiredOfLife 2y ago

https://youtu.be/M9P4SxtphJ4 https://youtu.be/M9P4SxtphJ4 Craig Ferguson version of Orbital version.