#Segun Akinola

[quantumshade]

[picnokinesis]

Some art I did for the cover of Sonic Screwdriver by Segun Akinola that I finished earlier today! 

[paulrobinsonshotel]

I've been thinking a lot about the iconic Murray Gold theme This is Gallifrey, Our Childhood, Our Home. It's often referred to as "The Gallifrey Theme" or "The Time Lord Theme".

I don't think it is either of those things. In most scenes the theme is used in, it signifies either one or both of two things:

The Doctor's longing for home.

The Doctor and the Master's childhood friendship and their mutual longing for it.

The first time we hear This is Gallifrey, it is in Utopia when the Doctor is praising Professor Yana's scientific prowess. Of course, neither the Doctor, the audience, or Yana himself know that this is really the Master, but this theme underscoring the scene between the two men shows the immediate bond between them, and I think sets the tone of the Doctor/Master relationship for the rest of Murray's (first) era, the understanding that they are supposed to be friends, and if these two ancient beings had a clean slate from centuries of fighting and resentment and Time Wars, they would bond straight away.

The next major use is an episode later, in The Sound of Drums, when the Doctor is reminiscing about Gallifrey. However, I don't think the music is being used as a theme for Gallifrey itself, but rather the Doctor's memories of his childhood home. And the music continues playing when we see the flashback of the Master staring into the Untempered Schism. I think the use of This is Gallifrey is less about the place itself, but the Doctor missing home, and the Doctor remembering his childhood friend, and the moment his friend was cursed with the insanity that would ruin their friendship.

The theme is used once again, when the Master chooses to die to spite the Doctor. The Doctor breaks down sobbing while a heartbreaking rendition of This is Gallifrey plays. Once again, it is very much used as the Doctor and the Master's friendship theme, a sad variation as the Doctor loses his oldest friend once again.

The next time we hear This is Gallifrey, it is being used when the Doctor refuses to accept Jenny as his daughter or a Time Lord. We know that he is rejecting her because of his grief and regret over the family he lost on Gallifrey, and the theme is used again later in the episode when the Doctor admits this to Donna. This is Gallifrey is used to signify the Doctor's family, and all the painful memories of them that he feels when he looks at Jenny.

And then we're on to the End of Time. Simm's Master is far less open and vulnerable than either Missy or Dhawan's Master, but we get a rare moment when he and the Doctor are together in the landfill site. The Master remembering how he and the Doctor used to run through the fields as children. And sure enough, a very soft variation of This is Gallifrey can be heard, showing that the Master still misses their friendship.

A more militaristic variation of This is Gallifrey can be heard at the beginning of Part Two of The End of Time. I'd say this is one of the few times it can realistically be called a Gallifrey theme. However, I'd argue that it's less about the Time Lords themselves, and more about the Doctor's childhood home having become a warzone.

The theme is absent for most of Matt Smith's era, not returning until The Name of the Doctor. Once again, there's a credible argument that it's being used for Gallifrey/The Time Lords. However, it's important to note that the theme is being used for the flashback of an echo of Clara influencing the First Doctor to choose his TARDIS, and then showing Clara echoes helping the Doctor throughout his incarnations. I think this might come back to the theme of family, that while the Doctor mourns his family, there has been someone who has been with him from the very beginning on Gallifrey, even if he hasn't really met her yet.

One of the reasons I don't think This is Gallifrey is a Time Lord theme is that it is absent from The Day of the Doctor, despite Gallifrey and the Time Lords featuring heavily in that episode. Because Day doesn't really touch on the Doctor's grief or his longing for home. While those things undoubtedly factor in, the main drama in the episode is the Doctor's guilt for being forced to kill billions of innocent people, particularly the children, and how that came to define his future incarnations. This is Gallifrey was never really about that. That's what the excellent The Doctor's Theme represents.

This is Gallifrey is used when the Time Lords send the dying Doctor a new cycle of regenerations. It's quite an interesting use, when you consider Clara's dialogue immediately before:

CLARA: if you love him, and you should, help him.

In my opinion this is very much a "coming home" moment, a resolution to 7 seasons of storytelling. Yes, the Doctor doesn't physically reach Gallifrey, but the Time Lords have accepted him and saved him. He hasn't gotten home "the long way round" yet, but he's no longer the "Last of the Time Lords". He has somewhere to belong, at last.

Obviously, this doesn't last, and when the Doctor returns to Gallifrey in Hell Bent, it's not on pleasant terms. For this reason, This is Gallifrey never appears in the episode, because the episode isn't about the Doctor returning to his childhood home or reuniting with his loved ones. It's an episode about a man being driven to extremes by the loss of his love.

Series 10 heavily explores the Doctor/Master relationship, and This is Gallifrey underscores many of the Doctor and Missy's scenes together during the latter half of Series 10, most notably during the "Your version of good is not absolute" and "Every star in the universe" scenes. It's also used throughout the scene on the rooftop, when both Missy and Simm!Master are tormenting the Doctor, only for him to gain the upper hand. I think in this scene it is meant to show the cyclical relationship between them, how the Master's schemes inevitably fall apart at the Doctor's hands, and how normalised this game between them has become, to the extent that the Doctor takes apart the Master and Missy's scheme within the first ten minutes of the episode.

And then we get to what is in my view the defining use of This is Gallifrey: Missy killing her past self. To me, this is the moment the show had been building towards since that conversation between Ten and Yana in Utopia. The moment Missy chooses to reject her violent past in favour of rebuilding her friendship with the Doctor. And the music perfectly carries that story.

Or so we thought...

The next time we see the Master, Murray Gold has left the show and Segun Akinola is composing. Now, I'm not one of the people who thinks Akinola should've reused Gold's themes. Gold got to build his soundscape from the ground up, so it's only right Akinola got to do the same rather than riding Murray's coattails. While I don't think this is intentional, I think the absence of This is Gallifrey reinforces what is being made clear on screen, that the Doctor and the Master's friendship is over. There is now too much hurt on both sides. SpyDoc is a very different kind of relationship to either TenSimm or Twissy, with the Master's bitterness over the Timeless Child, and the Doctor's bitterness over Missy's seeming betrayal, leaving nothing but resentment between the two of them. Akinola speaks about the complexities of his theme for Dhawan!Master here , and how it reinforces the tragic nature of his character, and the thwarted potential for change in him.

Personally, I hope the Master gets a good long rest, but since RTD seems to be continuing the Timeless Child storyline, if Dhawan does return, and the possibility of reconciliation and healing after the revelation is considered, then I hope Murray does bring back This is Gallifrey as their friendship theme, possibly playing it against Akinola's Spy Master theme.

[geronimomo-spd]

here is a list of what was in this show, and in what ways they updated/changed the pieces of music they played, and what they never played before. with a dash of commentery:

i am the doctor is the first track, neat, they did the Proms version, which combines the Pandorica speach theme right at the end

all the strange strange creatures, which yeah another Proms staple, it had a few touches of fresh violins in the end we did not hear before

they did a suite for the entire classic who themes they did play that night, apperently the two people behaind the rediophonic workshop were there to play it as well! that's neat, the 60s cyberman theme, (i love it dearly, got obsessed with it pretey recently lol), they also did some stuff that i would not know to recognize if there is anything new about them: the sea devils theme, the city of death, and the 5 doctors! the same classic who themes they played i the proms 2013, either way they sound very nice, the orchestra really nicely blends in with the syntonizer and it feels like a loving hug.

oooh and they have a mini interview with mark and peter from the radiophonic workshop!

Abigail's Song (Silence Is All You Know) is very neat as well, no changes but its very nice. and they dedicated the piece to Michael Gambon, that's sweet

omg Steven Moffet hello, i did not remember seeing him on the cast list. they are using the season 4 intro as like an in between piece to welcome guests on stage by the way, his interview in nice but short, mostly talking in short about his time as a show runner and the diffrence between Matt and Peter.

sylvester mcCoy is here in the audiance apperently!

This is Galiffray is next, pretty standard but again beutifully played

the long song is next, no child singer, the same singer as Abagail's song as well, but gosh!! they included in it the part of the theme of this song that played when 11 regenerated?? and the new singing then payerd over it. it is the same theme part that played when the actual speech of the long song played, in front of the living planet, but without the speech itself it really takes you back to his regeneration in my option, they then layerd the singing part over it in a very nice harmony that made me tear up 😭 . once again just like they did in the proms 2013, but this version feels very updated

the companions suite, they went Rose - Amy, which sad no clara, bill or any other companion, but its nice to hear those themes again, also Martha's theme got a little bit more Wind Instruments and violins then usual! which extended it a little and that was very nice. it also felt like Donna's theme was a little bit quieter then usual, they also combined Amy's theme little starting notes to fuze organicly into the theme itself, the xylophone very imbeded into the theme instead of it standing out like in earlier performances. and gave it a little bit of extra notes right at the end.

Emily Cook interview! she apperently played in the orcestra in the show as well with the saxophone. and talking about the doctor who lockdown project! (i cannot believe i never knew about this thing's existance??? holy shit,)

Doomsday, had a fancy and really funky gaiter solo, much similer to when it was preformed at the proms in 2008, but this time its very distinctive, not playing along singing at all, just pure gaiter goodness, really enjoyable

Vale Decem was really funky! nothing new but as bombastic as ever, screaming its way to your ears

Am i a good man!! very nice to see a Peter theme finally making its way to the fold, though a lot of them were preformed at Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular 2015, it was a much smaller scale as to the proms and this show is definitly bigger, god i used to be so obsessed with this themeee its not even funny, the version is very similer to there and you can reallly feel the drums punping at the start and its really energetic

omg twice upon a time?? damm, actual music released from something past season 9??? insane about this actually, oh i have never heard this before, its so gentle and remenicit of am i a good man in such a beautiful way, giving them theme a call back with emotinal and more action based end, it also adds the known and notable singer and some stuff from rtd era doctor theme?? and some funky violins from i am the doctor?? all leading to a fine finish?? i am in shock and aw. its like a finishing theme from Marry Gold to his era of the show. damm (if you are worried about The Shepherd's Boy, that will come later!)

a chris chibnall and Segun Akinola interview! Chris talking about the scrutiny he got for his era, and excitment about the whole thing, and Segun Akinola talking about the stress of the job and the freedom he got. THEY ARE ALL SO EXCITED FOR THE FACT THAT HIS THEMES FOR DOCTOR WHO ARE FOR THE FIRST TIME BEING PREFORMED AND I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT IT AS WELL HOLY SHIT

FINALLY the woman who fell to earth suite! confirmed to have: the woman who fell to earth, spyfall, power of the doctor, and a few suprises?? 👀 god i am once again becoming emotinal, i love 13's theme so much. the spyfall theme is so recognizable for its bond influence and so fun!! 13 era loves will know a lot more then me on the rest of it but god its so fun. DEMONS OF THE PUNJAB!! TRADITINAL INDIAN MUSIC WITH A FANTASTIC SINGER, god i wish we could watch this visualy. 13s regeneration theme is so GOOD IM CRYING, what can i even say, they didn't have the libraty of changes as this was the first and might be the only preformance of these themes, as little changes as possible for what i've noticed, but still, what a rollercoster of emotions

The Life of Sunday (Ruby's Theme) ...oh? piano? a lone and qiuet piano? a quiet and sad sounding theme? oh it expands! omg the slowely building violins?? the violins are truly the stars of this evening, and then the hopeful theme ends and now the violins are not celebrating the piano, they are moving towards a sad but nice main part. oh we are jumping forwad a little! oh wow, this is truly like a valce. the piano is the star but to what end? its slightly hopeful but very mournful existance

a lot of the versions had a little bit of a rytham change in most of the peices, little bits where you would think "oh is it out of rythem?" but no, its just a slight change in tempo, i guess to make the versions played here to stand out a little.

Marry Gold interview! hello! omg its so weird to hear his voice again. talking about his new era and coming back to who.

Fifteen, WHAT THE HELL THIS IS STARTING LIKE A SUPERHERO THEME?? oooh we are leading to an action based middle, the bassons are controling the theme! the trumpets!! its bloody danceable!! i am stimming all over the room! its fucking danceable!! it feels very action based very much like i am the doctor, a lot of rising violins, usually singeling hope, this feels like... such a fresh and new doctor. but it doesn;t sound... excited, it feels like a man on the run, it has a very clear dessperation going in, and i am neglecting to find any quiet moment if and they exist at all. the rising of the hope comes very sparadicly, much like Ruby's . it feels like they are contredicting each other simply by nature, but both of them are constantly searching for hope and i guess happines? accept he feels like he is searching for... quiet, peace, DAMM i gotta relisten to this to get more understanding of it

russel t interview! ok talking about his his history with who and coming back, mostly about appreciating the music in the show overoll

The Shepherd's Boy!!! FIRST TIME PREFORMING. god i am emotional once again, you can clearly hear the diffrent instruments individually at the start, the violins are lovely the chelos and everything else is really beautifully building up itself, the drums. the choir! all rising! they added the chior to the part right before the end!! added chior overoll andmakin it much more stand out as opposed to the soundtrack version. the drums were eceptinal!! in all of peter's era music. god its great

Doctor Who Theme (2023 version), lets go! the pianos! the quiet violins!! people have pointed out its similer to the movie middle eight and that's very true, the piano is truly the star of this theme and it shows!(edited) i am buzzing this was as great and better then i expected

[pokimoko]

Listening to instrumentals from the silly doo-wee-ooo show is actually something that can be so painful.

[hellsw0rth]

“Hello Thirteen” by Segun Akinola, adapted and remastered for the Fifth Doctor!

[birdofdawning]

I miss Segun Akinola's music! It was so Doctor Who, creepy and alien and beautiful.

[thelibraryofalexandriastillburns]

i’m not super great at expressing opinions online but here goes:

in honour of doctor coming back to the bbc proms after 11 long long (hehehe long song) years, here are the songs i would like to be played and the songs that need to be left off

✅ Good songs:

The Doctor’s Theme (i’m partial to the s4 one but the s1 would be nice too)

Any companion’s theme (honestly every if they can fit it, but if they can’t, priority to Clara, Bill, Yaz, and Ruby)

Doomsday (ideally it wouldn’t be played but it makes me feral so it’s here)

All the Strange, Strange Creatures

This is Gallifrey: Our Childhood. Our Home

Song of Captivity and Freedom

Anything to do with River Song (Extra points for The Greatest Story Never Told or The Wedding of River Song)

The Rings of Akhaten arrangement (it’s got Infinite Potential and The Long Song both of which i love but it’s already been played so i’m not hoping too hard for it)

Some Dalek action (either Gold’s or Akinola’s theme or both? both is good)

anything from 12’s era forward

A Good Man?

(The Majestic Tale Of) An Idiot with a Box (the reference to I am the Doctor but mixed in with Twelve’s theme is delicious)

The Shepherd’s Boy (this is a need)

SEASON 10 (i need it like oxygennnnnn)

I’d Hoped There’d Be Stars

Where There’s Tears, There’s Hope

(I am) A Good Man

anything from 13’s era (it will be extremely unfair if they don’t include any of Segun Akinola’s work, it was good)

Thirteen

CyberMasters (Akinola’s Cyberman Theme)

Fifteen

The Goblin Song (i’m not a fan of it but i’m sure it’s going to be there so meh)

A Classic Who suite if there’s time

Obviously the new Doctor Who Theme song (i can’t remember if this is the one with the middle 8 i like but it doesn’t matter)

❌ Bad songs

most of the soundtracks pre-2015 (basically 9, 10, and 11’s eras except for the ones mentioned above )

The Doctor Forever (i’m sorry it’s good but unless it’s in a mashup then it’s taking a space from something that deserves it more)

I am the Doctor and variations thereupon (yes that means Words Win Wars and the Twice Upon a Time version too, im sorry we’ve heard it live so many times, it gives me traumatic flashbacks because of how much it’s used and other tracks need a chance)

Vale Decem (i’ll allow it if they do a suite with the regeneration themes of other doctors)

The Mad/Sad Man with a Box (yes both of those, lovely but already had their time)

This is everything i can think of off the top of my head but i will add stuff as it comes to me. Feel free to recommend more tracks to me, i’m still trying to get through them all. Feedback is highly appreciated, even if it’s just to be like, “hey aura what the hell are you talking about?” ❤️

[iconuk01]

For those who can access it, the BBC have released the Doctoer 60th Anniversary Concert online as of today!

[edgy-as-a-satsuma]

does anyone know if this year's Doctor Who prom is availabke anywhere?

I'm watching all the old ones and I really want to see all 4 but only 3 are on iPlayer :(

[quantumshade]

hi i feel the question must be asked - thoughts on the soundtrack and scoring from 13's era as compared to murray gold's work?

sigh... honestly? complicated. i have a lot of feelings and many of them are contradictory.

i'll start with this: it's one of my personal favorite things about thirteen's era, though admittedly the bar is low. i think segun akinola is an incredibly talented composer and when his music is good, it's GOOD. i loved all the times he played with the beginning and end credits to suit the episode, like in demons of the punjab and village of the angels, that kicked ass every time. i really appreciate what he brought to the show, i just wish.... hm. how do i put this. i wish his talents had been utilized better.

like. here's my absolute favorite song from the era. it's unbelievably great. it slaps so hard when played in the show AND when listened to in isolation.

and thirteen's full theme? one of the most gorgeous character themes i've ever heard, and it suits thirteen really well.

but a lot of the other stuff.... i just feel kind of meh about. i've listened to all of the scores all the way through in order to complete my ultimate doctor who playlist, and one thing i noticed is that there's a lot of songs on the album that just kind of feel like four separate songs stitched together with like 30 seconds of one droning note in between. at one point, i took notes on one of the songs to try and explain my feelings about it.

that was in regards to this song:

try listening to the song with my commentary if you get the chance, it's kind of the easiest way to see/hear what i mean in this post.

anyway here's an example of a song with very little of the silence that was boring bothering me so much:

"I'm Not Giving Up" is over 3 whole minutes shorter than "All Is Ending". can you guess how much silence there is in "All Is Ending"? (hint: if you guessed about three minutes and fifty-two seconds, you'd be correct.)

i listen to a lot of different orchestral music. i haven't run into any other composers who do this with full album releases, and it just kind of confuses me? i'm not a music theory person, so if there's some reason for this i wouldn't know it, but it makes some of these songs kind of suck to listen to in a playlist. if they were cut down into separate songs, i'd be far more enthusiastic.

the other thing i'm not crazy about are the character themes. the doctor, the master, the cybermen, and the daleks all have recognizable themes, and they're pretty good. except... imo all of them except the doctor's are massively overused. i don't think this is inherently akinola's fault, nor is it a problem exclusive to thirteen's era -- i seriously cannot listen to murray gold's "I Am The Doctor" anymore because of how much the show overused it, despite it being objectively a pretty great song.

but other than those four, did you know there are character themes for the companions? because i didn't until a couple weeks ago, and like i said, i've listened to all of these songs front to back with careful analysis AND seen all of these episodes at least twice each. i never picked up on these character leitmotifs 😭😭😭 i would say that that's on me for not perceiving them, except i know i'm not the only one. pretty much everyone i've talked to has been surprised to hear there are character themes. if you're curious, here's a youtube series exploring those themes and when they're used. it's a good, informative series with well made videos, but the whole time i was just kind of frustrated that i wasn't able to really pick up on these motifs. even now, i can't remember what yaz's leitmotif sounds like. i honestly have no idea, i would have to go back to the video and check. it just doesn't stick into my brain in the same way, say, donna's theme or bill's theme do.

furthermore, this is graham's theme. the whole thing. this is all of it.

for comparison's sake, here's rose's theme.

and if that's not the perfect microcosm of how these characters feel to me like. in terms of complex characterization and interesting arcs and feeling like real people. complex themes aren't always better, that's not what i'm saying -- more that the companions aren't really allowed to be important in the same way that they used to be.

graham's theme doesn't appear until episode four. and then doesn't reappear until the last two episodes of the series. meanwhile rose's theme is like. so recognizable from the very first note & it plays at crucial moments (first example off the top of my head is the ending of The End of the World). clara's theme is so recognizable that it can play in a scene that doesn't feature her at all After she left the show and yet in a way that completely evokes her presence. you couldn't do that with the thirteenth doctor's companion's themes, and even if you did, the audience uhhh. probably wouldn't notice!

i struggle to articulate my feelings about akinola's music, especially in comparison to gold's. gold's music is so important to me and i genuinely rank him among the best composers ever. i really, really like segun akinola... when he's allowed to make any noise. but most of the time with the sound mixing his music just fades to the background to the point of silence, forgotten entirely, and it's a shame.

tl;dr i dislike how akinola's songs are cut in the released albums, i think a lot of those songs needed to be cut down a little bit from the versions in the episode, and some of it probably could have stayed unreleased. i do wish his character themes were more recognizable, and i wish the ones that were recognizable weren't overused to the point of annoying me. i think he's a fantastically talented composer, and most of my problems with how his music on the show is used are not inherently his fault. i vastly prefer murray gold's music, but that's more a testament to how much i love murray gold than any amount of dislike of segun akinola. i'm excited both for gold's return to who and to see what akinola does next. if you prefer his music to gold's, i totally get you and i'm kissing you on the mouth. most of this is just personal preference!

sorry for how long this got. the doctor who soundtrack is, like, the ultimate autism topic for me. i'd love to talk more about it, feel free to send me asks or whatever anytime :3

[intuitive-revelations]

Once again, the music in that epsiode killed me. I picked up on This is Gallifrey right in the moment, since it's one of my favourite tracks.

I also recognised the piece in the TARDIS at the end of the episode, but I didn't realise until later it was "Every Christmas is Last Christmas"! Which makes a lot of sense, given it played when Donna asked the Doctor about what she'd missed (and I was kinda waiting for a Twelve era and/or 4.5 billion year mention through the whole thing).

Someone even said there's motifs from Flux during that scene, which is really cool if true, given that it originated from Akinola's era, unlike the others which are all Gold? Not confirmed that yet myself though.

[paulrobinsonshotel]

Another Master hot-take:

Putting Dhawan's Master between Simm and Gomez does a huge disservice to all three incarnations.

Missy's entire personality is carved out of Simm!Master's character arc. And Dhawan's personality is carved out of Missy's character arc.

His incarnation was all about exploring why the Master turned to evil in the first place, while also being too spiteful to consider reconciling with the Doctor. Hence why he's enraged at the very thought of the Doctor's forgiveness, and chooses to die just to hurt the Doctor that little bit more. He finally discovers the truth of what he is, and while he rightfully directs his anger at Rassilon rather than the Doctor, he's still too spiteful to consider standing with the Doctor, and murders his future self to prevent it.

So, he wakes up as Missy, with no recollection of the events on the colony ship, but plenty of memories of The End of Time and an understanding of why she is the way she is. But now the spite and pettiness has gone. Now she understands why their friendship went sour in the first place, she has no reason to fight and oppose the Doctor, so she seeks instead to reconcile with him, albeit in The Master's typically twisted way, and with her typical narcissism. And in the end, she becomes someone that is not kind, at least not in the way the Doctor wants her to be, but values their friendship enough to try.

Sticking Dhawan in-between them throws that character arc away completely. If Simm regenerated into Dhawan and discovered the Timeless Child, he would still be insecure and bitter that he couldn't be the Doctor's equal, but the spite and arrogance from Simm would've boiled over to the point he would've killed the Doctor straight away. (This would've happened with Missy too if she'd discovered the Timeless Child early in her incarnation). It's only because Missy so badly wanted to stand with the Doctor as equals ("A friendship older than your civilisation and infinitely more complex") that he's so hurt that they aren't equals at all. That's why the only way out for him is designed for them to die together. Because he doesn't want to live if he can't stand with the Doctor as her equal.

It's ultimately a beautiful and intricate character arc, told by three fantastic writers, brought to life by three wonderful actors, with incredible heart and emotion poured into it by Murray Gold and Segun Akinola's compositions.

[timeagainreviews]

The Eve of the 60th Anniversary-ish

My ability to name things isn’t the best. I overthink and end up with a five-year-old blog called “Time and Time Again.” Terrible name. “I should change it,” I’ve said for five years. Well, I am going to do just that. But in the meantime, I need to find a name for this type of article. As is tradition around here, I like to write a short article about my predictions, expectations- nay, hopes for the incoming series or era of Doctor Who. I usually label them as “Thoughts Leading Up to…” which is fine. But is there a word or phrase out there that says it succinctly? A sort of Whatchamacallit, Marsupilami, Raxacoricofallapatorius? If I do find a better name for this series, do I call it part five or part one? Davies is calling season 14 “Season 1.” Why can’t I?

In considering a new name, I have decided to return to the very first article of this type- “The Eve of the Thirteenth.” So from now on, I’m calling this my “Eve of Series.” Hopefully, you’re reading this article on the Eve of the 60th Anniversary special “The Star Beast.” Or you’re way late to the game and it’s August. In that case, enjoy your view from Hindsight Bias Tower, as you laugh at my fatuous forecasts or marvel at my prognostic aptitude. So in no particular order, here’s a list of some shit I’ve been thinking about.

RTD2

Where else to start but the man himself? And what a controversial man he’s been (especially this week!) Not five minutes into the new RTD era and we’ve already had a massive retcon in the form of Davros. While, the discourse on this situation has been its usual abysmal self,  I expect this to be par for the course. From Chibnall stans hoping their aggressors end up with egg on their faces to the far worse transphobes and ableists decrying every decision thus far, Davies is right there in the centre of it. Pushing people’s buttons. He seems like a man on a mission and if I had to guess, it is to shake the cobwebs out of our collective Doctor Who-themed sheets and duvets. 

Davies has a monumental task ahead of him. Make something both the Chibnall stans and his haters would like to watch. He could ignore the haters, but they help keep the lights on. And just as important, you don’t want to alienate the people who have enjoyed the show for the last five years. In many people’s eyes, mine included, Chibnall left a broken show in his wake. It’s my opinion that Russell T Davies plans to break it further. I’ve thought about this a lot lately, and I think it may be time for us as a fandom to question why the Doctor has so many rules. Because let’s be honest, Doctor Who’s canon is a mess and it barely matters. Why not embrace that? You think the Cushing movies and the Past Doctor Adventure books are canon? Sure, why not. You still incorporate the Faction Paradox into your version of Doctor Who? Go for it. We all have our own version of Doctor Who, why not embrace that?

The Whoniverse

Considering the popularity of muti-verses in media right now (get ready for multi-verse fatigue) it makes sense that this new Whoniverse may start embracing the many directions Doctor Who branches. This is an opportunity to explore different avenues of the Whoniverse while simultaneously fueling the ever-ravenous Mouse’s need for Content™. In other words, Doccy Who is about to get crammed down our throats like nobody’s business. If you’ve ever had someone’s business down your throat, it can be nice but can also wear out its welcome. Short breaks help.

If you’ve read this blog, you’ll know I’m a rainy-day fan. I’m here for the long haul. I am not so much worried about overexposure to Doctor Who as I am the diluting of story. So long as the stories are good, I’m happy. So far, the Whoniverse has extended in the form of “Tales of the Tardis,” a sort of saccharine introduction to classic Doctor Who for beginners than an actual series in its own right. But in its short span, this unassuming nostalgia trip introduced us to an aspect that may just be integral to the Whoniverse at large. When Ace notes the Seventh Doctor’s older appearance he replies- “Timestreams are funny things. In some, I regenerate. In others, I don’t.”

Every time Data returns to Star Trek, we have to ignore the fact that Brent Spiner is ageing. Why does the Second Doctor have grey hair in “The Two Doctors?” These issues have bogged Doctor Who down for its entire run. It’s a rigid aspect of an otherwise malleable narrative. Not only does this dialogue explain the ageing appearances of Doctors, but it also gives writers carte blanche to do as they like. In this way, the Sixth Doctor gets a better costume. The Seventh Doctor has grey hair. And Davros has always walked. It’s a show about time travel and we as fans keep treating it like we’re the Time Lords. Time travel should be weird and confusing. As the Eleventh Doctor said- time travel is damage. Perhaps the Whoniverse will allow us to see some of that damage in its own time.

Fourteen’s Familiar Face (and Teeth)

When I had originally heard murmurs of David Tennant returning, I wrote them off as the worst idea possible. It’s not that I dislike David Tennant, but rather it felt like a step back for the show. I’ve always admired the show’s capacity for change and this felt stagnant. No Doctor should be the Doctor forever. Rather cleverly then, the show introduced us to Ncuti Gatwa before David Tennant. Already my curiosity had been piqued. Tennant was returning, but only for a moment. You have my attention, Russell. They knew we would see Tennant filming in his slick new threads, and they got ahead of it. It feels like equal parts stunt casting and clever writing. It would be unfair to any new Doctor to carry the weight of the 60th on their shoulders, so let’s revisit some of the old favourites, eh?

The Children in Need special was our first look at this Doctor, and as my friend Taryn put it- it was great until the Doctor showed up. It was a joke, but the stuff with Davros was genuinely interesting on its own. As soon as the Doctor showed up, the tonal whiplash was jarring. This isn’t to say it was bad. It’s for the kiddies, it should be lighter in tone. The joke about the Kaled anagram that went on too long was evidence early on that we were about to slip into the realm of panto. The main takeaway is that David’s still got it and that Ian Levine needs very little reason to turn on you. Neither of which was unknown to us before.

Donna and Rose

One of the more annoying traits some Whovians possess is the tendency to see a selection of Doctor Who characters and say “You left out so and so.” And usually, more often than not, that so and so is Rose Tyler. There’s always someone out there ready to see more David and Billie. That’s why I was pleasantly surprised to see the return of Donna Noble. But as a nice little nod to what came before, we get her daughter Rose. I love the entire idea behind this Rose. As Sharon Davies, Doctor Who’s first black companion was first introduced in “The Star Beast,” it’s delightful to know Doctor Who’s first trans companion will be introduced in “The Star Beast.” There’s a nice symmetry to that.

I also like what Rose implies about Donna’s story. When we last saw Donna, she was getting married and about to win the lottery. Her husband Shaun and her are still together all of these years later, and they have a daughter named Rose. As a trans person, I latched on to the name aspect of Rose’s character immediately as trans people name themselves. If she picked the name Rose out of nowhere, is it possible that a dormant Doctor Donna somehow passed attributes onto her progeny? Is there more to the name than coincidence? I certainly hope so. Russell T Davies seems dedicated to telling trans stories and our names are a huge part of our journeys. If he turned that aspect of the trans experience into a wibbly wobbly timey wimey phenomenon, I might love him forever.

I’m also just stoked as hell to see the return of Donna and her family. They’ve been hush on Wilf in the trailers. I suppose they’re trying to keep some surprises for the people out there who haven’t had Doctor Who news pumped intravenously for the last year and a half. I hope that they don’t forget Donna and Shaun’s lottery winnings. It would be a shame to see Donna bumbling around trying to find temp work after all this time. I hope she never had to work another day in her life. What I want for Donna, is a lot of what the trailers seem to imply- for her to feel whole again. Her adventures were stolen from her. I hope they don’t just bring her back to kill her. Donna doesn’t need to die to leave the TARDIS, she has a family. Give her a happily ever after!

Disney+

While we here in the UK will see no Doctor Who on Disney+, the rest of the world will. This is pretty big as many younger international viewers resort to piracy as they don’t have cable and no one in their right mind would pay for HBO Max or whatever the hell they’re calling it now. Recently a bunch of the usual shitty diaper babies shat their shitty diapers over the idea that people in other countries might be able to watch Doctor Who before the UK. I highly doubt that will be the case. Just because time zones exist doesn’t automatically mean that they won’t wait to drop the episode once it becomes available in the UK. I don’t know that for certain, but what I do know for certain is it hardly matters.

I’ve also seen some people worry that Disney will have too much say in Doctor Who’s content. And while they have given RTD the occasional note, it is still Bad Wolf making the decisions. I would like to think that Disney knows to leave well enough alone. They’ve not exactly had a great year at the box office, so it’s not like their advice is valuable these days. They could tell you a hundred ways to tank a franchise, which is technically helpful. Add to that the year they had with SAG-AFTRA and I think they’re probably hurting for a bit of help from their friends in Britain. Disney’s biggest contributions will likely be calling season 14 “Season 1,” as to not confuse subscribers and a higher budget.  We appreciate the cash injection, Mickey, but please piss off.

Murray Gold replacing Segun Akinola

I wrote the exact opposite of that sentence five years ago. It’s weird how many aspects of Doctor Who have returned, but this was the first one that actually felt like a step back to me. Murray Gold is a great composer. His theme for The Face of Boe is a gorgeous piece of music. Matt Smith’s theme song might be my favourite Doctor Who theme song ever. But I am a fan of the Radiophonic Workshop and Segun Akinola was tapped into that in an exciting way. I’m just not sure what more Gold can do than more of the same.

Gold’s new intro was the second time I was disappointed by RTD’s Doctor Who. While many people were living for it, a few of my friends and I were disappointed. It gets a bit meandery and the parts you want to go hard simply don’t. I’m going to chalk this up to the poor sound of a live performance and hold my final judgement for the fully mixed version. As it stands, it’s standard Murray Gold. Nothing new. Underwhelming in its sameness. However, as I was tufting a Doctor Who rug the other day, I listened to the first six season soundtracks back to back and found myself pleasantly surprised by some of their offerings. Gold was always doing his best work when it was atmospheric and electronic. That’s the Murray Gold I’m most interested in hearing more from.

The Specials Themselves

For the most part, I’ve stayed away from fan speculation. Even in this blog, I’ve tried to stray from speculating actual plot points (save for Rose). I mostly hate it because it’s all hearsay and ultimately bullshit. There have been the supposed “leaks” about bi-regeneration and even if they’re true, it doesn’t mean it’s automatically bad. Good writing can make just about any concept work. If you were to read out the plot synopsis of any story, it could sound awful. What a synopsis lacks is gripping dialogue, compelling scenes, and filmmakers coming together to achieve the correct tone. You can't gauge how good something is going to be by description alone.

What I can see is Neil Patrick Harris as the Toymaker, pulling the strings of the Doctor’s fate. Is he the reason for this familiar regeneration? Is Beep the Meep’s status as a comic book character part of it? How meta will this go? Will the Doctor remember Beep the Meep from his Fourth Doctor days or will the Meep be brand new to him? I’ve said before that you don’t want audiences asking the wrong questions. I feel like every question I’ve had since filming began was one of curiosity as opposed to confusion. I’m excited to be excited over Doctor Who again. When they revealed the three posters for the specials, I literally jumped for joy. I was ecstatic. These posters were creative, fun, and they left you wanting more. Fantastic.

My Own Relationship to the Show

My version of Star Wars is the original trilogy. I can’t stand the prequels. But lately, I’ve tried to take a lighter attitude toward them. While I still think they stink, I also recognise that they’re here to stay. That’s kind of where I am with the Timeless Child. I still hate the concept, but I accept it’s here to stay. And I am actually trying to be more open-minded about it. Now that we have better writers at the helm it might even turn into something interesting. As I stated above, the fandom is due a shakeup. As it stands, I am pretty open to a shakeup. This doesn’t mean that I don’t secretly hope Susan will show up and be revealed as the actual Timeless Child, but I’m realistic.

Recently someone also pointed out to me that the Doctor’s watch could have turned the First Doctor into a normal Time Lord, with the usual number of Time Lord regenerations. While this doesn’t explain why the Doctor being the most important Time Lord ever was necessary, it at least helps plug a plot hole. It’s ironic that Chibnall’s questionable writing may actually lead to Doctor Who’s canon being blown wide open. Equally ironic is the fact that he has actually improved my enjoyment of Doctor Who. I call it the Chibnall Effect. After the Chibnall era, middling episodes of the Davies and Moffat era have been bumped up considerably. Sometimes it takes a bad film to help you recognise a good film. 

There’s a wrongheaded notion floating around these days that RTD fans are living off of nostalgia. While I don’t doubt there will be someone out there chasing a feeling lost to the winds of time, I should also point out that not all of us watched the Davies era as children. I was in my late 20’s when I got into Doctor Who. I have no little kid nostalgia for it. I was a junior in film school. I’ve been taught how to view art critically and I can say that the Davies era has its flaws and its strengths. I think for an atheist, he has a weird obsession with the Doctor as Jesus. And I found the schmoozy romance between Ten and Rose nauseating. But the man knows character development. He understands human emotion better than Moffat’s stunted women or Chibnall’s stunted everyone. What I’ve found in revisiting the RTD era is a consistent focus on characterisation. Without that, all of the clever writing and stellar effects amount to nothing. I love when Doctor Who is great, but at this point I’ll settle for competent.

A Personal Note

As I stated in my Monster Makeovers article, I will be covering the new episodes as they release. However I have recently started a bit of a project. I have taken up rug tufting and hope to eventually make a living out of it. Because of this, I will have to budget my time. My hope is that I will always have time after episodes to write reviews, but they may occasionally be a day late. If you’re interested in following my rug tufting journey, I started an Instagram account under the name pipedreamfasting. Feel free to drop me a follow.

In other news, I am actually planning on changing my blog’s name. I’ve been mulling a few ideas over, but nothing is final. Maybe I’ll do a poll, that is if my reader base is large enough for a poll to matter. That being said, I hope your Doctor Who anniversary special experience is a happy one! There’s been so much vitriol in the fandom lately that we could all use a positive experience. Happy anniversary to the greatest show in the galaxy!

[hellsw0rth]

Hello!

This was an idea that has been suggested a few times and I was procrastinating enough to explore today.

Segun Akinola's "Spy Master" theme in the style of 1971 for the Delgado Master.

This is only a draft idea but I think it worked enough to share the first minute or so as it is.

The melody might be a bit too grating, and if I do a full release of this I'll tone it down a bit.

But enjoy this in the meantime! I set the music to one of my favourite scenes with The Master - the chair of DOOM from Terror of the Autons.

If you can identify what Season 8 story I used as inspiration for the bass of this track, congrats you’re a nerd like me.

MIDI/Sheet Music by PaulAndroid

Master PNG by Bats66