Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #1,070
Written 11/3/99, Revised 6/11/07
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Buy it... if you can enjoy robust, Gothic action concepts and a
handful of momentous choral crescendos thrown in with Ron Granier's
original title theme.
Avoid it... if the score's sparsely-rendered synthetic side and
occasionally split personality isn't worth the search for the
promotional album.
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| Debney |
Doctor Who: (John Debney/John Sponsler/Louis Febre)
With the 1996 resurrection of the popular BBC series that captured the
imaginations of British television viewers from the 1960's through
1980's came an opportunity for American audiences to get their first
taste of the intrigue. The mysterious Doctor travels through space and
time, vanquishing conquerers and other evil-doers, changing his
appearance thanks to several different lead actors along the way. While
the series wouldn't last long on Fox in America, it would lead to yet
another resurrection in Britain a decade later. The music for the
concept has always been a collaborative effort, with a group of
composers from BBC Radiophonic Workshop contributing to the original
series. They were encouraged to experiment with electronic instruments
all the while maintaining Ron Granier's original title theme from the
1960's and without the use of a traditional orchestral ensemble. For the
1996 production, a unique collaboration between three young composers
would provide the diverse sounds with outlandish zeal. John Debney,
whose name was already well established at the time of the show's
American debut, worked closely with two of his colleagues, John Sponsler
and Louis Febre, to create a larger than life musical background for the
new series. Debney and Febre would also collaborate with success for the
Emmy award-winning "The Cape." With elements of science fiction,
grandiose settings, and elaborate characters, the composers were faced
with the challenge of creating a score that was equal in scope and
adventure, stretching the boundaries between acoustic and synthetic. The
collaboration, for the most part, is a success. While retaining a few
moments that are reminiscent of his previous solo works, Doctor
Who has few characteristics of a normal 1990's score from Debney.
Very little of the final music for the series was carried through from
start to finish by Debney, who relied upon the services of composers
John Sponsler and Louis Febre to develop and record his themes.
In the show's primary themes, including an overriding
action motif and the love theme for the story's central characters,
there are significant hints of Debney's involvement. Much of the Gothic
material heard in the latter portions of the score would be rendered
with significant similarities to Debney's equivalent adaptation of
Disney's "Haunted Mansion" amusement park music. Surprisingly, though,
some of the score's best moments are those created by either Sponsler or
Febre alone. Gothic in attitude, with swelling orchestral bursts around
every corner and the accompaniment of a seemingly synthetic adult choir
to compliment the genre,
Doctor Who is always interesting at the
very least. The choral synthetics, along with some of the keyboarded
brass and string effects, will be familiar to those of you who are
familiar with some of Mark Snow's non-
X-Files television works.
The tone of the score wanders about with great variance from cue to cue,
shifting at will between the blasts of sharp brass during chases,
momentous choral crescendos for the supernatural, and enchantingly
solemn piano performance for character development.
Doctor Who
hits bottom in quality when employing standard action rhythm samples
(typically from Sponsler, whose electronic library seemed stocked with
Media Ventures favorites). The most entertaining cues come from Febre,
including the choral pieces in "The Eye of Harmony" and the relentless
action of "Slimed," which most closely resembles Debney's typical style
(with a pinch of early James Horner thrown in). By comparison, the two
full performances of the original "Doctor Who" theme by Grainer are
quite funky, following the lead of Debney's usual, explosive adaptations
of 60's television themes, and they could prove to be a detriment to the
album for some listeners. That album does take a dozen tracks to really
start rolling. After a tepid start, the latter half is extremely
ambitious. From the alternating-octave brass blasts in "Bragg's Key" to
the wild harpsichord action material (how often do you read that
phrase?) in "Slimed,"
Doctor Who produces more than enough pulse
pounding ruckus. Not all of the basic elements might be of great
interest by themselves, including some of the poorly rendered electronic
pieces by Sponsler. But together, Debney, Sponsler, and Febre keep the
music constantly charged with heroism, bravado, and intensity. The album
was Debney's fifth pressed promotional release of the mid-90's.
*** @Amazon.com: CD or
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Bias Check:
For John Debney reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.33
(in 56 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.1
(in 49,967 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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