Customer Reviews

Doctor Who, Vol. 4: Meglos And Full Circle

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This is exceptional music from an exceptional era in Dr. Who, Season 18. The most unusual stories, the best sets, the most spectacuar special fx(for Dr. Who), Tom Baker, the most original and unusual Dr. Who, and Romana, the most intelligent of compaignions to boot. And of course the futuristic music from this CD. Meglos is much like Leisure Hive(see reveiw), Futuristic. Full Circle has a more mysterious feel, much like State of Decay and Warrior's Gate(Hopefully will be released also!) With haunting and sometimes sinister melodies. like 'Mistfall' or 'The Giants Leave the Swamp' or 'Spiders 1&2'. 'Adric finds the TARDIS' is also very haunting.

Following up directly on the heels of The Leisure Hive, DWATBRW: Volume 4 contains two previously unreleased scores: Meglos and Full Circle. Meglos is a mostly forgetable story featuring an alien cactus's plot to harness the energy of Ty, while Full Circle deals with a genetic puzzle between the races on a swamp plannet.

Meglos's score is a bit of a mixed bag considering two composers worked on it (the only time this ever happened in Doctor Who). Part One's music was written by Paddy Kingsland, whose most famous work up to that point was The Hitchiker's Guide to The Galaxy. Peter Howell takes over from Part Two on, but Howell's style (voltage control, punctured by rhythmic shifts) doesn't go very well with Kingsland's {accoustic, with leitmotifs).

Full Circle is purely the work of Kingsland and features all the trademarks of his work for the show. Melodic passages permeate the piece, giving it a dreamy fealing. Action pieces are rousing without being bombastic. The synthisizers are completely different (Oberheim OBX over Howell's beloved Yamaha)and add a more fluttery sound to music.

Terrific stuff, now let's get Earthshock out on cd!

While I am not crazy about the period when Dr. Who scores are synthetic, Full Circle is a notable exception. A must purchase for fans of Dr. Who scores.