Customer Reviews

Dr Who at the Radiophonic Workshop V.1

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Let me be very clear about one thing before I continue, in case it is not clear from previous reviewers and Amazon.com's description. This CD is NOT a collection of incidental music! It is more of a collection of the sound effects, mood and atmosphere effects, and the theme music from the various periods of the series. You will not find Tristram Cary's terrific incidental music from "The Daleks" for example. In fact, you will hear nothing from anybody that didn't work specifically for the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, a department within the BBC that generated sound effects and theme music for the series. All of it is composed by Ron Grainer, Brian Hodgson, Delia Derbyshire, and others.

Now, having gotten that out of the way. This is an interesting collection of sound effects and mood music. Particularly interesting are the examples of DW adventures that were scored entirely by Brian Hodgson, like "The Wheel in Space." In this case, Brian did precisely what he knew how to do, create not true musical compositions but a series of moody sound effects and background noise, which can only be described roughly as musique concrete. Fortunately, he is very good at this, and the "music" is much appreciated.

Unfortunately, this is just not the kind of album you sit down and listen to. It's more of a curiosity for DW afficionados than a musical listening experience. Maybe, as one other reviewer notes, they will start sampling some of this stuff for house music, rap, or whatever. Anyway, I was mildly disappointed with this release because I was really hoping for some classic Doctor Who incidental music. Oh well, maybe in another release. Soon, hopefully.

WARNING: To avoid consumer confusion, beware of the following... there are two series of BBC-related Doctor Who audio. First, there are the three volumes in the "Doctor Who: At the BBC Radiophonic Workshop." These are very different from the other three-volume series, "Doctor Who: At the BBC," part of the BBC Radio Collection. The first is a series of the collected production audio, sounds and music from the series. They tend to be chronological (e.g. the first volume covers 1963-1969). The second is various bits of radio shows, interviews, "drama, comedy and behind-the-scenes extracts from the many worlds of Doctor Who" from over the decades, with introductions to each by former series regular Elisabeth (Sarah Jane Smith) Sladen.

Make sure you're getting what you want. For example, I thought I was ordering volume one of the first set, only to receive volume one from the second. This wasn't Amazon's mistake, since the order was placed to an Amazon Marketplace merchant "AlienEntertainment," who quickly returned my call and were incredibly helpful. The "BBC Radio" discs in volume one are very interesting, particularly the complete "30 Years" radio special on disc one, but it's not the ground-breaking production audio from the legendary BBC Radiophonic Workshop. For some reason, the (non-Radiophonic Workshop) "At the BBC" series that collects the old radio programs and interviews is considered an audiobook.

Also (as of this writing), the picture above for this item, listed as "Doctor Who: At the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Vol. 1 (Dr Who Radio Collection)" is actually volume one of the other series, and the product description shouldn't contain the words "Radiophonic Workshop". To lead to even greater confusion, the comments below all relate to the volume one of the "Radiophonic Workshop" series and not the "BBC Radio" collections.

Bottom line: take some extra time in order to get what you want. Good luck. Hope this is helpful.

If you are looking for the Radiophonic Workshop collection, instead of the BBC Radio collection, try cutting and pasting this link:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009JOPHQ/ref=oss_product

THIS IS A MARVALIOUS COLLECTION OF MUSISAL TONALITIES FROM THE EARLY YEARS OF THE VENERABLE BRITISH TV TIME TRAVELING SMASH HIT DR WHO. FROM THE 1964 ORIGINAL OPENING TITLE THEME TO THE CLOSING THEME YOU WILL HEAR UNEARTHLY SOUNDS ELECTRICLY SYNSHESTIZED WITH AMAZING AND SMASHING SUCESS! BRINGING BACK A FLOOD OF MRMORIES OR IF IT IS YOUR FIRST TIME, NOCKING YOUR ELECTRIC SOCKS OFF.INSPIRED BY THE 1956 MOVIE FORBIDDEN PLANET; DR WHO GREATLY SURPASSED IT WITH SOUNDS AND MUSIC AND THECHNOLOGY THAT LEAD DIRECTLY TO ALL OF POP MUSIC FROM MOOG TO THE ELECTRO POP INVASION OF THE LATE 70s TO TODAYS BLAND DIGITAL POPULAR FARE. TAKE A CHANCE AND SEE WHAT THE FUTURE OR PAST MY SOUND LIKE!! THEN WHEN YOU HAVE RETURNED FROM YOUR MAGICAL TRAVELS TRY VOLUME TWO FOR JUST AS GOOD A TRIP, IF NOT BETTER! LEADING YOU TO THE DR.s 1980s. IF YOUR LOOKING FOR A GOOD LISTEN OR A MUSICAL EDUCATION YOU HAVE FOUND IT.

Here's a tricky question: who is this CD for? It isn't just music, there are some sound effects, and some of the music is very brief 'stings' and 'stabs' (as they are called).

Interestingly, the answer may be someone like me. I had the CD on in the background, and some of the pieces are extremely evocative - at least for people who have seen the stories they come from. There are a number of other wonderful pieces - the TARDIS takeoff from the first story is great.

But, of course, the best item is the always wonderful Doctor Who theme - 4 versions, including one closing credits, which are all fabulous. I especially like the comparison between the 1967 revision and the original 1963 version, but can't say which I prefer.

For a fan of Patrick Troughton (Dr who number 2), I pre-ordered this the first day it was available, but the best I can do is a mixed review.

There are four versions of the Doctor Who theme on this CD (some opening credit versions, and some closing) which are quite interesting, but if you want to listen to, for example, the last one- you've got to go to track 76. Yes, seventy-six.

The vast majority of tracks on this record are between 15 and 75 seconds and consist not of incidental music, but sound effects and background noise from various Who episodes. This is really great if you are a fan of the episode (there is a LOT from "the wheel in space" for example) but only as a one-time "Hey, neat sound" listen.

For those of us that want to hear the music from the series, it would have been much better to put the themes at the beginning of the CD, and the effects (such as "Tardis door opening," "Cyberman awakes") afterward. As it is, they preserve chronological order at the expense of convenience.

But holy smoke- the theme is STILL that COOL! Would have been two stars on that alone, gets three on the off chance that some DJs will start using the effects for mixing...

This is an incredible CD for anyone who is a Doctor Who music and sound buff. The problem: there isn't enough! I was surprised that the James Bond sound track of THE INVASION wasn't included, and that certain small sound bites from THE DOMINATORS were. It is fun to hear bits from long dead Who stories that we will never see. I also wished that some other stories were included, such as THE CHASE. All in all, though, worth the money.

Excellent collection of of sound effects from the 60's as well as a chronicle of the Main Title theme's evolution which for me was the primary reason for this purchase, especially as some of the tracks have never been issued on CD. A fair few of the sound effects have been seen on previous releases such as 30 Years at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop but it shows how with a few simple tools you can create atmospheric sounds that still sound good after nearly 40 years in some cases.

Overall this has very little music, but it's a fascinating listening experience nonetheless. You might have to skip past the theme tune, because you've heard it before, and it's on the record three times (four if you count the end theme). The rest is a mixture of unsettling ambient drones, disturbing space atmospheres, and cold, dispiriting pings and whooshes. As an ambient record it is super, although I wish the theme music had been put in a single block at the beginning or end; it's annoying to have the haunting electronic tonalities suddenly interrupted by the familiar dan-da-dan, dan-da-dan, ooo-eee-ooo etc.

My favourite track is "Cybermats attracted to Wheel". It's a zap noise that repeats a few times, but it's a lovely boing noise, and I love the way it repeats. The selection from The Wheel in Space, which makes up tracks 37 - 51, is like a miniature early Tangerine Dream record, or a more peaceful Stockhausen. It is my favourite part of the album. "Floating Through Space" and "Skaro: Petrified Foreset" are sinister, "Interior Rocket (Suspense Music)" is menacing, and "Jarvis in a Dream State" is perturbing. Listening to the music without watching the show, I am left with a mental impression of avant-garde experimental black and white horror cinema. I have a mental impression of some very clever people in a stark, abandoned school hall, carefully preparing tapes and oscilloscopes. It's reminiscent of Gil Mellé's music from The Andromeda Strain.

I say "music", but this album often blurs the boundaries between noise and music, and indeed many of the tracks were commissioned as background atmospheres rather than tunes. Several of them consist of a single albeit often complicated effect, e.g. "Galaxy Atmosphere", which is an evolving whooshing noise layered on top of itself. Other highlights of the record include "Machine and City Theme", which has an ominous, grinding feel; the peaceful, ambient "Musak", which should have been released as a single; and "White Void", which is cold, so cold, like the universe itself. Track 29, "Chromophone Band", is a relatively conventional tune with a melody and a beat. It sounds like the work of Joe Meek. It was written by Dudley Simpson, and arranged in typically inventive style by Delia Derbyshire. The "Chumbley" tracks are cute, and it's a shame that Chumbley has to die (with an electronic death gasp!).

As the title of the record states, this music was made between 1963 and 1969, years before Kraftwert. It sounds timeless, as if from another universe where time does not exist. The record as a whole is hard to rate. It's a useful historical document, and it does what it sets out to do, compiled with love and care. In that respect it is a rip-roaring success. As a thing to listen to in the car it's a disaster unless your car is travelling through a time portal, or has become lost in fog on Dartmoor. If that is the case, the album is perfect.

It's worth looking on Google for Mark Ayres' website; he compiled the record, and on his website he writes about the tracks, telling us that e.g. "Cyber Invasion" was originally eight minutes long (it is a whooshing noise, the audio equivalent of a barber's pole, and it would be horrible to listen to for eight minutes).

So begins Mark Ayers' series of compilations of music/sound effects that the BBC Radiophonic workshop made for Doctor Who. Naturally we begin with the original edit of Ron Grainer's famous theme song leading into a collection of sound effects from the unbroadcast pilot of An Unearthly Child. Most interesting is the first version of the Tardis takeoff sequence, it sounds familiar but remains in its own way different.

Much of the disc content comes from the season 5 serial The Wheel in Space. While credited as "special sounds" these are in effect electronic music tracks and really add to the mood. Particularly noticible are the pieces for the cybermen and cybermats.

Some reviewers on this site have complained about the lack of music composed by Tristram Cary. Happily a recently released 2 cd set has remedied that. It's called Devils' Planets and if you can find it, grab it.

This CD is a must for every true fan of the television series. Not only does it provide an excellent selection of sounds from the episodes which do exist in the BBC Archives, but it also provides some excellent sounds from stories which no longer exist, such as Galaxy Four and The Savages. There is more material from Troughton's era than Hartnell's. Rather conveniently, the CD is organized in correct chronoligical order, starting with atmospheric music from the pilot episode! Many different stories are featured, the largest selection is from the Wheel in Space, over 15 minutes of material. Keep in mind that not everything on the CD would be considered music - a lot are sound effects and atmospheres. But all the tracks are other-worldly in nature and very evocative of the aura of this great television series. Because these are all effects from the Radiophonic Workshop, which mainly dealt with futuristic sounds, there is no material here from any of the "historical" stories. There are 76 tracks in all, and the CD is over 78 minutes long. Those of you upset that the music tracks are interspersed with sound effects just have to press the program button! Fantastic, unique, adventurous music and sounds, from the most fantastic, unique adventurous tv series of all time. Pick this up immediately if you're a Doctor Who fan.