Spoiler TV were invited to the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular but unfortunately I forgot I was meant to be at a wedding, so my Doctor Who Super fan friend Simon Franklin kindly stepped in and wrote the following review:
On Thursday 28th April 2015, the city of Newcastle upon Tyne was invaded by monsters, aliens...and the Doctor himself. He had brought his TARDIS along with him and parked it on the stage at Metro Radio Arena for the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular which was without a doubt, everything it said it would be: Spectacular!
As a hardcore Whovian who has followed the rise of the Time Lord since his resurrection in 2005, I have enviously watched Doctor Who at the Proms and wished so hard that I could be there and this moment, seeing it live was truly overwhelming. It was an exciting, momentous occasion and I was certainly not disappointed. The only problem is that there are simply not enough words to describe how spectacular the night really was and with so many stunning pieces of music to choose from, I can only begin to delve into a few of them otherwise this review would be an essay of university dissertation proportions.
The evening began with Ben Foster (the coolest conductor in the universe) and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales taking to the stage with the longest, most epic and stunningly beautiful Doctor's theme that has ever been created – A Good Man.
With this seven and a half minute long piece, Murray Gold, the show's official composer since 2005, perfectly captures the Twelfth Doctor's personality; his intelligence, his vulnerability, his action-hero side and of course, his darker side. The track is named after a main theme that runs throughout the shows eighth season. The Doctor, still recovering from his regeneration reset and being given a full new set of lives, asks “Am I a Good Man?”
Ultimately, the answer is yes! And this piece of music, ducking and diving from highs to lows but always remaining majestic and utterly breathtaking, set the tone for the entire evening. It was accompanied by a video showing scenes from the series including a voice over from Twelve with his Flatline speech declaring that he is “the man who fights the monsters” which segued into goosebump-inducing vocals by Elin Manahan Thomas and the BBC National Choir of Wales for the tremendous crescendo.
It was after this first piece that Peter Davison, the Fifth Doctor, appeared to thunderous applause in a moment that was again, completely overwhelming! As a kid who grew up in the 90's I had just missed out on Sylvester McCoy's final episode before the show was axed in 1989 and grew up during what fans refer to as “The Wilderness Years” where their only fix of the Doctor was in books, audio dramas and repeats on the television. It was these reruns of the classic episodes that got me into Doctor Who and Peter was my Doctor!
Peter's stage presence was strong and who would have ever known that he was such a good comedian? His exaggerated characterisation of himself – the doctor who is the father-in-law of the doctor whose daughter is his daughter (yeah, it's confusing) was a stroke of genius and of course his passing references of comic bitterness towards Colin Baker combined with his tongue-in-cheek bickering with Ben Foster who claimed Colin was giving him acting lessons, was hilarious and a true highlight of the show. Seriously! They were amazing together!
Following on from this we were given a brilliant medley of tracks from the eighth series called Wherever, Whenever. It began with silence and a video Twelve sat atop the TARDIS, floating in space. He is meditating but his eyes shoot open and he whispers for us to listen before sending us off on a rollercoaster of music from episodes including Listen, The Caretaker, Time-Heist, In the Forest of the Night and of course, Robot of Sherwood. It was during this piece that we caught our first glimpse of monsters including The Teller, a giant slug-like creature in a straight jacket who was led by his robotic guards and of course, the formidable robot knights of Sherwood! Even from a distance, seeing the monsters on stage was a frightening experience. This piece wrapped up with the tremendously heart-wrenching theme from Listen which was accompanied by a video and voice over from Clara giving her speech about Fear being a super power. Throughout the whole of series eight, I found this to be the most powerful music and hearing it live was no different. In fact, it seemed even more emotional with Clara's words echoing around the arena, almost like she was speaking to the kids who might have been a little bit shaken by the appearance of monsters and I'm not ashamed to admit I shed a little tear or two over it.
Another highlight was the Companion Suite; a brilliant section that showed off the emotion and personality of each of the women who have stumbled into the Doctor's life: Rose, Martha, Donna and Amy. It's remarkable how Murray Gold has the ability to sum up a character in music so perfectly. Rose's theme is soft, gentle and innocent. It sparks feelings of wonder and wide-eyed excitement with an undertone of deep love and companionship which is exactly what Rose was all about.
Martha's theme is very similar but, I don't know if it's because I know her character so well, but I swear I can hear her unrequited love for the Doctor in every breath of the haunting vocals. Saying that though, it's not all forlorn. There's a strong sense of independence and victory in her theme which is fitting as Martha was criticised for being the companion who outshone the Doctor and became well known for being so tough and able to fend for herself.
Donna's theme in comparison is light, bouncy and has an air of cheeky comedy to it. It just is Donna in music form!
Finally, Amy's theme is slow and sentimental. It's fairytale music and the vocals invoke that innocence and vulnerability in Amy but as the theme progresses it takes a darker turn which hints that there is more to her than meets the eye and feels like it represents her more grown up side struggling to take over.
Through the first act we were also given The Doctor's Theme, The Song of Freedom (accompanied by Ood), a Dalek suite featuring loud, epic music while the Daleks invaded the stage and forced Ben Foster to conduct after he tried to fight them with his sonic baton – another stroke of genius! The Doctor actually needs a sonic baton now but the finale of the first act struck me hard in many ways.
First of all, music since Doctor Who's revival has been a massive part of the show. Murray Gold has kept us on the edge of our seats, waiting for what he's going to pull out next. His genius accompanies the action we see on the screen and gives it even more life, it takes it to a whole other level and he has moved us to tears, he has built tension to the point where we want to hide behind our cushions and he has sucked us into the wondrous beauty of space and time. The Last Christmas Suite did all of this in one. The most amazing thing about this suite is that it is essentially a medley of parts taken from the 2014 Christmas episode but combined with the videos on the screen it told a perfect story without any words. I was transported to Christmas with the festive opening and gripped with fear as the tension rose to reveal the Headcrab victims who strode out into the audience and walked among us with an eerily synchronised march before vanishing when Clara dreams of Christmas – an obscure part in which a happy, light Christmasy tune is suddenly overthrown by screeching strings and a haunting bell chime before slowly finding its feet back in Clara's theme and then descending into sheer darkness and obscurity again with jumpy chords and sinister bells that feel far too ominously cheery.
My only problem with this suite, and my only criticism for the entire evening, came with the climax. In the episode, Last Christmas, where it is revealed the Doctor has left Clara for sixty-two years, the emotional music is heightened by the vocals but for the Symphonic Spectacular, like the official soundtrack, the vocals were omitted and I truly felt like the climax fell a bit flat because of it. In the episode version, the vocals help to build the tension and emotion; without them, that build up gets to where it's going and just seems to stay flat until it ends.
The second half of the show opened with a shrill, piercing scream and the scene from Into the Dalek where Missy pours tea for her new guest in Heaven set to the spooky Missy's Theme with haunting vocals, once more provided by Elin Manahan Thomas. This led into the loud, pounding beat of All the Strange, Strange Creatures. It didn't take long for this piece to live up to its name as hordes of monsters flooded onto the stage and into the arena: The Cybermen, the Vigil, the Silence, Silurians, Judoon, Vampires, Headcrab victims, Daleks, Ice Warriors, Whispermen and so many more! This is one of the most exciting and memorable pieces of music from Doctor Who and became even more memorable with the sheer amount of monsters that came up close and personal with the audience, posing for pictures and scaring the children.
Another stand out moment from the second act was the music from Mummy on the Orient Express. The music was intense, atmospheric and only became even more terrifying when the Foretold (the mummy itself) appeared. As a fan of this episode and having been terrified by the monster on screen it was amazing to see it live. The costume and makeup is so detailed; combined with the slow, staggering shuffle and the outstretched arm, reaching out for audience members was enough to give even the bravest shivers.
This is Gallifrey came as the penultimate of section of the show and it was every bit as emotional as it was on the TV show and accompanied clips from The Day of the Doctor to tell the story of our hero saving Gallifrey.
The finale was the Death in Heaven Suite which pulled together parts of the soundtrack from the season eight finale, again, telling the story through the images on the screen to further tug on the heart strings in all the right places. Meanwhile, Cybermen stomped across the stage and swarmed through the audience and occasionally pausing to stare at the sky, representing the Cybermen who flew into the sky in the episode. There was even a surprise visit from the Brigadier Cyberman who took his place on the stage and looked out solemnly at the audience.
This final piece brought the show to a climactic ending and the audience gave a standing ovation which prompted an encore much to everyone's joy. For the encore we were treated to Vale Decem which is better known as the Tenth Doctor's regeneration theme and was made even more emotional by the added video of every single Doctor's regeneration! As if they weren't all sad enough on their own! Putting us through that in the space of a few minutes with the emotion of that music was enough to make even the most heartless person shed a tear.
Our second encore piece was the perfect close to the show. It was the new arrangement of the Doctor Who theme while the monsters returned to the stage for one final appearance. When it ended, there was another standing ovation and that brought the evening to a close.
Overall, the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular was a show not to be missed by any Whovian! It was a true showcase of the talented Murray Gold, who also happened to be in the audience; a revelation that I didn't believe until he stood up (quite close to us) and waved under a glaring spotlight! It was him! It really was! Ben Foster was the coolest conductor, proving to be entertaining in the inbetween segments with Peter and while giving it his all conducting the orchestra. Peter Davison was also genuinely brilliant! His comic side shone through and it was impossible to not whoop and cheer when he pulled out his Doctor's coat (sadly minus the stick of celery) and of course, the orchestra, the choir and Elin Manahan Thomas were all the most amazing team that truly brought the world of the Doctor to life in all it's glory.
Thanks again to Simon Franklin for stepping in and reviewing the event for me.
You can find out more about the event here: http://www.doctorwho.tv/events/doctor-who-symphonic-spectacular/
As a hardcore Whovian who has followed the rise of the Time Lord since his resurrection in 2005, I have enviously watched Doctor Who at the Proms and wished so hard that I could be there and this moment, seeing it live was truly overwhelming. It was an exciting, momentous occasion and I was certainly not disappointed. The only problem is that there are simply not enough words to describe how spectacular the night really was and with so many stunning pieces of music to choose from, I can only begin to delve into a few of them otherwise this review would be an essay of university dissertation proportions.The evening began with Ben Foster (the coolest conductor in the universe) and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales taking to the stage with the longest, most epic and stunningly beautiful Doctor's theme that has ever been created – A Good Man.
With this seven and a half minute long piece, Murray Gold, the show's official composer since 2005, perfectly captures the Twelfth Doctor's personality; his intelligence, his vulnerability, his action-hero side and of course, his darker side. The track is named after a main theme that runs throughout the shows eighth season. The Doctor, still recovering from his regeneration reset and being given a full new set of lives, asks “Am I a Good Man?”
Ultimately, the answer is yes! And this piece of music, ducking and diving from highs to lows but always remaining majestic and utterly breathtaking, set the tone for the entire evening. It was accompanied by a video showing scenes from the series including a voice over from Twelve with his Flatline speech declaring that he is “the man who fights the monsters” which segued into goosebump-inducing vocals by Elin Manahan Thomas and the BBC National Choir of Wales for the tremendous crescendo.
Peter's stage presence was strong and who would have ever known that he was such a good comedian? His exaggerated characterisation of himself – the doctor who is the father-in-law of the doctor whose daughter is his daughter (yeah, it's confusing) was a stroke of genius and of course his passing references of comic bitterness towards Colin Baker combined with his tongue-in-cheek bickering with Ben Foster who claimed Colin was giving him acting lessons, was hilarious and a true highlight of the show. Seriously! They were amazing together!
Following on from this we were given a brilliant medley of tracks from the eighth series called Wherever, Whenever. It began with silence and a video Twelve sat atop the TARDIS, floating in space. He is meditating but his eyes shoot open and he whispers for us to listen before sending us off on a rollercoaster of music from episodes including Listen, The Caretaker, Time-Heist, In the Forest of the Night and of course, Robot of Sherwood. It was during this piece that we caught our first glimpse of monsters including The Teller, a giant slug-like creature in a straight jacket who was led by his robotic guards and of course, the formidable robot knights of Sherwood! Even from a distance, seeing the monsters on stage was a frightening experience. This piece wrapped up with the tremendously heart-wrenching theme from Listen which was accompanied by a video and voice over from Clara giving her speech about Fear being a super power. Throughout the whole of series eight, I found this to be the most powerful music and hearing it live was no different. In fact, it seemed even more emotional with Clara's words echoing around the arena, almost like she was speaking to the kids who might have been a little bit shaken by the appearance of monsters and I'm not ashamed to admit I shed a little tear or two over it.
Another highlight was the Companion Suite; a brilliant section that showed off the emotion and personality of each of the women who have stumbled into the Doctor's life: Rose, Martha, Donna and Amy. It's remarkable how Murray Gold has the ability to sum up a character in music so perfectly. Rose's theme is soft, gentle and innocent. It sparks feelings of wonder and wide-eyed excitement with an undertone of deep love and companionship which is exactly what Rose was all about.
Martha's theme is very similar but, I don't know if it's because I know her character so well, but I swear I can hear her unrequited love for the Doctor in every breath of the haunting vocals. Saying that though, it's not all forlorn. There's a strong sense of independence and victory in her theme which is fitting as Martha was criticised for being the companion who outshone the Doctor and became well known for being so tough and able to fend for herself.
Donna's theme in comparison is light, bouncy and has an air of cheeky comedy to it. It just is Donna in music form!
Finally, Amy's theme is slow and sentimental. It's fairytale music and the vocals invoke that innocence and vulnerability in Amy but as the theme progresses it takes a darker turn which hints that there is more to her than meets the eye and feels like it represents her more grown up side struggling to take over.
Through the first act we were also given The Doctor's Theme, The Song of Freedom (accompanied by Ood), a Dalek suite featuring loud, epic music while the Daleks invaded the stage and forced Ben Foster to conduct after he tried to fight them with his sonic baton – another stroke of genius! The Doctor actually needs a sonic baton now but the finale of the first act struck me hard in many ways.
First of all, music since Doctor Who's revival has been a massive part of the show. Murray Gold has kept us on the edge of our seats, waiting for what he's going to pull out next. His genius accompanies the action we see on the screen and gives it even more life, it takes it to a whole other level and he has moved us to tears, he has built tension to the point where we want to hide behind our cushions and he has sucked us into the wondrous beauty of space and time. The Last Christmas Suite did all of this in one. The most amazing thing about this suite is that it is essentially a medley of parts taken from the 2014 Christmas episode but combined with the videos on the screen it told a perfect story without any words. I was transported to Christmas with the festive opening and gripped with fear as the tension rose to reveal the Headcrab victims who strode out into the audience and walked among us with an eerily synchronised march before vanishing when Clara dreams of Christmas – an obscure part in which a happy, light Christmasy tune is suddenly overthrown by screeching strings and a haunting bell chime before slowly finding its feet back in Clara's theme and then descending into sheer darkness and obscurity again with jumpy chords and sinister bells that feel far too ominously cheery.My only problem with this suite, and my only criticism for the entire evening, came with the climax. In the episode, Last Christmas, where it is revealed the Doctor has left Clara for sixty-two years, the emotional music is heightened by the vocals but for the Symphonic Spectacular, like the official soundtrack, the vocals were omitted and I truly felt like the climax fell a bit flat because of it. In the episode version, the vocals help to build the tension and emotion; without them, that build up gets to where it's going and just seems to stay flat until it ends.
The second half of the show opened with a shrill, piercing scream and the scene from Into the Dalek where Missy pours tea for her new guest in Heaven set to the spooky Missy's Theme with haunting vocals, once more provided by Elin Manahan Thomas. This led into the loud, pounding beat of All the Strange, Strange Creatures. It didn't take long for this piece to live up to its name as hordes of monsters flooded onto the stage and into the arena: The Cybermen, the Vigil, the Silence, Silurians, Judoon, Vampires, Headcrab victims, Daleks, Ice Warriors, Whispermen and so many more! This is one of the most exciting and memorable pieces of music from Doctor Who and became even more memorable with the sheer amount of monsters that came up close and personal with the audience, posing for pictures and scaring the children.
Another stand out moment from the second act was the music from Mummy on the Orient Express. The music was intense, atmospheric and only became even more terrifying when the Foretold (the mummy itself) appeared. As a fan of this episode and having been terrified by the monster on screen it was amazing to see it live. The costume and makeup is so detailed; combined with the slow, staggering shuffle and the outstretched arm, reaching out for audience members was enough to give even the bravest shivers.
This is Gallifrey came as the penultimate of section of the show and it was every bit as emotional as it was on the TV show and accompanied clips from The Day of the Doctor to tell the story of our hero saving Gallifrey.
The finale was the Death in Heaven Suite which pulled together parts of the soundtrack from the season eight finale, again, telling the story through the images on the screen to further tug on the heart strings in all the right places. Meanwhile, Cybermen stomped across the stage and swarmed through the audience and occasionally pausing to stare at the sky, representing the Cybermen who flew into the sky in the episode. There was even a surprise visit from the Brigadier Cyberman who took his place on the stage and looked out solemnly at the audience.
This final piece brought the show to a climactic ending and the audience gave a standing ovation which prompted an encore much to everyone's joy. For the encore we were treated to Vale Decem which is better known as the Tenth Doctor's regeneration theme and was made even more emotional by the added video of every single Doctor's regeneration! As if they weren't all sad enough on their own! Putting us through that in the space of a few minutes with the emotion of that music was enough to make even the most heartless person shed a tear.
Our second encore piece was the perfect close to the show. It was the new arrangement of the Doctor Who theme while the monsters returned to the stage for one final appearance. When it ended, there was another standing ovation and that brought the evening to a close.
Overall, the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular was a show not to be missed by any Whovian! It was a true showcase of the talented Murray Gold, who also happened to be in the audience; a revelation that I didn't believe until he stood up (quite close to us) and waved under a glaring spotlight! It was him! It really was! Ben Foster was the coolest conductor, proving to be entertaining in the inbetween segments with Peter and while giving it his all conducting the orchestra. Peter Davison was also genuinely brilliant! His comic side shone through and it was impossible to not whoop and cheer when he pulled out his Doctor's coat (sadly minus the stick of celery) and of course, the orchestra, the choir and Elin Manahan Thomas were all the most amazing team that truly brought the world of the Doctor to life in all it's glory.Thanks again to Simon Franklin for stepping in and reviewing the event for me.
You can find out more about the event here: http://www.doctorwho.tv/events/doctor-who-symphonic-spectacular/
