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Doctor Who’s iconic theme tune will change for Jodie Whittaker’s first series

Doctor Who’s iconic theme tune will change for Jodie Whittaker’s first series

New composer Segun Akinola will create a new version of the classic music

Huw Fullerton

Published: Wednesday, 27 June 2018 at 8:43 am

As we approach the new series of Doctor Who later this year, fans are already excited about all the changes in store. Obviously we’ve already got a new Doctor in Jodie Whittaker, new companions and new writers, but many fans are just as excited to see what Whittaker’s newly-designed Tardis will have inside, or what the next sonic screwdriver will look like.

And then there’s the iconic series theme tune, which like all those other aspects of the BBC sci-fi series has varied from series to series and from Doctor to Doctor.

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Over the years the tune first composed by Ron Grainer and realised by Delia Derbyshire has progressed from its radiophonic roots to full orchestral arrangements, and even since Doctor Who returned to TV in 2005 the theme has been revamped on several occasions, usually to accompany a change in behind-the-scenes management or the casting of a new Doctor.

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And so ever since Jodie Whittaker was cast as the first female Doctor last year, fans have been eager to find out whether the music will change again, how it’ll be arranged and who’ll be behind it, with speculation only growing when a short piece of music including parts of the theme (arranged by Matthew Herbert) was released to accompany the new series logo earlier this year.

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And happily, today sees some of the fans’ questions about the theme tune answered. You see, the BBC has announced that the series’ new composer (taking over from Murray Gold) will be Segun Akinola, who has worked scoring various documentaries and short films and will now take over the job of writing the music for every episode of Doctor Who’s eleventh series.

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And according to a release from the BBC, his duties will also include creating “a fresh take on the legendary theme tune” confirming both that a new version is coming (which isn’t a massive surprise but hey, it’s good to know for sure) and that it’ll probably be fairly different to the most recent version that accompanied Peter Capaldi’s adventures.

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As for what the new theme tune will sound like, well, we couldn’t tell you – we’ve included some of Akinola’s other work in this article, which might offer some clues for the musically minded – but we’re it’ll be as big a break from the past as the rest of new showrunner Chris Chibnall’s decisions for series 11.

Watch this space for more series 11 musical details…

Doctor Who returns to BBC1 this autumn

Authors

Radio Times commissioning editor Huw Fullerton. He sits in front of a shelving unit, looking at the camera and smiling. He wears glasses and has a moustache

Huw FullertonCommissioning editor

Huw Fullerton is a commissioning editor for Radio Times magazine handling comedy, entertainment and specialist drama. In a previous regeneration, he covered all things sci-fi and fantasy for RadioTimes.com.

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