Doctor Who composer: Something happens in the 50th anniversary that might be controversial
Murray Gold teases that there might be controversy to come this November - and describes the difference between Moffat and Davies
The Doctor Who 50th anniversary special continues to be shrouded in mystery, but composer Murray Gold has hinted that not every fan will be best happy with what the episode has in store.
"There's some really interesting things to say about [the 50th anniversary special] but I can't say them,” he says. “It's very, very well directed. There's a thing they've done in it, which might be controversial… It's interesting though."
What could it be? A regeneration? A death? The return of Peter Kay?
Gold, music director for the show since its revival in 2005, also went on to tell Den of Geek what he thought the differences were between the Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat era.
“Russell's was the era of stumbling generosity, overreaching generosity. Steven's is the era of the introspective epic. So I think there's the external versus the internal in some way. Russell always says about every character he writes, you can just see them walking down the street. You can take all of his characters and see them walking down the street, wherever you live. Steven's plots happen in a place that's not necessarily real. So, asking if you could see them walking down the street in Britain isn't even the point.”
“He [Steven Moffat] deals with, if I can be really pretentious for a while, the Genet-like question of whether a character is really just a character playing a character or whether they have a foundational reality to them in psychological terms. That's happened with all of his characters, he's questioned their existence as a character. Are they the character we think they are? Are they that person? Are they just a character playing a character?”
In reference to how notes and directions from the two writers differ, he also added:
“I have a lot of free rein. Marcus [Wilson, executive producer] has been at the forefront in the dubs recently. He looks after the dubs to a certain extent. Neyrs [Davies], who's the post-production supervisor, is in contact with me on Doctor Who pretty much more than anyone else. A few years back, it would definitely be Russell and Julie [Gardener, former executive producer]. Then it would be Piers [Wenger, former exec prod].”
A prom dedicated the Murray Gold’s work on Doctor Who – as well as music from its 50 year history – was held this weekend at the Royal Albert Hall.
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Authors
Stephen Kelly is a freelance culture and science journalist. He oversees BBC Science Focus's Popcorn Science feature, where every month we get an expert to weigh in on the plausibility of a newly released TV show or film. Beyond BBC Science Focus, he has written for such publications as The Guardian, The Telegraph, The I, BBC Culture, Wired, Total Film, Radio Times and Entertainment Weekly. He is a big fan of Studio Ghibli movies, the apparent football team Tottenham Hotspur and writing short biographies in the third person.