Doctor Who and the Music from the Moon
By David Hill
The astronauts on board Apollo 10 heard a strange whistling noise, or “outer space music,” as they travelled past the dark side of the Moon back in 1969. It is enough to make one wonder if a certain Time Lord may have been hiding out at that time.
In the past season of Doctor Who, we learned of the Doctor’s musical talent. With his guitar, he travelled throughout time and space, engaging in “axe battles,” writing songs about a woman he did not know and explained the Bootstrap Paradox to us all. We learned of the Dreamboys, and of Peter Capaldi’s desire to have David Bowie (RIP) and Keith Richards on an episode of Doctor Who.
One also has to figure that this guitar would be a central part of the Doctor relaxing when he takes time for himself, resting after fending off Daleks or saving the universe yet again from some horrid destruction. Of course, being the Doctor, he cannot rest for too long, as he must remain ever vigilant in the face of these threats to civilization.
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Given the continued attempts to conquer Earth and exterminate, enslave, assimilate and upgrade humanity, it would make sense that the Doctor would pick some place nearby as his sanctuary. A place where, if he wanted to leave the TARDIS and stretch his legs for a while, he could do so in relative anonymity, free from the prying eyes of those he is trying to protect. A place like the dark side of the Moon, perhaps.
If so, it appears that the Doctor’s version of his Fortress of Solitude came close to being breached. Recently, NASA released the information that the astronauts aboard Apollo 10 heard a strange musical sound, which they called a whistling. Naturally, this was chalked up as radio interference, and nothing to worry about. Or, were the people at NASA protecting the Doctor from discovery, as he had protected humanity for so long?
Yes, these sounds were not the sound of an electric guitar echoing from the surface of the Moon. But who is to say that the Doctor limits himself just to playing the guitar? Perhaps he has some other instrument from a planet across the universe which makes such a sound? Maybe that “radio interference” is a mournful dirge, lamenting those lost in battle, or a joyous tune celebrating those he saved.
Or it could just be some very vintage equipment making the noise DOOWEEOOOOO!
Next: The influence of the Seventh Doctor
It is easy to explain such sounds as radio interference with nothing further to be seen, or heard, on the Moon. If they had landed, however, the astronauts aboard Apollo 10 may have found the Doctor working on a new tune.