Doctor Who: Peter Capaldi Wants the Middle Eight Back in the Theme Music

Peter Capaldi is campaigning to have the middle eight put back into the Doctor Who theme song.

Doctor Who‘s theme music — composed by Ron Grainer and Delia Derbyshire — is one of the most iconic compositions of our modern culture. It has gone through many changes over the years, while still retaining its basic melody. The original version was a groundbreaking piece of electronic music. An example of the piece’s variations is the middle eight, which has varied over the years in the broadcast of the program — having most recently been absent in Series Nine.

For those fans anxious to get on with the program, they may enjoy a shortened version of the song. Completist fans, however, may prefer for it to remain where it was originally intended to be. Peter Capaldi is in the latter camp and has campaigned to get it put back in.

In the following video, he gives us his acapella rendition of the sometimes neglected section.

And here he is playing electric guitar for the awesome rock rendition from the opening of the Series Nine episode ‘Before the Flood.’

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Capaldi played the theme with a vintage Yamaha SGV800 guitar, which was purchased specifically for his use on Doctor Who. He also played it as the Doctor in the same episode, as well as the episodes ‘The Magician’s Apprentice,’ ‘The Zygon Invasion,’ and ‘Hell Bent.’ The Doctor’s amplifier was manufactured by Magpie Electricals, a company first seen on the show in the Tenth Doctor episode ‘The Idiot’s Lantern.’

Peter Capaldi has been playing the guitar for decades, and was in the 1980s punk band Dreamboys, previously known as The Bastards from Hell. Comedian and Whovian Craig Ferguson was the drummer of the band.

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Next: Doctor Who Filming in Spain for Series Ten

It is not yet known what Doctor Who‘s theme will sound like in Series Ten. Do you prefer for the middle eight to be in the song? Which version is your favorite? Give us your thoughts in the comments.