Doctor Who: Class composer Blair Mowat’s distinctive take on the Doctor Who theme

While not appearing in the TV series itself, Blair Mowat’s Doctor Who theme is certainly worth a listen.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been relistening to volumes three and four of Doctor Who: The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield. Volume five has recently been released, and I thought it was a good time to revisit the earlier volumes.

What stands out about three and four is how they feature Bernice in a different universe, with David Warner playing a very different third incarnation of the Doctor. This one had been introduced in the earlier audios Sympathy for the Devil and Masters of War in the Doctor Who Unbound range, but The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield gave us a fresh take on his Doctor.

Naturally, a new universe meant the chance for a brand new take on the iconic theme tune, a task given to composer Blair Mowat. Mowat has worked extensively on the Doctor Who universe already, not just composing the music for the whole of the short-lived spin-off series Class, but even creating a new arrangement of the Torchwood theme for Big Finish. So how strong is his take on the Doctor Who theme?

A tricky balance

Re-arranging the Doctor Who theme tune is a tricky task, to say the least. You want to be respectful of what came before and not move too far away from what made the original theme so great in the first place. At the same time, however, you also want to include a new element that adds something fresh.

Honestly, some themes we’ve had over the decades have been more successful at this than others. Even Murray Gold – arguably one of the greatest composers we’ve ever had for the series – struggled with one or two variations of the theme. (While his earliest variations during the Russell T Davies era were fantastic, the version he composed for Peter Capaldi’s era in my opinion wasn’t so great.)

So while it was the only thing Blair Mowat needed to compose for these two box sets (Jamie Robertson and Steve Foxon were each box set’s composers, respectively), it was still a huge task. But thankfully, it was also something he handled just right.

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New universe, new take

As you can hear in the above trailer, the music feels very retro in some ways. The theme has a glassy texture, something that Mowat said he was going for in the behind the scenes interviews for The Unbound Universe. This is the biggest key difference his theme features, and it works brilliantly. Other changes are subtle, and remain faithful to the original theme. But the glassy quality of his version works extremely well.

The pitch and the tone of the music are just right, and they suit a Doctor that’s intentionally more old-school. Considering that David Warner’s Doctor is essentially meant to be an alternative version of the third Doctor, that retro feeling suits his Doctor very well. What we have is a worthy tribute to Ron Grainer’s and Delia Derbyshire’s original theme, while still offering something very fresh.

Honestly, it’s a real shame that Mowat hasn’t had a chance to compose a theme for the TV series itself. Don’t get me wrong, Segun Akinola’s version is great, and is probably one of the stronger versions of the theme tune that we’ve had in a while. Still, based on this particular variation – not to mention his Torchwood  arrangement for Big Finish and his work on Class – I can’t help but wonder how good he could be for the TV series.

Do you think Blair Mowat’s theme works well? Do you think he should compose a new variation for the TV series? What is your favorite variation of the theme tune? Let us know in the comments below.