Shout Out: Doctor Who Series 3 (Original Television Soundtrack) - Murray Gold & The BBC National Orchestra Of Wales

I've written about orchestrated music twice before on this blog; once when looking at an album of orchestrated Rush songs and again when discussing various covers by the Vitamin String Quartet. This time, I'm dedicating a short blog post to one of my favourite (if not my number one favourite) television score in recent memory.
The orchestrated soundtrack to the third series of Doctor Who.

Whilst the music in Doctor Who has mostly felt incidental at best (with the exception of several character themes between the first and fifth series), I remember actively recalling the musical stings and melodies from the third series almost as clearly as the plot twists and striking visual imagery the show provided. However, the shining diamond on the crown jewel that is the soundtrack has to be album opener and recurring tune "All The Strange, Strange Creatures". I can remember hearing it for the first time in a special effects reel (along with subsequent trailers for the series) and feeling exhilarated. To this day, I still think it's the best piece of music Doctor Who has ever given us...except maybe "I Am The Doctor". I just wish the main melody went on longer than 1:23, kind of like it does in this version.
The soundtrack also introduces us to new character themes in the form of "Martha's Theme", "The Master Vainglorious" and "The Doctor Forever", a magnificent piece that perfectly encapsulates Tennant's Doctor with a sombre, magnificent introduction shortly before a whimsical section full of life and joy. Variations on these pieces appear throughout the series to emphasise certain character moments but the multitude of episodes each contain their own unique score to give each chapter of the series its own feel or to punctuate iconic scenes with music unlike anything else in the show so far, e.g. "The Carrionites Swarm" or "Smith's Choice".
Some of these tracks were used in later episodes whilst (I believe) none of the pieces from the first two series' were used in full throughout this one. However, there are some upgraded tracks with added depth and additional melodies such as "Boe" (wondrously used twice in the series, exactly the right amount to deliver maximum impact) and two specially written songs; one for the lacklustre Daleks In Manhattan/Evolution Of The Daleks two-parter entitled "My Angel Put The Devil In Me" and the other for the lacklustre Christmas special Voyage Of The Damned entitled "The Stowaway", somewhat of a sneak peek as the soundtrack was released before December 2007.

Overall, series three may not be everyone's personal favourite (although it does contain Blink, an episode that Whovians and casual fans unanimously believe to be the single greatest episode the show's ever given us) but I'd be surprised to learn that it doesn't contain at least one piece of music that you don't get some kind of pleasure from, whether it's the racing thrill from "The Runaway Bride", the light-hearted cheese of "Gridlocked Cassinis" (that's often used as background music in the UK version of The Apprentice, if you're interested) or the beautiful "This Is Gallifrey: Our Childhood, Our Home".
The only downside to the soundtrack that stops it from being absolutely perfect is the lack of a few tunes used throughout the series and occasionally in the next one (musical sections similar to "The Doctor Forever" used at the end of The Lazarus Experiment and The Family Of Blood). However, I would still strongly recommend this soundtrack to anyone who likes Doctor Who and wants a single collection of some of the best music the show's ever used.

1. All The Strange, Strange Creatures

2. Martha's Theme

3. Drowning Dry

4. The Carrionites Swarm

5. Gridlocked Cassinis

6. Boe

7. Evolution Of The Daleks

8. My Angel Put The Devil In Me

9. Mr Smith And Joan

10. Only Martha Knows

11. Smith's Choice

12. Just Scarecrows To War

13. Miss Joan Redfern

14. The Dream Of A Normal Death

15. The Doctor Forever

16. Blink (Suite)

17. The Runaway Bride

18. After The Chase

19. The Futurekind

20. YANA (Excerpt)

21. The Master Vainglorious

22. Martha's Quest

23. This Is Gallifrey: Our Childhood, Our Home

24. Martha Triumphant

25. Donna's Theme

26. The Stowaway

27. The Master Tape

28. Abide With Me

ALBUM RATING - 9/10

Yes, it's not really Rock or Metal (although "The Futurekind" and "The Master Tape" feature some heavy riffing). Normal service on the blog will be resumed relatively soon.