THEATRE REVIEW: THE DOCTOR WHO SYMPHONIC SPECTACULAR

Shane | 2 February 2015 | Reply

THEATRE REVIEW: THE DOCTOR WHO SYMPHONIC SPECTACULAR
Perth Arena, 31 January, 2015
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
8/10

With the full WA Symphony Orchestra in blinding form, Murray Gold’s compositions for the past eight series of the iconic TV series Doctor Who were brought to life to an arena of excited fans.

Conducted by Ben Foster, the man in charge of conducting the actual recordings of these themes for the show back in England, the music is brought to life away from the screen. Some of the pieces are achingly beautiful, some full of tension, some quirky and some propel the action stirringly, none less than when the WASO is joined by featured vocal soloist Antoinette Halloran, whose vocals are spine tingling. All show how integral what is usually thought of as ‘background’ music is to the final cut of the show.

That’s all well and good, but what many thousands of fans in the Arena – many dressed as their favourite incarnation of The Doctor, or wearing Tardis or Dalek dresses or pop culture T-shirts celebrating the show – really wanted was The Doctor himself.

Enter Peter Davison – the fifth Doctor and a long-term favourite of the show’s legions of fans – to guide the show along with some introductions, a few witty asides, and some in-jokes (mostly at his successor Colin Baker’s expense!)

Davison keeps the symphonic music accessible for the many in attendance who wouldn’t normally listen to this sort of music – and for that reason alone he justifies his appearance. The fact that he treats it like the fun entertainment it should be is just a bonus (though anyone expecting him to ham it up in costume like The Doctor was to be disappointed.)

The biggest cheers of the night, though, are reserved for the monsters – of which many make an appearance. There’s an Ice Warrior, one of The Silence, the cursed Mummy soldier from the most recent season, the rhinoceros-headed Judoon amongst others, and best of all, a contingent each of the most celebrated evil empire-builders in the show’s 51 year history: The Daleks and The Cybermen!

The monsters prowl the stage and floor to highlight various musical pieces as scenes from the show screens behind the orchestra. It’s wonderful fun, a great celebration of the history of possibly the longest running and most iconic television program of them all – as well as being a well-deserved opportunity for Murray Gold’s music to get some more widespread respect when it might otherwise be mostly remembered as mere ‘background music’.