More from Cameron’s interview with Doctor Who composer, Murray Gold, feat.
Lets go back to series one, how did that first year feel?
It kept on upping.
In season one, I didnt know what it was.
Russell obviously knew what it was but I hadnt really shared it.
I hadt read many manuscripts.
They were annoyed about how light-hearted it was.
I remember thinking, Thats fantastic!.
Theyd just stopped having dial-up.
I noticed [online fans].
I suppose it gave me a lifelong inoculation at an early stage.
It was like being present at the first outbreak of smallpox and never catching it.
I couldnt believe what I was watching.
Somebody was in a massively good mood when they wrote those thirteen episode.
It was so joyous and Id not seen anything like that on British TV before.
But it was framed within a normal Northern working class environment.
LikeQueer as Folk, it just had this fucking exuberance.
Doctor Whocame along, and that had the same thing.
I thought, Oh my god, youre really going to town on this!
Youre taking your love of life, and usingDoctor Who, hijackingDoctor Whoto express it.
Thats what it felt like he was doing.
It was just awesome.
I dont think it came fromDoctor Who.
Honestly, as someone who watched Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, I never sawthatinDoctor Who.
This exuberance, this love of life was latent but it wasnt there before inDoctor Who.
Every television show has ups and downs.
You cant keep up that intensity all the time.
It ebbs and flows.
The energy that was in Season One could never be sustained.
So, pop quiz time.
Whats your favouriteDoctor Whostory?
The Seeds of Doom with a really gigantic piece of snot!
[Laughs]The Ark in Space.Planet of Evil.The Green Death.
All that body horror I love it.
I dont really like monsters per se, I like madness.
Madness themes/parasite where you yourself become your enemy.
One I always loved, never seen but Id read the Target book wasCarnival of Monsters.
It was a bitSapphire & Steel, to read as a book.
Still never seen it.
Its likeThe Hunger Games, a bunch of aliens enjoying the spectacle of toy things.
FavouriteDoctor Whoscores from the past?
I loveTerror of the ZygonsandThe Seeds of Doom.
Youre going to get into trouble for saying that!
[Laughs] Theyre not typical.
Theyre not Radiophonic Workshop, theyre acoustic instruments.
They were both excellent scores.
You know who never gets a look-in?
She was credited on so manyDoctor Whoscores that I loved.
Nobody ever asks about Elizabeth Parker.
Would you like to bring the synth back in toWho?
I use a lot of synthesisers.
I mean the 70s/80s style.
I dont want to do it like that!
[Laughs] To be honest, I dont want to be cold to the episode.
Do you have any favourite composers?
I like a lot really.
I loved Hans ZimmersSherlockscore.
I loved James Newton Howards score forThe Hunger Games, it was really nice.
When it comes to films, can you turn off from the score?
It always sounds really good.
They always sound really good.
Theres not many films I like, lately.
Ive never really cared particularly about sci-fi as a genre above other genres.
If anything, the thing thats always got me is reality.
Im not talking about reality TV, I mean anything that resonates as having a sense of human truth.
Whether it wasZ CarsorBoys from the Blackstuff.
The drama, for me, has to be real.
I dont care for the Batman franchise under Christopher Nolan.
I dont care for Superman, under David S Goyer, and all its ridiculous solemnity.
Its ridiculous because the more serious you are about something thats ridiculous the more ridiculous it seems.
Were living in a fucking world with Syria going on, for gods sake.
Youve got some bloke writing Superman like it was the Fourth Testament.
Its men in capes and pants.
Come on guys, give us a joke.
Give us a little bit of humour.
These ridiculous movies that portray the world as a fight between good and evil, it really bothers me.
Whats your favourite track and score of your own?
I have to say it would be something with lyrics.
Midnighthas a fascinating score.
How did you feel when you first saw the ep?
I love anything thats stagey.
I love Quentin Tarantino for being stagey and for keeping actors in a sort of long shot.
I really like stagey direction rather than filmy with masses of cuts.
It was a really good episode.
People were being negative, not that Russell cares about that.
It seemed like people were very critical of the show and then that came out.
Its a fantastic motivating emotion.
It keeps you alive.
It keeps you awake and its a good thing for honesty.
It was a cleanser.
But it had the energy of misanthropy.
You know, you hear enough shit about somebody and eventually you go after them in a mob.
It had a good truth to it.
You mentionedTurn Left, one of my favourite episodes with my favourite companion, Donna Noble.
She had a lovely trajectory, likeThe Taming of the Shrew.
Very few characters in television really have such an interesting development.
And it had that amazing Circle of Mirrors scene with your beautiful track,A Dazzling End.
I love that piece too.
Its funereal but at the same time its about life.
Its just so excited.
I write really excitable music, like excited to be alive.
Thats whatDoctor Whois all about!
I think that too!
Like Walt Whitman or Stevie Wonder.
They communicate the excitement of being alive.
Its nothing like that nonsense in America dividing the world into good and evil.
In the best possible way, its about people who lose gracefully in some ways.
Winning is so boring.
You dont learn anything from winning.
People who win all the time are arseholes!
Any musicians or bands youd like to work with on a song forDoctor Who?
I ran into Bowie once in an ice-cream store in Reinbeck and he started talking to me aboutDoctor Who.
He had no idea who I was, I was just a fanboy freak.
I said, What do you mean?
and he said, They want me to do it.
I dont know what it means, to this day, but thats what he said.
I dont know in what capacity, as an actor or as a musician.
I would like to see an episode ofDoctor Whoscored by David Bowie.
IsDoctor Whodifferent to other shows you work on?
I probably get away with a lot more.
Theres a lot more benevolence and generosity on behalf of the public towardsDoctor Who.
They giveDoctor Whoa chance.
Murray Gold, thank you very much!
