Being asked to write music for
Docteur Who (1963) came out of the blue and as a complete surprise. I had previously written only two scores for television, but it was the second of these that attracted director
Douglas Camfield. It was a ghost story, the music of which was scored for a small and unusual group of instruments, plus two countertenors. The supernatural quality of the score appealed to Douglas, and I imagine it was the small number of musicians that appealed to the producer, because the
Docteur Who (1963) budget ran to just four players, plus myself on whatever I could play, and access to the Radiophonic Workshop. I used the latter quite sparingly, mostly putting selected instruments through a ring modulator to make them sound quite unlike the original, thereby creating a bigger sounding group than I actually had. It was a great experience for an emerging composer, and I am terribly gratified to have been part of such a legendary television phenomenon.
