Planet 14 - Doctor Who

The BBC - they've got things nicely sorted on the DOCTOR WHO front haven't they? Why go to the trouble of producing any actual new episodes when you can just raid the archives to find something else to release.

THE EARLY YEARS isn't the first time the BBC have released the "effects, atmospheres and ambiences" (as the sleeve puts it) that the Radiophonic Workshop realised for the series.

However, unlike some of their previous releases, ranging from 1978's SOUND EFFECTS NO. 19 through to the 30 YEARS AT THE RADIO WORKSHOP CD in 1993, there's more emphasis on atmospheres and music than just plain sound effects. Not a lot more, mind you.

The opening track is, naturally enough, the original theme, as realised by Delia Derbyshire back in 1963. What can you say - it's still brilliant. The theme also crops up three more times, including the 1967 revamp introduced from THE MACRA TERROR onwards.

The tracks are presented in story order, beginning with the pilot episode and ending with a sequence from THE WAR GAMES, and covering over twenty stories in total. Some of these are familiar, and tracks from GALAXY FOUR, THE MACRA TERROR and THE WHEEL IN SPACE (amongst others) also cropped up on the 30 YEARS CD. However, since that covered all 26 seasons, and this one just the black and white era, there are plenty of "new" ones as well.

Of course, an effects-based CD was never going to be a must-have, and this certainly isn't. In fact, the effects are probably the least interesting stuff here - after all, who needs five different Chumbley sounds? There's not much actual music on show here, but at least you can turn your bedroom into the Aliens' control centre from THE WAR GAMES should you feel the need.

It's a shame that we couldn't have, say, Don Harper's score for THE INVASION (although to be fair, this is the Radiophonic Workshop's gig) and a few more music passages, but this is a fascinating, if by no means essential, collection of some of the electronic sounds from the programme's first six seasons. BACK TO THE TOP

DOCTOR WHO AT THE BBC
RADIOPHONIC WORKSHOP
VOLUME 1: THE EARLY YEARS,
1963-1969

BBC MUSIC

£11.99 CD

RATING: 6/10

NEXT RELEASE:
VOLUME 2: A NEW BEGINNING