This is the second CD of music from the new Doctor Who series by composer Murray Gold, which picks up from the previous CD taking us through the next 13 episodes plus two Christmas Specials. "Trailer Music" is a version of the exciting music used in the various trailer used by the BBC to build up anticipation for the return to the screens. For the new companion, "Martha's Theme" has a warm synthetic vocal sound with an air of the "girl next door" who has great potential, and makes a comeback later in "The Doctor Forever" where it takes on a swashbuckling style. "Drowning Dry" is the dramatic moments when the witches in "The Shakespeare Code" weave a dastardly spell, and in the sleeve-notes Gold refers to the atonal harmonies and textures of orchestrator and conductor Ben Foster. "The Carrionites Swarm" with its percussive propelling beat is from the climactic moments from the same story, leading up to the final moments when the Bard saves the day using the power of words.
"Gridlocked Cassinis" represented the characters in one of the gridlocked cars when the Doctor took Martha to a later version of New New Earth. For a story based around a traffic jam, the episode also has some interest emotional moments. There is a sense of community among the car occupants with shared moments over the car radios, and the quasi-religious aspects of moving up into the light at the end of the story illustrated touchingly by the last track "Abide with Me". And the CD also brings us a relaxed ballad for the "Face of Boe" who finally dies at the end of this story (and who may be the future shape of invinsible Captain Jack). "Evolution of the Daleks" has vocal chanting courtesy of the Crouch End Festival Chorus and "My Angel put the Devil in Me" is the song for one of the routines performed in the 1940s Manhattan theatre (accompanied by sleazy brass) while its title seems to match the good versus evil of the story.
The next 6 tracks all come from the two episode story ("Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood") adapted from a Doctor Who novel, The Doctor becomes human (Mr. John Smith) and falls in love with a teacher, Joan Redfern, and this music represents their love and the life they could have shared if it wasn't necessary to save the planet once more. "Only Martha Knows" was written for the same story, but the whistling was vetoed by the producers and not included in the broadcast episode, and "Smith's Choice" is a nice piece of music seeming to recall parts of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet. "Just Scarecrows to War" has a fife and drum, and "Miss Joan Redfern" is a character study of the Teacher. "Blink" was a well-crafted and hugely popular story full of suspense and mystery, and the bassoon has a central role until the action elements kick in and the tension goes up a notch. "The Runaway Bride" comes from the car chase scene of the 2006 Christmas Special introducing Donna, which was previewed at a live concert in Cardiff, and "After the Chase" accompanies the quieter moments afterwards on a rooftop overlooking London.
A number of the later tracks all come from the trio of episodes which bring back the Master. In a far future vision of Earth "The Futurekind" have reverted back to primitive state, with a trashy rock band sound. When we first meet the Master he is played by Derek Jacobi and has evaded the Time War with the Daleks by performing the same trick which the Doctor had done earlier to become the human and abset-minded Professor "Yana" who puts 2 and 2 together with a little help and changes back in to the Master to the sound of drums. "The Master Vainglorious" shows the evil timelord as a deranged individual, with some great electronic effects. "Martha's Quest" becomes very Mahlerian in places, and brings a message of hope on oboe. "This is Gallifrey" with a Jan Hammer vibe shows the connection between the Doctor and the Master and what they've lost as the last of the Timelords, and the penultimate track "The Master Tape" emphasises the evil one's very his own "Master motif". "Donna's Theme" is initially light and fickle (but with with some more touches of Prokofiev) and planned to be included in Series 4 during 2008 when the character returns, and "The Stowaway" is very much a traditional folk Christmas song from the 2007 Christmas Special featuring Kylie.
This is another great soundtrack from the ever-popular television series, and the CD can be previewed at the following online places: Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.
See also details of the Doctor Who Prom Concert and our review of the first Doctor Who CD featuring music from Series 1 and 2, with "Rose's Theme", "The Doctor's Theme" and many of their adventures together on Earth, in the past and in the future, and battling both Daleks and Cybermen.
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