My Review of Doctor Who's: "Doctor Who At The Proms"

Presented by Freema Agyeman
Directed by Rhoudri Huw

Freema Agyeman: “In that last sequence of music from Doctor Who, we’ve heard Doctor Forever, Rose’s Theme and Martha Versus The Master and I’m totally unbiased but the last bit was my favourite.”

Following David Tennant’s presenting back in 2006 with “Music And Monsters”, we’re treated to another concert, only this time it’s part of the Proms, adding a sense of refinery into the mix.

Back in July 2008, if you were lucky to see this, it was money well spent and January 2009, it was worth catching on New Year’s Day along with the repeat of “The Next Doctor” on BBC1.

If you own the soundtracks to the music of the first four seasons, then you’re more or less gonna know what to expect. Every single necessary and infamous theme is played and with the added bonus of having respective clips to back them up, it continues to serve viewers a reminder of how much has happened with this series in four seasons.

Another strength and keeping with the “Music And Monsters” concert, is the addition of monsters on set. Yes, the Royal Albert Hall not had the lovely lady behind Martha Jones presenting but it was also the very venue where the Daleks, Cybermen, Davros, the Ood, Sontarans and Judoon all made noteworthy appearances during specific moments.

As presenters go, Freema Agyeman was game for the audience and certainly entertained. Her introductions for the various segments were handled without any need to go a little OTT in places and on a shallow note, she looked absolutely stunning as well.

For the DVD version of this concert, there’s 57 minutes to enjoy and they do certainly fly by as we sailed through the music that defined and signified The Doctor, his companions as well as his enemies in such style, though there was repetition of certain clips throughout the concert.

My favourite part about this concert however was seeing the audience participation when it came to the mini-adventure, “Music Of The Spheres” as I had originally only seen the eight minute scene on YouTube so seeing it as part of the concert made it all the more satisfying.

This is the second time the series has gone out for a concert and it’s certainly proving the invincibility that this show has on the public consciousness. I can’t imagine many other series being able to have the kind of impact, nation wide. More power to the series.

- Due to starting work on Hamlet, David Tennant’s contribution to the concert was the “Music Of The Spheres” scene. Review can be read here … http://shawnlunn2002.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html
- Catherine Tate was seen in the DVD version introducing the music segments for Reinette, Astrid and Donna.
- Hats off to the likes of Dan Starkey and Julian Bleach for taking to the stage as Commander Skorr and Davros as well as the other actors in costume.
- Ben Foster made me laugh when he forced by the Dalek to conduct the music of destruction.
- There’s an excellent behind the scenes report on this concert in Issue 399 of DWM.
- This concert can be found on the DVD for “The Next Doctor”.

Quote, Unquote

Daleks (to Ben Foster): “We have travelled back in time and captured Henry Wood. We will alter the history of the Proms. There will be only Dalek music.”

“Doctor Who At The Proms” continues the show’s knack for keeping the franchise more and more invigorated, while also reminding fans of the excellent music from both Ben Foster and Murray Gold as well.

Rating: 9 out of 10.