Perhaps the hugest problem with Doctor Who is its iconic, brilliant, adrenalin rush of a theme tune - a standard no episode could hope to live up to. Total Film often does a "predicted interest graph" for new movies - transfer the method to Doctor Who, and all the episodes would begin with a huge spike, after which things can only go downhill, quicker than you can say "spectrox toxcamia". Admit it - has any episode ever matched the theme tune itself for daring and excitement?
So here's a fragmentary chit chat about the theme tune, because I've nothing else to say, and also because I've promised to watch the first episode of Caves of Androzani before I go to bed, and I have legendary delaying powers when it comes to that particular story. I've marked particular favourites in red, because I'm not methodical enogh to do top tens.
All the themes can be listened to on the Doctor Who Reference Guide, and title sequences are doubtless located on youtube if you want to look them up.
The original (Radiophonic Workshop)
Well, it has to be, doesn't it? Still one of the best. It's surreal, haunting, very creepy. I especially like the first time the TARDIS takes off, when they use the same visual effects. It's basically the old-skool equivalent of the modern vortex sequence. Combined with the music, it puts you straight into the atmosphere.
The 70s
From the Second Doctor onwards, I don't get excited by either the theme or sequence, which is why I'm skimming straight over one of the most popular eras entirely. Except I like the fact that the "drums" are so promenant in the Pertwee episodes, considering the way the Master overshadowed them.
Season 18-22 (Peter Howell)
This is the nostalgia vote - I hear it, and it takes me straight back to the first blossoming of my Doctor Who fandom. It reminds me of running up the hill to break a few rules, by claiming the hut with the DVD player and watching Doctor Who during our school study periods. That's the sound of watching Keeper of Traken in Friend 3's lounge - I'd borrowed my dad's Scarf, and made the foulest tasting Dalek cookies, and later we played the BBC's chocolate board game and instantly began improving it. It's the sound of watching Logopolis and Castrovalva in hut 24., and suddenly making an iconic part of your childhood into an iconic, albeit in different circumstances, part of my childhood. Hearing the theme is always a rush, but this and the Season 23 theme make me particularly Pavlovian.
Season 23 (Dominic Glynn), and the Sixth Doctor sequence
Listen to those haunted groans at the end. They remind me of the twisted incarnations from Matrix; or of that shuddering sound the TARDIS makes when it can't take off; or of Flavia's theme, as a ghostly voice from within the void, but this voice is not only in mourning but in pain. Sad and creepy in equal measure. It's the Valeyard's theme tune more than it is the Doctor's.
I like all the 80s sequences, because they reflect their Doctors. But the Sixth Doctor beams, and that familiar starfield explodes into colour. And you suddenly know you're in safe hands.
Seventh Doctor
a.k.a. Who on helium, this is the one I have as my mobile phone ringtone because it's so darn highpitched. It's far more space-y than the others, and both theme and sequence reflect it's Doctor well. Falls between adoration and dislike. There is something universal-masterplannish about the Seventh Doctor's theme - and I like the wink very much. That the Seventh Doctor gives a mischevous wink, to replace the Sixth Doctor's glowing smile, already says a lot.
Eighth Doctor - Telemovie (John Debney)
The magical beginning, and then the drums come in, and you just can't help but get really, really excited. And there's a vortex, and then Paul McGann's name comes up, and the Sylvester McCoy's, and for one brief moment it's gonna be SO DAMN FANTASTIC. After that, it's a sharp plunge downhill towards Grace's resurrection...the saddest thing is, the building arrangement is so vibrant that I can't help but still have that reaction, even though I know what follows is broadly disappointing.
Eighth Doctor Audios (David Arnold)
The first time I heard this, a shiver shot up my spine. Marvellous, marvellous, and matches the steampunk feel of that Doctor perfectly, all mechanical wheezings and groanings, magical and otherworldly.
Dimensions in Time
Cross the Doctor Who theme tune with Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Horrible travesty, like the program which follows it, barely excused by its "charitable" status. Don't really like the Shalka theme either.
Ninth Doctor
At the time, I loved it, but it sounds stale compared to the pumped up 10th. Too laboured, too heavy, although I do like the exciting string arrangement. But oh, that exciting vortex! It's what they've always been trying to do, but never had the tech to - see how they used the blots and scratches of the original in Unearthly Child's first ghostly takeoff.
Tenth Doctor
You know, I love both of those themes, or loved, but they do pale a bit next to the three highlighted above. Suddenly, they seems to lack atmosphere. Nevertheless, after my excitement about the Master's return, it was a stroke of genius to remix the theme tune to emphasise the fact the drums had been there all along.
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