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Top Ten TV Sci-Fi Themes
The Doctor Who music was named the best science fiction theme tune of all time today.
The eerie strains, created in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop nearly half a century ago, topped an online poll of sci-fi fans, beating the rather more jovial, singalong 'Red Dwarf' theme into second place.
In third place was the 'X-Files' music, which – aside from introducing Mulder and Scully’s shenanigans with extra-terrestrials – enjoyed significant chart success on Earth.
The original 'Doctor Who' theme was composed by Ron Grainer in 1963 and arranged by pioneering BBC sound engineer Delia Derbyshire.
Working in the days before synthesisers, Derbyshire created the Doctor Who theme by taking a tape loop of a single note struck on a piano string, and speeding it up, slowing it down and combining it with the sound of test oscillators and filtered white noise.
On first hearing the electronic version of the tune, Grainer – who composed it as a traditional musical score – reportedly asked: “Did I really write this?”, for Derbyshire to reply: “Most of it.”
The unearthly tune has been reworked a number of times – though not quite as many as the Time Lord himself – in the show’s 46-year history, with the latest version arranged by Murray Gold.
Matt McAllister, editor of Totalscifionline.com, which ran the poll, said: “The poll result proves that in addition to being one of the most popular science fiction shows ever created, 'Doctor Who' also boasts the most iconic sci-fi theme tune.
“Grainer and Derbyshire’s theme manages to convey the outlandish quality of the show and is instantly recognisable to fans throughout the world just by its opening bars.”
Here are the top 10 sci-fi theme tunes, voted for by fans on the totalscifionline.com website:
1. 'Doctor Who'
2. 'Red Dwarf'
3. 'The X-Files'
4. 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer'
5. 'Star Trek'
6. 'Thunderbirds'
7. 'The Twilight Zone'
8. 'Battlestar Galactica'
9. 'Quantum Leap'
10. 'The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy'
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