Doctor Who Theme Poll

By Christian Cawley, May 11, 2010 - Doctor Who, News - no comments

The Doctor Who theme tune has been voted 3rd in a poll of most popular TV theme tunes for the Performing Right Society (PRS).

While it might be jumped on by critics of the new series arrangement as an example of why it isn’t good as previous versions, this of course ignores the deep place that Doctor Who has in British culture.

1. MoTD
2. EastEnders
3. Doctor Who
4. Coronation Street
5. Countdown

Ellis Rich, chairman of PRS:

“Sometimes the defining characteristic between a ‘good programme’ and a ‘great programme’ is our ability to take to the theme tune.

“Whether it creates suspense, acts as a cliff-hanger or just wraps the show up neatly, the theme tune plays an indispensible role in a show”.

Composed by the legendary Ron Grainer and originally arranged by the visionary Delia Derbyshire, the Doctor Who theme tune has remained a constant throughout the series history, twisting, changing and regenerating like the lead character itself. Since 2005, the tune has been arranged by Murray Gold.
Given the number of theme tunes out there – and we’ve all got our favourites – 3rd place isn’t bad. Interestingly, all of the top 5 tunes are over 25 years old… a damning indictment of modern TV theme tunes.

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About the author

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A long-term Doctor Who fan, Christian grew up watching the show and has early memories of the Graham Williams era. His favourite stories are Inferno, The Seeds of Doom and Human Nature (although The Empty Child, Blink and Utopia all come close). When he’s not bossing around the news team, Christian is a freelance writer specialising in mobile technology and domestic computing, and enjoys classic rock, cooking and spending time in the countryside with his wife and young children. You can find him on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.