[The Moonlit Door]

I'm always interested to hear new versions of the Doctor Who theme, but I'm aware that so many, including Murray Gold's various themes are remixes.

That's why when David Arnold produced a new version for Big Finish several years back, it was all the more exciting. It was a fresh interpretation of the theme, and no sampling, apart from possibly the end title hiss. For me, it reinvigorated not only Paul McGann's Doctor, but also the series, and gave it a new aspect for a new decade.

Murray Gold has been vocal about his admiration for Delia Derbyshire's original theme arrangement, and that he viewed his job as merely adding to it to create a fuller, more modern sound. The score he produced for the 2005 trailer used a version of the bassline with no samples, and I thought it was a great result. I was somewhat disappointed that the samples had to creep in to endorse what he'd made, though I realise that recognition of the theme by audiences old and new was the key requirement for the production team.

It's likely that Gold will develop his theme more as he continues to score the series, but I wondered how much respect for the original music could limit musicians' ability to create something new. Certainly many musicians on the Whomix website have focused heavily on Peter Howell's 1980 version as a starting point.

Has anyone here attempted a totally original arrangement of the theme? Did it work out, or did earlier themes influence the sound too much?