tue 12/11/2024

Doctor Who goes to the Proms again (and again) | reviews, news & interviews

Doctor Who goes to the Proms again (and again)

Doctor Who goes to the Proms again (and again)

This year's Prom for children is an encore

In their recommendations of the best of this year's BBC Proms, theartsdesk's music writers have been thunderously silent on the only event that will excite a certain section of the audience demographic. I refer, of course, to what will no doubt become the traditional Doctor Who Prom.

Or Proms.

matt_smith_doctor__1215943cIn 2008 the inaugural Prom featuring music from the flagship BBC One drama was so successful, drawing a sizeable audience on television as well as many junior first-timers to a classical concert, that this time round the ever-inclusive Proms boss Roger Wright has scheduled two of them. So Prom 10 on Saturday, 24 July will include suitably suggestive and phantasmagorical music plucked from The Planets, Carmina Burana and The Ride of the Valkyries, as well as a 40-minute suite from the show by Murray Gold. Then at 11 o'clock the next morning at Prom 11,  they'll play the whole lot again.

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales will as usual be thumping out the ghoulish theme tune and much else besides while Daleks, Cybermen and what have you prowl the auditorium of the Royal Albert Hall. They will be joined by the London Philharmonic Choir, conductors Ben Foster and Grant Llewellyn, and of course by the Time Lord himself, plus his able assistant Amy Pond (also known as Matt Smith, pictured above right, and Karen Gillan).

Comments

Fair enough, Jasper, one thing we highbrows didn't mention was the blend of means the Proms and the BBCSO have been engaging to try and draw in the young 'uns. Education-for-fun has been a growing brief over the past couple of years, and whatever it takes, they're right to engage with it. In the main season, the BBCSO has featured a number of bargain-ticketed 'family concerts' with pre-performance events - quite ambitious programmes (not sure kids should have been asked to sit through the Adagio of Mahler's Tenth) which seem to be well attended.

I was only silent because I thought somebody else would definitely pick it! There is plenty of good music being written for TV now.

Add comment

The future of Arts Journalism

 

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

newsletter

Get a weekly digest of our critical highlights in your inbox each Thursday!

Simply enter your email address in the box below

View previous newsletters