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The 2013 Doctor Who at the Proms were the fourth and fifth performances of Doctor Who at the Proms, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who.

They were broadcast live from the Royal Albert Hall on BBC Radio 3 between 13-14 July 2013 with commentary by Louise Fryer, forming Proms 2 & 3 of the 2013 season.

A 75 minute edit of the prom was broadcast on television on BBC One & BBC One HD on 26 August 2013. After a BBC Three repeat on 21 November 2013, an additional 25 minutes of material ran on the BBC Red Button service under the title Doctor Who at the Proms: Encore.

During the 20 minute interval, BBC Radio 3 broadcast the documentary The Soundworld of Doctor Who, in which Matthew Sweet interviewed the sound designers of Doctor Who and the voice of the Daleks and Ice Warriors, Nicholas Briggs.

It was hosted by Matt Smith, Jenna Coleman, Neve McIntosh (in Silurian prosthetics as Madame Vastra), Dan Starkey (in Sontaran prosthetics as Strax), Peter Davison, the Daleks and Carole Ann Ford.

The 13 July performance was the world première of Murray Gold's celebration of Doctor Who, "Song for Fifty".

Shortly before the performance of "Cyber Shard", Strax held a Strax Field Report: T135/2, where Strax reported to Sontar he was in a large room full of "human scum" celebrating the Doctor and that he received intel that the Doctor's enemies are about to attack.

Synopsis[]

Doctor Who returns to the Proms to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the popular BBC series. As well as showcasing Murray Gold's music from the past eight years, the concert also journeys back to the early days of Doctor Who and the ground-breaking work of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Featuring special guests from the series, big screens and a host of monsters ready to invade the Royal Albert Hall, this is not the year to be exterminated!

Programme[]

Act 1[]

  • The Mad Man With a Box - Murray Gold
  • I Am the Doctor - Murray Gold

Minisode[]

Main article: Doctor Who Proms Film

Act 1 continues[]

Act 2[]

List of music[]

Act One
Piece Composer Conductor Performer(s) Runtime Notes
The Mad Man with a Box Murray Gold Ben Foster London Philharmonic Choir 2'50" Theme of the Eleventh Doctor
I Am the Doctor Murray Gold Ben Foster BBC National Orchestra of Wales, London Philharmonic Choir 4'57"
Theme of the Eleventh Doctor
Includes "Words Win Wars", incidental music from TV: The Pandorica Opens
Habañera (from Carmen) Georges Bizet Ben Foster BBC National Orchestra of Wales 2'01" The piece had previously appeared as diegetic music played by Oswin Oswald in TV: Asylum of the Daleks
Companions Suite Murray Gold Ben Foster BBC National Orchestra of Wales, London Philharmonic Choir, Elin Manahan Thomas 6'57" Medley of Rose, Martha, Donna and both young Amelia and adult Amy's themes
Cyber Shard Murray Gold Ben Foster BBC National Orchestra of Wales 4'43"
Incidental music from TV: The Bells of Saint John and Nightmare in Silver
Music including:
"Up the Shard" from TV: The Bells of Saint John
"The Speeder" from TV: The Bells of Saint John
Incidental music from TV: Nightmare in Silver
Appearances in the hall by Cyberman
Toccata (from Toccata and Fugue in D minor) Johann Sebastian Bach, arr. Leopold Stokowski Ben Foster BBC National Orchestra of Wales 4'00"
Initially heard on Doctor Who in TV: Attack of the Cybermen, played diegetically by the Sixth Doctor
TV: Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D., a 1966 adaptation of TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth, also featured this as part of its incidental music
The Final Chapter of Amelia Pond Murray Gold Ben Foster BBC National Orchestra of Wales, London Philharmonic Choir, Elin Manahan Thomas 6'20"
Incidental music from TV: The Angels Take Manhattan
Includes part of both young Amelia and adult Amy's themes
Appearance in the hall by a Weeping Angel
The Rings of Akhaten Murray Gold Ben Foster BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Allan Clayton, Kerry Ingram 5'23" Known on the series 7 soundtrack album as "The Long Song", diegetic music sung by the Queen of Years, Chorister Rezh Baphix and others attending the Festival of Offerings, from TV: The Rings of Akhaten

Interval (20 mins)

Act Two
Piece Composer Conductor Performer(s) Runtime Notes
All the Strange, Strange Creatures Murray Gold Ben Foster BBC National Orchestra of Wales, London Philharmonic Choir 3'20"
Excerpt of "I Am the Doctor" at the end of the piece
Appearances in the hall by Judoon and an Ice Warrior
The Impossible Girl Murray Gold Ben Foster BBC National Orchestra of Wales 3'45" The song, "Clara?", the theme of Clara Oswald and her variously-named echoes, first heard in TV: Asylum of the Daleks. This melody would later become diegetic in the 2015 episode TV: Hell Bent.
The Girl With the Flaxen Hair Claude Debussy Ben Foster BBC National Orchestra of Wales 2'45" An arrangement by Dudley Simpson had previously appeared in TV: The Robots of Death's incidental music
Classic Medley Tristram Cary, Martin Slavin, Malcolm Clarke, Dudley Simpson, Paddy Kingsland, Peter Howell, Mark Ayres Ben Foster BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Peter Howell, Mark Ayres 7'56"
Featuring:
"Dalek Control Room", incidental music from TV: The Daleks
"Space Adventure", stock music by Martin Slavin that originally appeared as incidental music in the DWU for TV: The Tenth Planet
Excerpts of "The Prison", "The Master" and "The Sea Devil", incidental music from TV: The Sea Devils
Incidental music from TV: City of Death
"Saying Goodbye", incidental music from TV: Logopolis
"The Five Doctors" and "Cyber Forces" and an excerpt of "The Eye of Orion", incidental music from TV: The Five Doctors
"The Final Battle", incidental music from TV: The Curse of Fenric
You're going to have to take those clothes off Gabe Stone and Matthew Owen Ben Foster BBC National Orchestra of Wales 1'45" Original incidental music soundtrack composed by the contest winners of the Create a Soundtrack contest held by the BBC in the 14-16 senior category scored over footage of TV: The Snowmen
I never know why, I only know who William Davenport and Jordan Picken Ben Foster BBC National Orchestra of Wales 1'23" Original incidental music soundtrack composed by the contest winners of the Create a Soundtrack contest held by the BBC in the 11-14 junior category scored over footage of TV: The Snowmen
First There Were Daleks Murray Gold Ben Foster BBC National Orchestra of Wales 5'25" Incidental music including "The Dark and Endless Dalek Night" from TV: The Stolen Earth and music from TV: Asylum of the Daleks
The Name of the Doctor Murray Gold Ben Foster BBC National Orchestra of Wales 7'38"
Incidental music from TV: The Name of the Doctor
Features "To Save the Doctor", itself including excerpts of "This is Gallifrey: Our Childhood, Our Home", originally from TV: Utopia / The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords
Features an excerpt of "The Wedding of River Song", from the episode of the same name
Song for Fifty Murray Gold Ben Foster BBC National Orchestra of Wales, London Philharmonic Choir, Elin Manahan Thomas, Alan Clayton 10'50" World première performance
Vale Decem Murray Gold Ben Foster BBC National Orchestra of Wales, London Philharmonic Choir 3'30"
Diegetic music sung by the Ood from TV: The End of Time
Features an excerpt of "The Doctor's Theme", the theme of the Ninth and Tenth Doctors
On screen appearances by each of the Doctors
Doctor Who theme Ron Grainer Ben Foster BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Peter Howell, Mark Ayres 1'36"
Opening and closing theme music to Doctor Who
2012 version arranged by Murray Gold, which premièred in TV: The Snowmen, augmented with contributions by members of the original BBC Radiophonic Workshop

Cast[]

Music crew[]

Crew[]

Notes[]

  • During the video on screen, the Doctor is shown with his full head of hair. However, on stage, he now has a short, near-buzz haircut which Clara points out. The Doctor blames it on the ticket. In reality, this was due to Matt Smith having had to cut his hair for Ryan Gosling's directorial debut How to Catch a Monster which was shot between the filming of the skit (presumably at some point during production of Series 7) and the Prom concert.
  • The concert received its first television broadcast on 26 August 2013, in a 60 minute cut-down version ("Carmen Suite No. 2", "The Companions", "Toccata and Fugue in D minor", "The Final Chapter of Amelia Pond", "La Fille Aux Cheveux de Lin" ("The Girl with the Flaxen Hair"), the winners of Create a Soundtrack, "Song for Fifty" and "Vale Decem" were all edited out). A different performance of the "Doctor Who Theme" is also used.

Ratings[]

to be added

Production errors[]

  • At one point, Neve McIntosh, playing Madame Vastra, mispronounces the name of Leopold Stokowski, though she catches herself and tries again.
  • Reportedly the synthesiser used during the performance of the Doctor Who Theme malfunctioned, resulting in it sounding slightly out of tune. As a result, the televised version of the Prom that aired on BBC One on 26 August 2013 used a different performance of the theme.

Home video releases[]

This concert was included on the Doctor Who: 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition DVD & Blu-ray box set released on 8 September 2014. It was later released again in 2021 as part of the 50th Anniversary steelbook.

In November 2023, Doctor Who at the Proms was added to BBC iPlayer's Whoniverse catalog of Doctor Who content.

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