Doctor Who: The Story Behind The Iconic Theme Song

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Some TV show theme songs become platinum-selling hits, others stick in the popular culture for generations. Others still outlive the shows they were written for. One theme song broke new ground for television songwriting and remained a mainstay of TV and culture for decades.

Doctor Who first hit the airwaves in 1963, and after a significant hiatus, reemerged in 2005 as one of the most popular sci-fi series of all time. Through multiple showrunners, teams, and onscreen stars, the show has remained beloved by a massive and devoted fan base. At this point, the show is likely unkillable, so some elements of it could be a part of pop culture forever. Its music is one of those elements.

Doctor Who's Lost Episodes

The Doctor Who theme song was written in 1963 by Australian composer Ron Grainer. Grainer is well known for a variety of TV show theme songs, including 1967's The Prisoner and 1979's Tales of the Unexpected. His work is award-winning and well-received. He composed theme music for shows of all kinds, from crime drama to sitcom to sprawling sci-fi epic. The track is officially titled «Doctor Who,» but was recognized at the time as «Dr. Who.» Since 1963, Doctor Who has used different arrangements of the same musical composition to open the program. The main melody has remained preserved for almost sixty years as one of the most recognizable pieces of music on television. Though there have now been dozens of arrangements of this piece, the original 1963 orchestration is a work of art that borders on sorcery.

The first presentation of the Doctor Who theme song, the one that played for the first seventeen years of the show, was created by Delia Derbyshire. Derbyshire is one of the most important and most underrated figures in