This is a list of composers for science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is sortable by a number of different criteria. The list defaults to ascending alphabetical order the composer's last name.
History The Doctor Who theme music was composed by Ron Grainer and initially arranged by Delia Derbyshire of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Various composers subsequently arranged it for later versions of the theme.
In the classic series, each serial's director chose the freelance composer for the incidental music in the serial. Some directors chose to use stock music or special soundscapes from the Radiophonic Workshop instead of specially composed music as a cost cutting measure. During the 1970s, the incidental composer primarily associated with the programme was Dudley Simpson, composing most of the decade's music. When John Nathan-Turner became producer of Doctor Who in 1980, he decided that the music needed to be updated, and took Simpson out for a meal telling him how much he appreciated his work on Doctor Who but that it would no longer be required as he intended to have the BBC Radiophonic Workshop provide music from that point. While Simpson was contracted to score Shada, the unfinished nature of that production meant he never started work. As a result, his last broadcast work on Doctor Who was for The Horns of Nimon.
The 1980s saw the music composition brought in house at the BBC by various members of the Radiophonic Workshop, before transitioning back to freelance composers at the end of the original series's run. This decade saw a more heavy use of synthesizers than before.
John Debney was chosen to score the 1996 TV movie, and he achieved this together with his proteges Louis Febre and John Sponsler.
The revived series' scores were entirely composed by Murray Gold for the first ten series. Gold utilised a score created with first with orchestral samples for Series 1, and later with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales from Series 2 onwards. He heavily used of leitmotifs for characters such as the Doctor, the companions and monsters. Gold's music was played at the Proms, such as for the 50th anniversary celebration. Several singers performed in the soundtracks of these series, for instance, Tim Phillips in "Song for Ten". (Neil Hannon performed the vocals for the soundtrack album version.) However, the programme had previously had a singers - The Gunfighters featured Lynda Baron singing "The Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon" composed by Tristram Cary in 1966 and Delta and the Bannermen featured "The Lorells", a fictional group created by the show's incidental music composer Keff McCulloch in 1987.
Segun Akinola replaced Gold for the duration of the Thirteenth Doctor's run. Akinola's scores tended to be more ambient than Gold's, with a great variety of instruments for different episodes.
In April 2023, it was announced that Gold would again join Doctor Who as composer.
Doctor Who composers Composer stories First date First story Last date Last story 24 2018"The Woman Who Fell to Earth" 2022"The Power of the Doctor" 3 1988The Greatest Show in the Galaxy 1989The Curse of Fenric 1 1964The Aztecs 1964The Aztecs 3 1970 Doctor Who and the Silurians 1975 Revenge of the Cybermen 11965The Time Meddler1965The Time Meddler 2 1975 Terror of the Zygons 1976The Seeds of Doom 8 1963The Daleks 1972The Mutants 1 1964The Dalek Invasion of Earth 1964The Dalek Invasion of Earth 7 1972The Sea Devils 1986 Terror of the Vervoids 1 1996 Doctor Who 1996 Doctor Who 1 1996 Doctor Who 1996 Doctor Who 4 1983The King's Demons 1985The Mark of the Rani 5 1986The Mysterious Planet 1989 Survival 139 2005"Rose" 2025"The Reality War" 1 1968The Invasion 1968The Invasion 1 1986 Mindwarp 1986 Mindwarp 5 1968The Wheel in Space 1969The Krotons 9 1980The Leisure Hive 1985The Two Doctors 2 1965The Romans 1966The Savages 3 1963An Unearthly Child 1964The Sensorites 8 1980 Meglos 1984 Frontios 8 1981The Keeper of Traken 1985 Revelation of the Daleks 6 1987 Time and the Rani 1989 Battlefield 1 1964The Reign of Terror 1964The Reign of Terror 1 1985 Timelash 1985 Timelash 1 1965The Myth Makers 1965The Myth Makers 62 1964 Planet of Giants 1980The Horns of Nimon 1 1996 Doctor Who 1996 Doctor Who
Stock music Instead of using specially composed music, some serials were scored completely with pre-recorded stock music. Some of these serials used music by one composer as noted below:
The Edge of Destruction The Web Planet - Music by Les Structures Sonores The Space Museum Galaxy 4 - Music by Les Structures Sonores Mission to the Unknown - Music by Trevor Duncan The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve - Music by Pierre Arvay The War Machines The Tenth Planet The Highlanders The Moonbase The Faceless Ones The Tomb of the Cybermen The Enemy of the World - Music by Béla Bartók The Web of Fear Inferno
Spinoff composers Composer Spinoff title(s)Wartime, Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans, P.R.O.B.E. (The Zero Imperative, The Devil of Winterborne, Unnatural Selection, Ghosts of Winterborne)The War Between the Land and the SeaMindgame, Mindgame TrilogyAn Adventure in Space and TimeK9TorchwoodWhite Witch of Devil's EndWhite Witch of Devil's EndThe Sarah Jane Adventures (theme tune), Torchwood (theme tune and incidental music)Dr. Who and the Daleks, Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. K-9 and Company, also arranged the theme tuneDowntimeK-9 and Company (theme tune), Downtime K9 (theme tune)Auton Trilogy, Dæmos Rising, Zygon: When Being You Just Isn't Enough, Sil and the Devil Seeds of ArodorDr. Who and the DaleksDaleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.ClassDowntimeP.R.O.B.E. (When to Die)K-9 and Company (theme tune)The Sarah Jane AdventuresThe Sarah Jane Adventures, Tales of the TARDIS
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