Soundtrack Review: Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol (2010)
| Reviewer: Anthony Reeves |
Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol Soundtrack Review: This is a review of the television score Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol by Murray Gold.
"This is certainly the most fun of any of the Doctor Who soundtracks."
In this one-off adventure, The Doctor uses tactics inspired from Dickens' A Christmas Carol to save his companions from the Scrooge-like Kazran Sardik. As has been the case since the re-boot, Murray Gold provides some absolutely magical music. There's also fish.
Track List
| 1. Come Along Pond | ***** |
| 2. Halfway Out of the Dark | ***** |
| 3. Pray for a Miracle | **** |
| 4. Geoff | *** |
| 5. You Didn't Hit the Boy | **** |
| 6. Fish | *** |
| 7. Kazran Sardick 12 1/2 | *** |
| 8. Ghost of Christmas Past | *** |
| 9. Babysitter | *** |
| 10. Talk About Girls | *** |
| 11. Sonic Fishing | **** |
| 12. Just a Little One | **** |
| 13. Big Colour | **** |
| 14. I Can't Save Her | ***** |
| 15. The Other Half's Inside the Shark | ***** |
| 16. Abigail | ***** |
| 17. He Comes Every Christmas | **** |
| 18. Shark Ride | ***** |
| 19. New Memories | **** |
| 20. Holding Hands | **** |
| 21. Christmas Dinner | ***** |
| 22. Goodlucknight | ***** |
| 23. Goodnight Abigail | ***** |
| 24. This Planet Is Ours | ***** |
| 25. Ghost of Christmas Present | ***** |
| 26. The Course of my Life | **** |
| 27. Ghost of Christmas Future | ***** |
| 28. Abigail's Song (Silence is All You Know) | ***** |
| 29. Everything Has to End Some Time | ***** |
Ever since Stephen Moffat took over as Head Writer of Doctor Who, the DNA of the show has been imbued with a magic found only in fairytales, transforming Doctor Who from a Sci-Fi show to an outright Fantasy show. Nowhere is this more evident than in the 2010 Christmas Special, where any kind of time travel logic is thrown out of the window in favour of brilliant characterisation and story. Whilst some might argue that this change has lessened Doctor Who in their eyes, the affect this has had on Murray Gold's score is tremendous.
Fun
In the scores for Russell T. Davies' Doctor, Gold was often required to provide astonishing and epic music. However, due to the constant focus on the Doctor's background as the not-quite-ever-'Last-of-the-Time-Lords', this music was also cripplingly sad for the majority of the time. For A Christmas Carol, however, Murray Gold is really allowed to have some fun.
This is perfectly exemplified in the opening track 'Come Along Pond', whereby the Doctor's theme is truly let loose with an incredibly loud and brash brass section, giving the sequence the feel of a Bond pre-title sequence. Variations on the Doctor's Theme appear throughout this score, each one better than the last, and anyone who thinks that it possibly can't get any more energetic really needs to listen to 'The Other Half's Inside the Shark'.
The only other major theme given any time in this release is that of Katherine Jenkins' character, and what a theme it is. Offsetting the complete and utter silliness of the Doctor's Theme, Abigail's Theme brings the score back down to Earth with a sumptuous melody and harmonies. This theme develops throughout the entire score, and is given as many conceivable variations as are possible in the 50-minute running time. Each of these variations adds something new to the barebones melody offered up earlier in the soundtrack until it reaches it's climax in 'Abigail's Song (Silence Is All You Know)', where Murray Gold really makes the most of having Jenkins' vocal talents to hand.
In general terms of quality, this soundtrack starts off incredibly strong, but loses a bit of steam a few tracks in. However, the soundtrack reaches staggering heights roughly halfway through and just keeps getting better and better from there on in, deftly weaving The Doctor's and Abigail's Themes in and out of each other in any number of imaginative ways.
Conclusion
This is certainly the most fun of any of the Doctor Who soundtracks, and whilst it doesn't provide as much variation as the Series 5 Soundtrack, the introduction of Abigail's Theme and the variations on The Doctor's will undoubtedly leave a smile on your face.
CUE RATING: 85.5
Listen to the Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol soundtrack by Murray Gold below:
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