James Whittington is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.
Back in the pre-video days the only way we could get our fix of Doctor Who was to buy the latest Target novel and listen to the Doctor Who Sound Effects album. This release from 1978 was one of the few ways we could get sounds from the series without having to record them ourselves.
Now that classic release is back thanks to the Vintage Beeb label and has been given a digitally-remastered polish. Now, in this day and age it’s hard to appreciate what such a release meant to the hardcore fan growing up in the 1970s, but this was the only way of getting your mind-set to read any Who related product at the time.
Produced by Dick Mills and Brian Hodgson of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop it’s a collection of sounds that were used to bring fantastic creations to life in some of the most famous and popular adventures. Just listen to “The Dalek Control Room” from Death To The Daleks and you’ll hear just how subtly the new run has looked to its past to help in creating new classic moments.
“Zygon Spaceship Control Centre” from Terror Of The Zygons is worthy of being on repeat as it’s just so perfectly formed whilst “Atomic Reactor Runs Wild” from The Hand Of Fear is a slow build up to a rather familiar alarm call of any industrial plant that appeared on the show during the 70s. As for “Dalek Ray Gun (3 Blasts)” from my all-time favourite story Genesis Of The Daleks is worth many a listen.
This may seem and odd and slightly eerie selection of noises but I wager that anyone of a certain age will have many nostalgic moments when they hear the subtle hum of “TARDIS Interior (In Flight)” and the shrill, piercing snap of “Gallifreyan Staser (3 Blasts)” from The Invasion Of Time. Best title has to go to “Inside Dr. Who’s Mind” which occurred in the serial The Invisible Enemy. Talking of which, the back cover (just like the front) is a reproduction of the original and the titles for some of the pieces were taken from working titles of some stories so The Invisible Enemy is billed as “The Enemy Within”. Don’t panic, inside the stories are given their correct name. The CD itself is designed to look as if made from vinyl, adding a nice authentic feeling to this well thought out release.
I guess this is a strange choice for a re-release as it does have a limited market, but for some it’s a priceless piece of nostalgia that instantly evokes memories of growing up and anticipating the next thrilling adventure with everyone’s favourite time-traveller.
Remember, as the original sleeve states, these recordings are for amateur use only!
You can purchase a copy of these Doctor Who Sound Effects from Amazon for just £3.97 – perfect for recreating the sounds of classic time travel adventures!
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