A musical celebration of 60 years of Doctor Who music.

With a capacity of only 350 spectators, and presumably a significant portion of seats already allocated to guests and VIPs, getting a ticket to the Doctor Who concert at the Millennium Centre’s Hoddinott Hall was always going to be tricky, unless you won free tickets in the audience draw. Luckily, the event has been recorded for radio (available now on BBC Sounds) and for television (transmission date believed to be 1 November on BBC Four) and it’s the audio version that I’m reviewing here.

The National Orchestra of Wales was Doctor Who’s ‘house orchestra’ during the Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat eras of the show since 2006 Christmas Special The Runaway Bride, and one can only imagine how many times they have played themes I am the Doctor and All the Strange, Strange Creatures played here under the direction of Alistair King.

A medley of Classic Doctor Who themes by Peter Howell and Mark Ayres travels from the Dalek control room through to Curse of Fenric by way of The Sea Devils and City of Death. As will follow across the evening, the Radiophonic Workshop composers are interviewed by presenter Jo Whiley, and she also speaks to composers Murray Gold and Segun Akinola, as well as show runners Davies, Moffat and Chris Chibnall. They’re all on fine form – Murray Gold being particularly dry and witty – and I won’t spoil the anecdotes here.

Rebecca Lee performs a rousing version of Katherine Jenkins’s Abigail’s Song (Silence is All You Know) and the BBC Singers really come to life with The Rings of Akhaten’s The Long Song and Doctor 10’s swansong Vale Decem. The Companions Suite is a fun medley fusing Rose, Martha, Donna, and Amy’s themes, and Lee returns for Rose’s heartbreaking departure in Doomsday.

Capaldi’s era is covered by A Good Man? and The Shepherd’s Boy from Heaven Sent, before switching to Chris Chibnall era composer Segun Akinola who premieres his suite The Woman Who Fell to Earth which features themes from across his three seasons.

And then on to the special stuff – the new compositions. The Life of Sunday is a gentle, lilting waltz for Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday, Fifteen is a bombastic new theme for Ncuti Gatwa’s 15th Doctor and the concert concludes with Murray Gold’s latest revision of Ron Grainer’s theme. Subtlety is not in this playbook, but as an explosive reminder that Doctor Who is back and bigger than ever, it hits the marks.

Verdict: It’s a shame that the concert couldn’t have been hosted in a larger venue to allow more people to experience it live, but as an audio (and soon televisual) experience it’s a great couple of hours that reminds you just how diverse the soundtracks of the show are. 8/10

Nick Joy