Royal Albert Hall, August 26, 2024

The 2024 BBC Proms series continues with two performances of one of its most popular programmes – the Doctor Who Prom. 

Oh, Doctor Who Prom, how I’ve missed you! It’s been over a decade since 2013’s 60th anniversary concert, following on from 2008 and 2013. Not surprisingly, tickets for this popular family event quickly sold out, not least because it’s fantastic value (somehow I bagged a seat in a box equidistant from the Royal Box and Doctor Who royalty Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat’s party) but because there was the promise of guest presenters, monsters and more.

The previous Who proms can all be watched on BBC’s iPlayer, so it’s fair to say that most of the audience knew what to expect, and judging by whoops of delight they weren’t disappointed. Alistair King conducted the show’s ’house band’, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, supported by the London Philharmonic Choir.

The show kicks off in a big way with Fifteen, blasting the Fifteenth Doctor’s theme into the hall, accompanied by two of the largest saxophones that I’ve ever seen. The Doctor, Donna and the Toymaker is a suite from Fourteenth Doctor specials The Star Beast and The Giggle, while Into the Vortex takes us to two episodes that couldn’t be more different – Space Babies and Rogue, the latter featuring two avian Cholder in the audience

I am the Doctor is the Eleventh Doctor’s triumphant theme as used in The Pandorica Opens and is the perfect cue for monsters from the show’s back catalogue to enter the hall and terrify promenading youngsters. The Life of Sunday is Ruby’s theme, a gentle waltz as showcased in The Devil’s Chord, with her cloaked and hooded mother making her way through the crowd as snow fell from above.

Vale Decem concludes the first half – the Tenth Doctor’s closing moments as he regenerates – and soprano Aida Garifullina does a wonderful job in giving you goosebumps. A bossy Dalek then orders the orchestra off the stage.

The second half begins with A Good Man, the exciting theme for the Twelfth Doctor’s run, and then we’re back to the most recent season with 73 Yards to Finetime, a suite showcasing the different musical styles of 73 Yards, Boom and Dot and Bubble. The Companions Suite (very popular with the audience) allows us brief reprises of companions from Rose through to Bill, and The Thirteenth Doctor is a sequence of Segun Akinola’s work, with pieces from The Woman Who Fell to Earth, Spyfall, Demons of the Punjab and The Power of the Doctor, with guest vocals by singers Shahid Abbas Khan and Hollie Buhagiar.

Abigail’s Song, from the 2010 Christmas Special A Christmas Carol, boasts excellent vocals from  Aida Garifullina, and then Anita Dobson appears on stage in character as Mrs Flood. After some fun banter with the audience – ‘Never been to a Prom before?’ – she introduces a suite from The Legend of Ruby Sunday and Empire of Death, with accompaniment from Albert Hall resident organ legend Anna Lapwood. We were promised one more piece, inevitably the Doctor Who theme (2024 version), and then, would you believe it, there was a twist at the end, as dancers burst into the hall to perform the musical number from The Devil’s Chord.

A pre-recorded segment Pantheon of Discord featured Ncuti Gatwa in character as the Doctor, helping us to defeat Maestro through the power of music. Hey, we even got a performance of ‘worst song ever’ I’ve Got a Dog, and The Vlinx popped up a couple of times on the screens too.

Verdict: For Doctor Who fans, this is nirvana. This latest prom continues to maintain the high standard set by its predecessors, managing to be as up to date as possible without throwing out the space babies with the bath water. 9/10

Nick Joy

 

Prom 48 broadcast is available to stream now on BBC Sounds and will be broadcast later this year (at Christmas according to the Radio 3 commentary) on BBC One Wales, BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.