Silva Screen, out April 27

Murray Gold’s scores to the 2015 Doctor Who series and Christmas Special get a belated (though very welcome) release on an impressive Silva Screen 4-CD set.

All good things, and all of that, but for those who have collected Silva’s (roughly) annual Doctor Who releases since its return in 2005, it was looking increasingly grim for a Season 9 album. I’m sure there’s no end of reasons behind the delay, and frankly all that matters is that we’ve finally got the four shiny discs in our hands. And that’s something of a relief, as Series 9 features some of Murray Gold’s best work on the show.

There’s no title music (that was included on the Series 8 release) but this is compensated by nearly 2 3/4 hours of content over 63 tracks. The first two discs are dedicated to Season 9’s run of two-parters (excluding Heaven Sent), while discs 3 and 4 are dedicated to Heaven Sent and 2015 Christmas Special The Husbands of River Song.

‘The One in a Thousand’ starts with military drums and a slower tempo version of the 12th Doctor Theme (‘A Good Man?’) and explodes into choral chanting. The Magician’s Apprentice/The Witch’s Familiar are represented with further refrains of ‘Missy’s Theme’, ‘A Good Man?’, and some eerie underscore for Davros. ‘A Message from Missy’ even throws in some techno beats and growls!

Under the Lake/ Before the Flood is a more traditional action score for this ‘base under siege’ story, ‘A Good Man?’ again prominent in the mix, with some creepy strings and synths to punctuate the ghostly moments, while ‘The Bootstrap Paradox’ is a delightful piano-led diversion. The Girl Who Died/The Woman Who Lived gives Murray the chance to play with some rustic Viking-appropriate instruments of old alongside a jaunty whistle/fiddle-led theme. The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion uses a more contemporary approach, the UNIT military and A Good Man? themes being well utilised in ‘Deep Cover’. There’s then a real change of pace to the guitar riffs and gentle melody of ‘Just Come Inside’ – very Angelo Badalamenti Twin Peaks.

Face the Raven has some great material, from the more sinister refrains of Me’s theme in ‘Madam Mayor’ to Clara’s final moments in seven-minute powerhouse movement ‘Face the Raven’. Skipping Heaven Sent (read on for that episode’s separate disc) Hell Bent closes off the with the Doctor’s guitar version of Clara’s Theme in ‘Clara’s Diner’.

Disc 3 is without doubt the release’s highlight, the complete 42-minute score to Heaven Sent. And for me this is Murray’s best individual score, no question. The episode follows the Doctor trapped in a castle, stuck in a time loop, pursued by the menacing Veil. It features a lot of repetition, and so too does the score – ticking away the time, but it cleverly builds and transforms in the same way the Doctor’s knowledge evolves over the millennia. At times it plays like baroque Sarabande movement from one of Handel’s contemporaries. Lush, rich, inventive – just listen to ‘Waiting for the Veil’.

At just over 30 minutes The Husbands of River Song is a fun disc that doesn’t outstay its welcome. ‘Carol Singers will be Criticised’ begins with Hark the Herald Angels Sing before segueing into the action, which is generally light and frivolous. It’s ‘The Singing Towers’ that you’ll want to skip forward to – a beautiful five minutes that perfectly underscores the final moments as River Song discovers that her final night with the Doctor will be somewhat longer than she feared. A refrain of Amy’s Theme and some heartbreaking female vocals might just get you tearing up.

Verdict: We had to wait, but this is a great collection showcasing Murray Gold’s scores  on his penultimate series on the show. I’d buy it for the Heaven Sent disc alone. Fingers crossed we won’t have to wait so long for Season 10 and the Christmas Specials that bookend it. 9/10

Nick Joy