The Murray Gold Problem

I predict that I will anger a lot of people with this post. I'd be surprised if I didn't! I just ask that you hear me out and at least try to understand where I'm coming from.

I don't like Murray Gold's music anymore.

(Murray Gold, as in, the composer of the music in Doctor Who, in case you didn't know.)

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy listening to it. The series 6 soundtrack is one of my favourite soundtracks from a show/film/whatever. But it's getting old, and annoying, and it's taking away from some genuinely well written and scary stuff.

My example shall be Day of the Moon, an episode of Doctor Who, as that's what really opened my eyes to this problem. I was watching the episode, then paused it and put the laptop on mute while I went to do something else. When I came back to the laptop, I pressed play on the video without turning it off mute, so I watched a few seconds without any sound.

I suppose it's worth saying where in the episode I was. It's near the end, when the Doctor, River and Rory have arrived in the Silent's base (the one that looks like a TARDIS), with the Doctor carrying a TV ready to do the whole 'You should kill us all on sight!' thing.

Now, bear in mind that I love this scene. It's one of Matt Smith's best moments, and is a proper genius way of resolving a problem by using the monsters own ability against them. But watching the start of it without 'I AM THE DOCTOR' glaring in the background...well, it was very atmospheric. The direction is wonderful. The set is beautiful. The acting is great from both Rory and River, neither of which know if they'll be making it out alive. It actually has tension!

I love Matt Smith's era, but part of being a fan is being able to admit when something has a problem, and Matt Smith's era had a massive problem - there was never any tension! At all! I never felt like any of our main characters were in any real danger, and I think the music was a part of that. 'I am the Doctor' is a great piece of music, but whenever you hear it you know that the Doctor will win and nothing bad will happen. Same with any other triumphant music.

I just think this scene in Day of the Moon would've been so much more tense, and so much more rewarding as a result, if the music would've been quieter and more atmospheric. Or, even better, if it hadn't been there at all! What about having no music, and letting a scene speak for itself?

Murray Gold has a habit of drowning Doctor Who episodes in bombastic music. And he needs to learn some restraint. Believe me, when it needs to get bombastic he's the man for the job! He's written some of the  best music I've ever heard on television. But just...please, learn to let the scene speak for itself.