Posted in: BBC, Doctor Who, Preview, TV | Tagged: bbc, chris chibnall, doctor who, russell t davies, steven moffat

Doctor Who @60: A Musical Celebration Set for BBC Radio 2 in October

Here's what you need to to know about the Doctor Who @ 60: A Musical Celebration, set to broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on Sunday, October 15th.

On Thursday night, we shared a look at Russell T. Davies, Steven Moffat & Chris Chibnall having a showrunner reunion during Doctor Who @ 60: A Musical Celebration. Held at BBC Hoddinott Hall in Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff (with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the BBC Singers, conducted by Alastair King), the concert celebrated the musical history of the long-running series and featured the world-exclusive first live performances of Ruby Sunday's (Millie Gibson) theme, "The Life of Sunday," the theme tune of Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor called "Fifteenth," and the new iteration of the iconic Doctor Who theme tune, reimagined by composer Murray Gold and composer Segun Akinola. In addition, fans can look forward to "I Am The Doctor," "Abigail's Song," "This Is Gallifrey," "The Impossible Girl," "I Am A Good Man," and "The Shepherd's Boy." In addition, Davies, Moffat & Chibnall were on hand to take part, and the classic years of Doctor Who from the 1960s, 70s & 80s were honored by the vintage synthesizers of BBC Radiophonic Workshop veterans Mark Ayres and Peter Howell. But you won't just have to take our word for it, though…

On Sunday, October 15th, BBC Radio 2's Jo Whiley will present a special edition of Sunday Night is Music Night that will feature the performances during Doctor Who @60: A Musical Celebration (with the episode also available on BBC Sounds and a filmed version of the concert reportedly set to stream on BBC iPlayer soon. "As listeners to my Radio 2 show know, I'm a huge 'Doctor Who' fan, so presenting this concert is a dream come true. How better to mark the incredible 60th anniversary of the show than with this wonderful celebration of the music that has featured across the decades," shared Whiley in a statement. With Special One: "The Star Beast," Special Two: "Wild Blue Yonder," and Special Three: "The Giggle" set to hit screens this November, here's a look at the official trailer for the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who:

Joining David Tennant & Catherine Tate for the anniversary episodes are Neil Patrick Harris in the big bad role as The Toymaker and Yasmin Finney as Rose – the daughter of Donna Noble and Shaun Temple (Karl Collins), with Jacqueline King returning as Sylvia Noble. In addition, Ruth Madeley is set to appear as Shirley Anne Bingham, and Bernard Cribbins is set to posthumously appear, reprising his role as Wilfred Mott. Fans of the comics can expect to see Beep the Meep (voiced by Miriam Margolyes) and the Wrarth Warriors play a major part, and – as if all of that wasn't enough – Ncuti Gatwa is expected to debut as the Fifteenth Doctor. With all three episodes written by Davies, we learned the episode titles during this weekend's Eurovision 2023 broadcast: Special One: "The Star Beast" (directed by Rachel Talalay), Special Two: "Wild Blue Yonder" (directed by Tom Kingsley), and Special Three': "The Giggle" (directed by Chanya Button).

Button, Kingsley & Talalay on Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Episodes

Directors Button, Kingsley & Talalay shared their reactions to first reading Davies's scripts with Doctor Who Magazine. "Each special has a really different flavour. It feels like Russell [T. Davies] flexing his muscles and showing all the different things 'Doctor Who' can do," Kingsley shared – a sentiment shared by all three directors. Here's a look at some of the highlights:

Kingsley Discusses "Absolute Nightmare" Episode, Teases "Aliens" & "The Thing" Comparison: "I opened mine and just tore through it. Even as a reading experience, it was so exciting. But I kind of got to the end of it and thought, 'Well, I pity whoever has to direct that cos it's an absolute nightmare!' I was planning to email my agent the next day and say, "It's amazing, but… no way." But when I woke up the next morning, I was still thinking about it, and I started to figure out: 'Well, how could you actually do this?' Because a lot of my episode is quite weird. Even at the readthrough, Rachel, your episode went down so well, and I was really jealous of you getting to direct it. Because there are so many complicated stage directions in mine, the reaction in the room was a bit like, 'Um, sorry, what?' Which made me think it was going to be a disaster. But of course, when you come to film it, it's actually really cool. It's got a lot of similarities with two of my favourite films, 'Aliens' and 'The Thing.' It's a little bit of the DNA of those mixed in with 'Doctor Who.'"

Talalay Read All Three & Outlines Some Key Differences Between Them: "I read all three, and my first reaction was, 'Wow!' The first one is classic family 'Who.' It's bringing back that world that Russell left [in 2010] with David and Catherine. And then after that, it becomes much more expansive, with Russell really throwing his massive imagination at it while also being thoughtful about setting up the next series.

Talalay's Episode Allowed Director a Chance to Embrace "The Stuff That Scares You": "My episode features lots of people in lots of scenes. There's soldiers, there's battles, and I thought, 'I haven't always succeeded in doing the action stuff, with loads of extras, that well in the past. This is really scary for me.' So I was determined to do that part really, really well. It's all about embracing the stuff that scares you."

Button's Episode "Was Just the Most Expansive Thing" That the Director Has Ever Read: "It was just the most expansive thing I've ever read. Every page I turned, it was a different world and a different idea and a different sort of bonkers and inspiring adventure. It was just the ultimate luxury to read it and go, 'This is a writer at the very peak of his abilities, completely unbound and confident in what he's putting on the page.' Which, as a director, is really empowering. It's challenging, in the most positive way possible, for someone to go: 'Here's a big idea; let's see how you do it.'"

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!