Television and film composer Mark Ayres, best known for providing incidental music on the original series of Doctor Who, recently visited the Historic Dockyard Chatham to talk to Music & Sound for Film & Television. He revealed some of the secrets of his composition techniques and explored the relationship between composer and director. Mark, in addition to his composition work, is a director of BASCA and a current member of the touring Radiophonic Workshop. For more information click on http://www.effectrode.com/making-of-the-doctor-who-theme-music/

Ayres’s work on broadcast Doctor Who was during Sylvester McCoy’s era as the Seventh Doctor, and was hired after he sent producer John Nathan-Turner a demonstration video containing music he had written to accompany Remembrance of the Daleks, using digital synthesisers and samplers.

Ayres was also involved in the last days of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, cataloguing and archiving their recordings for future use.

“This was a fantastic opportunity for students to meet with a BBC composer,” said Richard Lightman, Lecturer in Music in the School of Music & Fine Art. “Mark’s insights into the composer-director relationship and the career routes into the industry were a revelation.”

The talk was part of a series of industry talks for students.