Day 368: Death to the Daleks Part 3

When I was young and flicking through Doctor Who: The Television Companion, I would look through each story and see things like producers, directors, writers and guest stars. There was always a pang of disappointment as I'd look through the cast list and see a wealth of unfamiliar names, because there was always the hope that I would recognise someone who had been in something else. Then, one day, I encountered a name that I recognised. Indeed, I was actively surprised to discover that they had contributed to Doctor Who, because I knew them for something quite different. That person's name was Carey Blyton, the composer of Doctor Who and the Silurians, Death to the Daleks and the forthcoming Revenge of the Cybermen.

Blyton's scores are more experimental than other composers for the series. He has a tendency to go out of his way to use more unconventional instruments, which lend an otherworldly sound to proceedings. They do run the risk of being distracting to the viewer, indeed when watching the story I am often more interested in the soundscape than the plot or performances. There are also instances where the score is occasionally at odds with the action, choosing to represent the Daleks not with harsh music but with a clarinet based score, which doesn't do much to inspire fear in the hearts of humankind. But at the end of the day, it's still an interesting score and one which I would highly recommend.

But Carey Blyton had another contribution to the world that I was aware of. The popular Australian television series Bananas in Pyjamas was based on a nonsense song, written by Carey Blyton. As a child reading the credits at the end I would see his name pop up, recognising that this guy wrote this remarkably catchy theme tune. Discovering the connection between Bananas in Pyjamas and Doctor Who, therefore, was a mindblowing experience, as I learnt that there was more to the credits of TV programmes than just a list of names at the end.