I am incredibly honoured to reveal that I was invited to Cardiff to join the BBC National Orchestra of Wales on stage for the Doctor Who @ 60 celebration concert at the Hoddinott Hall! I was there as a guest guitarist to play the electric guitar on Murray Gold’s Doomsday, with Alastair King conducting! I had an absolute blast, a definitive highlight of the year!
Apart from the honour of playing with the fine musicians of BBC NOW, I got to meet some incredible people:
I had a great time hanging out and talking with composers Peter Howell and Mark Ayres, who were there to perform their suite of classic soundtracks from the show’s history on their vintage synthesizers.
Then I met the brilliant Emily Cook, who was my partner during the Doctor Who: Lockdown singalong projects and the producer of the UNIT: Brave New World range which I scored – this was our first time meeting in person, and we couldn’t have picked a more epic event for the occasion!
Also, I finally met the fantastic Alastair King, who I’ve been in contact with for several years now and who was the one who invited me to this concert – thank you Alastair!
As if all this wasn’t enough, I briefly met composer Murray Gold, whose music I’ve studied and covered so much, and who turned out to be as friendly and sweet as I had hoped!
All in all, it was a magical and utterly surreal evening in celebration of Doctor Who’s 60 year history and music. Of course, I could not resist taking a picture next to the legendary TARDIS, which had materialized on stage just in time for this event.
The Doctor Who @ 60 concert was recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 2, where it will premier on October 15, 2023. Additionally, it was filmed for a later release on ITV.