Music, Monsters and Magic: The Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular

It's well established that the Doctor has a soft spot for good music and magical moments in history, so he would definitely have enjoyed the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular. There were two performances of the event in which the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ben Foster, performed Murray Gold's music from the adventures of the Eleventh Doctor.

Doctor Who's Executive Producer, Caroline Skinner, was in the audience and gave her thoughts on the whole extravaganza. 'What a memorable and extraordinary experience!' she told us. 'The audience reaction to the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular was just thrilling, with standing ovations at both packed-out performances, and an overwhelming reaction to Murray Gold's music from the Australian fans. A real treat to take this unique show Down Under, and to see the most memorable moments of the last two series of Doctor Who brought to life by the brilliant Ben Foster and the phenomenal Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.'

Reviews for the show were equally positive. One critic declared, 'the whole experience brought unalloyed pleasure', another commented that the performances resulted in 'a new audience discovering that symphony orchestras aren't necessarily boring or intimidating - a noble achievement that should be repeated with more concerts along these lines' whilst a third enthused, '... [it was] a world first and world class performance... From the sweeping beauty of Abigail's Song to the thrilling brilliance of [the] Pandorica Suite and The Wedding of River Song, the performance was flawless...'

Inspired by the BBC Doctor Who Proms at Royal Albert Hall in London, it was the first time such an event has been staged outside the UK. Both performances were presented by Mark Sheppard, (Canton Delaware III in The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon) in the Plenary Hall, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Saturday, 4th Feb. The two shows were sold out.

Old enemies including Daleks, Cybermen and Silence invaded the auditorium and many audience members got into the spirit with banners, tweed jackets and fezzes. (Fezzes are cool). You can see some of photos of the event on the official Doctor Who Twitter feed.

And finally, although we can't currently bring you any of the Australian performances, you can still enjoy highlights of one of the BBC Doctor Who Proms that inspired them!