The âgroundbreakingâ musical bookends of Series 9
Itâs been four years since Series 9 ended, and I only just now realized the significance of the musical âbookendsâ this season had.
Of course we remember how Twelve entered the medieval arena in âThe Magicianâs Apprenticeâ while shredding on his guitar:
And there wasnât a dry eye in the house when the series ended with Twelve playing as Clara reluctantly left him in âHell Bentâ:
The fact the season began and ended (at least for the Doctor) with him playing guitar is not the ânewsâ here. Itâs what he was playing in the two scenes that makes them âgroundbreaking musical bookends.â
As we all know, in Hell Bent, the Doctor is playing Claraâs theme, bringing that piece of music into the actual canon by revealing that he composed it. Iâve often said that this marked the first time that a piece of music associated with a Doctor Who character had been made, as they say, diegetic - existing in the fictional world. But turns out I forgot one.
Because, when Twelve first arrives on the tank in Magicianâs Apprentice - before be serenades Clara with the opening bars of Oh Pretty Woman - he is playing his own theme song.
Yes, it is almost unrecognizable. And I had heard before that Twelve was playing the Doctor Who theme. The Radio Times even confirmed it. So thatâs far from new ânews,â either. But I only just realized that the series began and ended with the two lead charactersâ musical leitmotifs being taken out of the âreal worldâ and into the fictional world of the show.
Nothing earth-shattering, but itâs a nice bit of symmetry that, if it was intended and not, as Bob Ross would call it, a âhappy little accident,â suggests some pretty impressive planning by Moffat & Co.
