Dudley Simpson
BORN OCTOBER 4, 1922 DIED NOVEMBER 4, 2017 AGED 95
THE talented composer who wrote the soundtrack to Doctor Who in the 1960s and 1970s has died at his home in Australia.
Over 16 years Dudley Simpson composed music for at least 290 episodes of the hit sci-fi series and even made a cameo appearance on the show in 1977, as a conductor in The Talons Of Weng-Chiang.
He went on to write the theme music to Blake’s 7 and fantasy series The Tomorrow People.
Simpson, who was born in Melbourne, had learnt to play the piano as a child.
After serving in New Guinea during the Second World War he joined the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music where he studied orchestration and composition.
Having started his career as an assistant conductor and pianist he got his big break as musical director for the Borovansky Ballet Company, forerunner to The Australian Ballet.
After moving to the UK he became the principal conductor at the Royal Opera House for three years and was Dame Margot Fonteyn’s musical director during two world tours with the Royal Ballet.
Simpson began working for the BBC in 1961, writing the music for a drama called Jack’s Horrible Luck before being drafted to work on Doctor Who three years later.
He remained with the series until 1980 when new producer John NathanTurner decided Simpson’s services would no longer be required.
Throughout the 1980s he continued writing for major BBC dramas including The Last Of The Mohicans and The Brothers, as well as composing music for a BBC Television Shakespeare series.
But Doctor Who always had a special place in his heart. Before retiring to Australia in the 1990s Simpson revealed: “I loved Doctor Who. It was the greatest challenge of my life. Every episode presented a challenge.
“They were funny days. I miss them all.”