'Doctor Who's Legendary Theme Is Part of a 63-Year Old Controversy

An outlandish beat, a disquieting whistle, the sound of the TARDIS popping in and out of existence lingering in the back… The Doctor Whotheme is by far one of the most unique tunes in the history of television. Originally composed by Australian musician Ron Grainer (and Delia Derbyshire, but we’ll get to that), the theme remains pretty much the same since the classic BBC sci-fi series aired its first episode in 1963, with some alterations made by later composers working on the show. This unique theme song has its own wild history behind it. In an era in which now run-of-the-mill synthesizers were still far from becoming a thing, the song was put together through the use of hands-on techniques, from recording jugs of water being poured to simply pressing play on multiple tapes at the same time in order to turn them into a cohesive piece. The result was a distinctive tune that basically introduced the world to the possibilities of electronic music. Add to that a whole in-house debate about who the actual composers of the theme are, and you have yourself a story that deserves to be told.