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8 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Doctor Who

It's truly remarkable to see Doctor Who turn 50 years old, and as a longtime fan of the show, it makes me very, very happy. Of course, with five decades of history under its belt, we also get five decades worth of useless trivia that may only fascinate the most hardcore Who fans.

2) The Hans Zimmer Connection

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Back in 1985, production of Doctor Who ceased for a year and everyone feared that the show was facing cancellation (which is what eventually happened in 1989). So what was done to save it? A pop song was created, featuring about 25 performers, as well as four stars from the show itself: Colin Baker (The Sixth Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Nicholas Courtney (The Brigadier), and Anthony Ainley (The Master).

But that’s not all, the song was played by a certain Hans Zimmer, on the synthesizer. Sadly, that’s all the connection there is between Zimmer and Doctor Who, and unfortunately, it’s probably better to leave that connection buried. The song was universally panned once it was released and probably hurt the chances of the show coming back rather than saving it.

If you think the song has any traces of Zimmer’s greatness that was to be found later in his film work, you are mistaken. Listening to this, you wouldn’t expect him to be the guy who created the amazing scores for movies like Inception or The Dark Knight trilogy.

But it’s still a neat bit of trivia for you, and hopefully someday Zimmer will work on the show as a music composer. Although, I’m in no hurry to get rid of Murray Gold. In fact, I’d rather he stay on the show forever.