The Alchemists of Sound (2003) (TV)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Roger Pomphrey

Release Date:

19 October 2003 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

A documentary about the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, responsible for creating some of the most memorable television and radio music in British popular culture, including "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and "Doctor Who" (1963). |

Cast

Oliver Postgate	...	Narrator (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mark Ayres	...	Himself
Milton Babbitt	...	Himself (archive footage)
John Baker	...	Himself (archive footage)
Desmond Briscoe	...	Himself
David Cain	...	Himself
Wendy Carlos	...	Himself (archive footage) (as Walter Carlos)
Malcolm Clarke	...	Himself
Delia Derbyshire	...	Herself (archive footage)
Maddalena Fagandini	...	Herself
Brian Hodgson	...	Himself
Peter Kember	...	Himself
Paddy Kingsland	...	Himself
Roger Limb	...	Himself
Dick Mills	...	Himself
Robert Popper	...	Himself
Peter Serafinowicz	...	Himself
Adrian Utley	...	Himself

Runtime:

58 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Company:

Associated-Rediffusion Television

Movie Connections:

References "Quatermass and the Pit" (1958)

Helps if you remember the sounds but it is done with sufficient fun to make it an entertaining watch even if you only have a passing awareness of the subject

In 1958 the BBC set up the Radiophonic Workshop in order to come up with a new type of sound for use in scores and special effects. Between this creation and its gradual death in 1995, the group came up electronic scores and noises that were used in cult classics such as Doctor Who, Blake's Seven, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as well as countless other programmes that have been forgotten with time.

Executive produced by Victor Lewis-Smith, this documentary was always going to have a sense of humour about it and indeed it does. In some ways it doesn't work (having a bloke hanging around behind every interview didn't work at all) but mostly it is helpful to the material that it isn't too serious or full of itself. This approach makes it easier to swallow as it is much more light entertainment with a documentary edge rather than the other way round. This was useful to me because really I'm only just in the target audience and I only remember a couple of the cult themes and the shows that the music was used on. Thus it didn't totally work for me because if you didn't totally recognise everything then some of it will have no meaning for you.

The history of people playing with tape and so on is not that fascinating if you think about so to the credit of the film it does do a good job of making it quite interesting and engaging. The contributions and use of archive footage is all good and well put together though. Of course it does help if you remember the sounds and the times because if not the film may be of limited appeal but it is done with sufficient fun to make it an entertaining watch even if you only have a passing awareness of the subject.