Doctor Who at the Proms

Doctor Who at the Proms was a series of concerts held in the Royal Albert Hall in London, as part of the annual BBC Proms concert series. The concerts, dating back to 1895, focus primarily on classical music and the Doctor Who events featured music from the revived series, composed by Murray Gold, as well as some other classical pieces. To date the Doctor Who Prom has been held in 2008 and 2010, with both featuring original material featuring characters from the series.

2008
The first Doctor Who at the Proms was held on 27th July 2008. The event was hosted by Freema Agyeman with a special appearance by Catherine Tate, and featured appearances by several monsters from the series, including a Sontaran, Davros and Cybermen.

A highlight of the event was a 7-minute mini-episode entitled DW: Music of the Spheres. Written by Russell T Davies and featuring David Tennant as the Doctor, the episode broke the fourth wall by having the Doctor directly address the audience and involve them in an adventure. During the mini-episode, the Doctor claims to have been a performer in the first Proms in 1895, playing the tuba.

Tim Phillips also performed a full rendition of "Song for Ten" as part of the concert, which concluded with a performance of the Doctor Who theme, which was the only piece of music in the programme, from the show, not composed by Gold.

Doctor Who at the Proms was originally aired live on BBC Radio. It was also videotaped for later broadcast and DVD release, and as such it aired on the BBC in early 2009, and was later included as a bonus feature on the DVD release of DW: The Next Doctor. In early 2010 it was also included in the Complete 2009 Specials box set, both in DVD and Blu-Ray formats. The home video release differs from the original broadcast; among other changes, Phillips' performance is not included, and a surprise appearance by Delia Derbyshire's original 1963 arrangement of the Doctor Who theme at the end of Music of the Spheres was likewise removed, along with the opening credits for the mini-episode, which used the then-current opening sequence.

The BBC announced the Proms concert at a press event on 9th April 2008, during which noted violinist Nigel Kennedy, promoting his own appearance at the Proms, played a radically rearranged rendition of the Doctor Who theme. This event led to speculation that Kennedy would perform at the Proms show itself, but this did not occur.

2010
A second Doctor Who at the Proms concert, again featuring the music of Murray Gold, was performed twice, on 24th and 25th July 2010, both aired live on BBC Radio Three and will be later broadcast, presumably edited together, on BBC Three television. Karen Gillan hosted both the shows with special appearances by Arthur Darvill and Matt Smith.

As with the 2008 concert, music from the revival series was featured, primarily from Season 5, though with earlier pieces also included. Several non-Gold classical pieces were also performed, as well as the Gold's 2010 arrangement of the Doctor Who Theme (unlike the 2008 concert, the 2010 event featured the current version of the theme rather than another arrangement).

Just as with the 2008 Doctor Who at the Proms, there was a special untitled mini-episode performed, featuring Matt Smith. Starting out in the same manner as Music of the Spheres, the plot then went on to feature Matt Smith, in character as the Doctor, performing in the Royal Albert Hall itself in front of the audience. Just as with Music of the Spheres, it broke the fourth wall, even including audience participation.