Hawkshaw and Marvin - the Doctor Who connection...

[drakula63]

As some of you may know, I am a bit of a Doctor Who fan.

Bearing this in mind, I recently purchased issue 3 of "Nothing At The End Of The Lane" - a huge and very well researched and presented Doctor Who magazine. The title comes from, I think, a line of direction in the original TV script from 1963. What a year! Sorry, I digress...

One of the most illuminating articles in the magazine is about the pre-production work on the ultimately unmade 1993, 30th anniversary special, Doctor Who - Lost In The Dark Dimension. I found this following revelation to be of particular interest. I have quoted directly from it, as I can't be bothered to (ie, can't!) scan it. Hope it is of some interest.

"The two people ultimately in the frame for the job were Mark Russell and Alan Hawkshaw, both of which were free for the production period.

Alan Hawkshaw had previously composed music for a number of series including "Blarney Stoned", used as the theme for comedian Dave Allen's shows, Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World, Countdown, Grange Hill and The New Statesman. [Graeme - director] Harper contacted Hawkshaw and discussed a number of potential ideas with him, which included a suggestion to have a guitar-driven melody to the music, which had proven to be so successful with the BBC's Edge of Darkness in 1985. During the 1970s, Hawkshaw had formed part of the line-up of the instrumental group The Shadows, so the suggestion was made that potentially Hank Marvin or Jeff Lynn (founder member of the Eletric Light Orchestra and later, The Travelling Wilburys) might be suitable to play lead guitar."

I'd have thought that Hank would have been more than 'suitable'! More to the point, would he have been available?

So there we have it, if it had have been made, we might have had Alan Hawkshaw and Hank on the soundtrack to an episode of Doctor Who. Still, if anyone from the BBC is reading this; there's still time...

[George Geddes]

Thanks for the tip, Chris. Got a copy of the magazine by return. Three issues, 6 years apart must be some kind of record! Great buy, though.

George

[drakula63]

Yeah, they are not exactly prolific are they? But one of the best researched Doctor Who magazines I've seen in a long time.

It would have been amazing if Alan had written the score for the special and re-arranged the theme. Oh well...

I shall be playing 'Girl in a Sportscar', hopefully, and 'Holy Mackeral' by messrs Hawkshaw and Bennett respectively on the new morning show that I am lined-up to present on http://www.trentsound.com on Saturday at 9 o'clock. If you're a fan of Olivia Newton-John, sky and a band called The Shadows, it might also be worth listening in...

(Might even play the Doctor Who theme. Well it is Saturday after all...)