Dudley George Simpson was an Australian composer and conductor. He was the Principal Conductor of the Royal Opera House orchestra for three years, although he is best known for his work as a composer on British television, especially his long association with the BBC science-fiction series Doctor Who, for which he composed incidental music during the 1960s and 1970s. When Simpson died aged 95 in 2017, The Guardian wrote that he was "at his most prolific as the creator of incidental music for Doctor Who in the 1960s and 70s, contributing to 62 stories over almost 300 episodes – more than any other composer." Among his early television work was the music for Moonstrike. Simpson was also responsible for the theme music for The Brothers, The Tomorrow People, Moonbase 3, The Ascent of Man and Blake's 7. He also composed music for several plays from the BBC Television Shakespeare series.
Simpson's first work on Doctor Who was during William Hartnell's era as the First Doctor in Planet of Giants, in 1964, but he is primarily associated with the programme in the 1970s. He also appeared on screen as a music hall conductor in the Fourth Doctor story The Talons of Weng-Chiang at the invitation of Philip Hinchcliffe who was the series producer at the time. Simpson had to be paid a special fee for this appearance, as he was a member of the Musicians' Union and not Equity. When John Nathan-Turner became producer of Doctor Who in 1980, he decided that the music needed to be updated, and took Simpson out for a meal telling him how much he appreciated his work on Doctor Who but that it would no longer be required as he intended to have the BBC Radiophonic Workshop provide music from that point. While Simpson was contracted to score Shada, the unfinished nature of that production meant he never started work. As a result, his last broadcast work on Doctor Who was for The Horns of Nimon. In the 2017 restoration of "Shada", a dedication to Simpson was shown in the end credits.
''Blake's 7''
Blake's 7 ran for 4 series totalling 52 episodes in all. Simpson provided the incidental music for 50 of the 52 episodes that were broadcast from 1978 to 1981, including the theme music. The two exceptions are the episode entitled "Duel" for which the director Douglas Camfield chose to use stock music, and "Gambit" which was scored by the special sound creator of series 2 to 4, Elizabeth Parker.
''The Tomorrow People''
Another science fiction series Simpson developed for was The Tomorrow People, although his role was limited to producing the theme tune, with Brian Hodgson producing the series music.
''Doctor Who'' credits
Between 1964 and 1980, Simpson composed the incidental music for the following Doctor Who serials:
