Peter Howell
Biography
Peter Howell (born 1949) is a musician and composer. He is best known for his work on Doctor Who as a member of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Howell's musical career began in the late 1960s working with John Ferdinando in various psychedelic folk bands including Agincourt and Ithaca. Howell and Ferdinando recorded five albums before Howell became a member of the Radiophonic Workshop, with which he would remain associated until 1997. His work on Doctor Who began in 1975 when he provided some accompanying incidental music for Revenge of the Cybermen and special sound for Planet of Evil. When John Nathan-Turner became producer of Doctor Who in 1980, he decided that the music needed to be updated and commissioned Howell to provide a new arrangement of the Doctor Who theme to accompany a new title sequence. Howell's new arrangement first appeared in 1980 on The Leisure Hive, for which Howell had also recorded the incidental score, and was used throughout Tom Baker's final season on the programme as well as Peter Davison's tenure as the Doctor and Colin Baker's first season. Between 1980 and 1985 Howell also provided incidental music for ten stories of Doctor Who. In 1986, Nathan-Turner commissioned a new theme arrangement by Dominic Glynn, ending Howell's association with Doctor Who on television. Since 2013 he has been part of the Radiophonic Workshop Band, touring the UK and abroad with Radiophonic archivist Mark Ayres and other former members of the Workshop. In 2021, Howell published his autobiography Radiophonic Times via Obverse Books.
Personal Details
Movies (39)
Doctor Who at 60: A Musical Celebration
as Himself
2023
Dames of Classic Drama at the BBC
Sound (Sound)
2015
Doctor Who: Yellow Fever and How to Cure It
Music (Sound)
2013
Doctor Who: Gallifrey
Music (Sound)
2013
Doctor Who at the Proms
as Self
2013
The Ties That Bind Us
Theme Song Performance (Sound)
2008
A New Beginning
2004
From Avalon to Argolis
Music (Sound)
2004
Adventures in Time and Spain
Music (Sound)
2003
Doctor Who: The Curse of Fatal Death
Original Music Composer (Sound)
1999
Agatha Christie - Unfinished Portrait
Music (Sound)
1990
Double Image
Music (Sound)
1986
Doctor Who: The Two Doctors
Original Music Composer (Sound)
1985
Doctor Who: The Wrath of Eukor
Theme Song Performance (Sound)
1984
Doctor Who: Planet of Fire
Original Music Composer (Sound)
1984
Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks
Theme Song Performance (Sound)
1984
Doctor Who: Frontios
Theme Song Performance (Sound)
1984
Doctor Who: The Five Doctors
Original Music Composer (Sound)
1983
Doctor Who: The King's Demons
Original Music Composer (Sound)
1983
Doctor Who: Terminus
Theme Song Performance (Sound)
1983
Doctor Who: Mawdryn Undead
Theme Song Performance (Sound)
1983
Doctor Who: Snakedance
Theme Song Performance (Sound)
1983
Doctor Who: Time-Flight
Theme Song Performance (Sound)
1982
Doctor Who: Earthshock
Theme Song Performance (Sound)
1982
Doctor Who: Black Orchid
Theme Song Performance (Sound)
1982
Doctor Who: The Visitation
Theme Song Performance (Sound)
1982
Doctor Who: Kinda
Original Music Composer (Sound)
1982
Doctor Who: Four to Doomsday
Theme Song Performance (Sound)
1982
Doctor Who: Castrovalva
Theme Song Performance (Sound)
1982
K-9 and Company: A Girl's Best Friend
Original Music Composer (Sound)
1981
Doctor Who: Logopolis
Theme Song Performance (Sound)
1981
Doctor Who: The Keeper of Traken
Theme Song Performance (Sound)
1981
Doctor Who: Warriors' Gate
Original Music Composer (Sound)
1981
Doctor Who: State of Decay
Theme Song Performance (Sound)
1980
Doctor Who: Full Circle
Theme Song Performance (Sound)
1980
Doctor Who: Meglos
Original Music Composer (Sound)
1980
Doctor Who: The Leisure Hive
Original Music Composer (Sound)
1980
Doctor Who: Revenge of the Cybermen
Original Music Composer (Sound)
1975
Tomorrow Come Someday
Music (Sound)
1969
