The career of Delia Derbyshire is the topic for an upcoming BBC Radio 4 documentary, hosted by broadcaster and Doctor Who fan Matthew Sweet.
Sculptress of Sound – The Lost Works of Delia Derbyshire will air this Saturday as part of the Archive on 4 strand.
The programme includes a treasure trove of recordings and correspondence by the influential composer who realised the theme music for Doctor Who has been passed to researchers at The University of Manchester for cataloguing.
Producer Phil Collinge says “Delia’s realisation of the Doctor Who theme is just one small example of her genius and we’ll demonstrate how the music was originally created as well as hearing individual tracks from Delia’s aborted 70’s version.
He adds: “We’ll also feature the make-up tapes for her celebrated piece ‘Blue Veils and Golden Sands’, and hear Delia being interviewed on a previously ‘lost’ BBC recording from the 1960s.”
Matthew’s journey of discovery takes in work with the influential poet Barry Bermange, as well as her 1971 piece marking the centenary of the Institution of Electrical Engineers.
This Archive on 4 documentary, which was ordered by Radio 4 commissioner Mohit Bakaya, is brought up to date with an individual track from ‘The Dance’ from the children’s programme ‘Noah’.
It is produced by Phil Collinge. The Executive Producer is Ashley Byrne and it is a Made in Manchester Production for BBC Radio 4.