A sell-out smash on its world premiere in Australia, the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular is now heading to the UK, with a limited run of thirteen performances - hosted by Peter Davison - being held in London, Cardiff, Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle and Glasgow.

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales and conductor Ben Foster will be on hand for this celebration of the anthemic music written by Murray Gold, the sci-fi show's composer since its revival in 2005.

Gold spoke to Digital Spy about what to expect from the Symphonic Spectacular and his decade with Doctor Who.

Lucas Dawson

The best way of describing it is like a massive rock concert...

The Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular has been a big success in other parts of the world - what should fans in the UK expect?

"150 people on the stage, gigantic video projections, full orchestra, full symphonic choir, and loads of monsters - the best way of describing it is like a massive rock concert. It's like that, in the sense that, for people going, there's a lot of pieces that have become anthemic.

"Doctor Who fans have shrugged off the shame they used to have in the '70s about being 'geeks' - because this is the age of the geek. Now you're all standing together with people who want to celebrate something they love and are ready for two hours to give up their individuality and just throw themselves into the mythology and the world of Doctor Who.

"... and the music's overwhelming in the way a rock gig is. The orchestra are amplified and there's synthesisers as well... so it's got a real rock gig kind of vibe."

Lucas Dawson

There's always a chunk of it that's just Doctor Who...

Do you write differently for different Doctors? Is music for Peter Capaldi different than it would've been for Matt Smith?

"There's always a chunk of it that's just Doctor Who - but there's the signature stuff as well, like David Tennant was 'Fighting Doctor' and Christopher Eccleston was 'Remembering Doctor / Bad Memory Doctor', then Matt was kind of a Magnus Pyke type...

"Peter Capaldi's like... 'Front Foot Doctor' - everything's on the front foot, everything's just batted straight back. It's very, very direct. So his theme is very 'one-lane traffic' - and you hope it'll work, then as the episodes start rolling out, you just adapt it accordingly.

"Peter Capaldi's theme might've been too heroic for him at the start, because it took him a while to actually do anything really heroic! But he had this really heroic theme, just to remind him (laughs)."

I still go straight into Doctor Who mode...

You've been one of the few constants on Doctor Who since it came back. Does it still feel like the same show to you as in 2005?

"I still go straight into Doctor Who mode - the difficult thing is getting me out of Doctor Who mode when I do any other job! Because fundamentally, I always call it the intergalactic Atticus Finch, this guy who travels the universe saying, 'Travel a day in your enemy's shoes' in terms of morality.

"There's always the quips and the wit and the attempts to resolve an issue without violence, and the general sense of running away from monsters is tremendous fun. The additional thing that's been there since 2005 is the melodrama and the various family sagas.

"So in all of those respects, it's exactly the same show, whether it's been Russell [T Davies] writing it or Steven [Moffat] writing it. They're throwing the same ingredients up in the air each time - Steven will emphasise one element of that more than Russell will, but it's the same combination of elements."

Where would I learn more about music than doing Doctor Who?

You've been working on Doctor Who for over a decade - is it quite the all-consuming beast one might assume it is?

"Yeah, [it's been] over a decade - and if you had asked me then if I'd be writing music in 10 years' time for Doctor Who, I'd probably have said no - but it keeps replenishing itself, and you never feel like you've done it right, you just want to do it better every time.

"Each year, I learn more about writing music, orchestrating music - and where would I learn more about music than doing Doctor Who? I did The Musketeers, and that was OK, but it wasn't fun in the same way as Doctor Who is.

"It's just... would you rather do a new season of something coming up that's really exciting, or the 10th season of Doctor Who and the choice is always the 10th season of Doctor Who, because it never feels like the 10th season, it always feels like the start of something new."

BBC

Outside of fan circles, does any music get enough credit?

The great Dudley Simpson worked as a composer on Doctor Who for 16 years - could you imagine matching his run?

"I've met Dudley and he's 90 - well, he's probably 92 now because I met him two years ago so that would make sense! He's completely lovely - but Doctor Who really is a different show now. I don't know if I'll make 16 years... either in this show or in life!"

The Doctor Who Prom 2013 for the 50th anniversary featured a wonderful medley of music from the classic series - do you think that old music gets enough credit outside of fan circles?

"Outside of fan circles, does any music get enough credit? My music is pretty much fan-driven and so is the classic music - though I do think that the tendency is much more to see the classic music as 'art' and my music as 'entertainment'.

"I think you see people talking very seriously about the musical legacy of Doctor Who and its place in the world of electronic music - and quite right!"

The Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular starts its UK tour on May 23. Tickets can be bought at www.doctorwhosymphonicspectacular.com.

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