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The distinctive music to Doctor Who has been named the best television sci-fi theme tune in an online vote.

It finished ahead of Red Dwarf, The X Files and Buffy The Vampire Slayer, according to website Total Sci-Fi.

The music, which has remained with the programme throughout its history in various forms, was composed and arranged back in 1963.

Total Sci-Fi editor Matt McAllister called it "instantly recognisable to fans just by its opening bars".

Refusal

He added that it manages to convey the "outlandish quality of the show".

The music was composed by Australian Ron Grainer and arranged by Delia Derbyshire at the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop.

Delia Derbyshire arranged the iconic theme tune

The distinctive sound was created by combining a tape loop of a struck piano string with the sound of test oscillators and filters among a whole host of techniques.

It has gone through a number of changes since the 1960s, and the current version which has been used since Doctor Who was revived in 2005 was arranged by Murray Gold.

Star Trek came in at number five in the poll, followed by Thunderbirds, The Twilight Zone, Battlestar Galactica, Quantum Leap and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Ms Derbyshire, who along with Mr Grainer was initially refused a credit for the music, died in 2001.

The BBC had wanted to keep the members of their Radiophonic Workshop team anonymous.