Mark Ayres

Mark Ayres

Mark Ayres is an electronic musician, composer and audio engineer.

Ayres studied music and electronics at Keele University. He also worked as a sound engineer at TV-am between 1982 and 1987.

As a television composer, he became known for providing incidental music on the original series of Doctor Who. Ayres's work on broadcast Doctor Who was during Sylvester McCoy's era as the Seventh Doctor, comprising The Greatest Show in the Galaxy, Ghost Light and The Curse of Fenric. Ayres was hired after he sent producer John Nathan-Turner a demonstration video containing music he had written to accompany Remembrance of the Daleks. Like most Doctor Who incidental music composers during the 1980s, Ayres created the music electronically, principally using digital synthesisers and samplers.

Ayres was also involved in the last days of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, cataloguing and archiving their recordings for future use. As part of the BBC's unofficial Doctor Who Restoration Team, Ayres has also done much of the audio restoration work for the later VHS Doctor Who releases, as well as many of the DVD releases, and all of the "Missing Soundtrack" CD releases since 1999.

Movies for Mark Ayres...

Doctor Who at 60: A Musical Celebration
Title: Doctor Who at 60: A Musical Celebration
Character: Himself
Released: November 1, 2023
Type: Movie
The BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the BBC Singers, conducted by Alastair King, celebrate the glorious musical sounds of the iconic and much-loved TV series.
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Doctor Who at the Proms
Title: Doctor Who at the Proms
Character: Self
Released: August 26, 2013
Type: Movie
Doctor Who returns to the Proms to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the popular BBC series. As well as showcasing Murray Gold’s music from the past eight years, the concert also journeys back to the early days of Doctor Who and the groundbreaking work of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Featuring special guests from the series, big screens and a host of monsters ready to invade the Royal Albert Hall, this is not the year to be exterminated!
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The Alchemists of Sound
Title: The Alchemists of Sound
Released: October 19, 2003
Type: Movie
A documentary about the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, responsible for creating some of the most memorable television and radio music in British popular culture, including "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and Doctor Who (1963).
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The Making of Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans
Title: The Making of Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans
Released: January 1, 1995
Type: Movie
Climb aboard the HMS Belfast and enter Pinewood Film Studios for a fascinating and humorous insight into the making of SHAKEDOWN — Return of the Sontarans. Includes all new interviews with the stars — Jan Chappell, Brian Croucher, Carole Ann Ford, Sophie Aldred, Rory O’Donnell, Toby Aspin and Tom Finnis — writer Terrance Dicks, director Kevin Davies, composer Mark Ayres and much more! PLUS Highlights from Dreamwatch 94'