Malcolm Clarke

Who was Malcolm Clarke?

Malcolm Clarke was a British composer and a member of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop for 25 years from 1969 to 1994.

Clarke proved somewhat controversial when he joined the workshop, due to his views that radiophonic music should be, in his words, "fine art," a philosophy that was not shared by other workshop members at the time. He composed the incidental music for the 1972 Doctor Who serial The Sea Devils; it was the second score that the workshop provided for the series. Clarke produced the music for this serial on the Radiophonic Workshop's EMS Synthi 100 synthesizer. The score was unusual and controversial for Doctor Who at the time, with producer Barry Letts insisting that substantial edits be made for the finished programme.

The Radiophonic Workshop was not commissioned to produce music again for Doctor Who until 1980, when new producer John Nathan-Turner decided to fire regular composer Dudley Simpson and commission music from the Workshop instead. Clarke returned to the series to compose the music for the 1982 serial Earthshock.