As part of the British Film Institute (BFI) London Film Festival 2020 there’s a chance to see a new documentary on Delia Derbyshire. It’s available on the BFI Player app from 18:30 BST 15-18 October 2020. Details below or check the site.

The Dawn of Doctor Who

This psycho-acoustic exploration of electronic music pioneer Delia Derbyshire time-travels like that famous fictional doctor, as Cosey Fanni Tutti dreams of connective sonic pathways.

‘Radio was the most important thing in my life and music, music, music!’

A true pioneer in audio exploration and psycho-acoustics, Delia Derbyshire conceived one of the most familiar compositions in science fiction, the Doctor Who theme, while working in a BBC basement. Her soundscapes felt like they connected to another realm. Kicking off with the discovery of 267 tapes in an attic, along with a treasure trove of journals hidden in her childhood bedroom, this film tunes in to Derbyshire’s frequency; that of a life-long non-conformist, whose peals of laughter in an archive interview tickle with delight and eccentricity. Featuring a rich archive, interviews, fictional embodiment and Cosey Fanni Tutti’s psycho-sonic channelling, director Caroline Catz traces acoustic pathways on her archeological dig into Derbyshire’s resonant life.