ABSTRACT

The music for science fiction television programs, like music for science fiction films, is often highly distinctive, introducing cutting-edge electronic music and soundscapes. There is a highly particular role for sound and music in science fiction, because it regularly has to expand the vistas and imagination of the shows and plays a crucial role in setting up the time and place. Notable for its adoption of electronic instruments and integration of music and effects, science fiction programs explore sonic capabilities offered through the evolution of sound technology and design, which has allowed for the precise control and creation of unique and otherworldly sounds.

This collection of essays analyzes the style and context of music and sound design in Science Fiction television. It provides a wide range of in-depth analyses of seminal live-action series such as Doctor Who, The Twilight Zone, and Lost,  as well as animated series, such as The Jetsons. With thirteen essays from prominent contributors in the field of music and screen media, this anthology will appeal to students of Music and Media, as well as fans of science fiction television.

chapter 1|13 pages

Music in The Twilight Zone

chapter 2|20 pages

Time Warp

Sonic Retro-Futurism in The Jetsons

chapter 3|18 pages

John Williams's Music to Lost in Space

The Monumental, the Profound, and the Hyperbolic

chapter 4|20 pages

Hearing the Boldly Goings

Tracking the Title Themes of the Star Trek Television Franchise, 1966–2005

chapter 5|15 pages

Whimsical Complexity

Music and Sound Design in The Clangers

chapter 6|24 pages

Schizophrenic Chords and Warm Shivers in the Stomach

The “New Astronautic Sound” of Raumpatrouille

chapter 7|12 pages

Television's Musical Imagination

Space: 1999

chapter 8|12 pages

The Sound of Civilization

Music in Terry Nation's Survivors

chapter 9|16 pages

Rematerialization

Musical Engagements with the British TV Series Doctor Who

chapter 10|12 pages

Babylon 5

Science Fiction, Melodrama, and Musical Style

chapter 11|16 pages

The Work of Music in the Age of Steel

Themes, Leitmotifs and Stock Music in the New Doctor Who

chapter 12|18 pages

Lost in Music

Heidegger, the Glissando and Otherness

chapter 13|15 pages

Visual Effects in Sanctuary

The Reparative Function of Sound in Low Budget Science Fiction Series