Murray was awesome. He not only agreed to do an interview with MethodShop.com, but we also got to do a exclusive photo shoot of his workspace a few days later. I have interviewed tons of celebs in my career and to be honest with you only a handful of them have made me nervous. Tom Brokaw, Peter Gabriel and Murray Gold are some of the few culprits who have all have made me weak in the knees.

Please enjoy, my exclusive interview and photo shoot with Doctor Who composer, Murray Gold.

A Passion for Music

Born and raised in the naval town of Portsmouth on England's Southern Coast, Gold was determined to one-day head out to make his mark in the world. "Lovely place, [but I] got out of it as soon as I could." Gold's life has revolved around music since a young age and as kid remembers being a musician for an improvised dance class. "It was a really great thing to do." It was then that he realized there was a strong connection between visual performance and music. When it was finally time to move on, young Murray headed off to Cambridge University where he studied History, "a degree for an old man', he jests. In fact, this award-winning musician has never had any formal musical training. However, it was at Cambridge where he cut his teeth on his craft and began writing accompaniments for plays.

After Cambridge, Gold cast aside his degree in History and followed his passion for music all the way to London. Gold realized that a life in music was for him, "the minute I discovered that a career didn't actually have to involve going into an office and doing the sort of things that hadn't excited you before you were 18. I guess if you weren't into it at 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 then why do it for the rest of your life? Whereas music I was into, you know, writing and theatre. So it's always more of a question of can you have a career in it [music] rather than why you would do it. If you can, I think you take it."

Getting Russell T. Davies' Attention

A professional "music career" can take many paths. After graduation, Gold began composing for plays, television, and films. "I never really had a desire to be a rock star strange as that may seem… but at the same time I wasn't interested in being a classical music composer either." Gold's first jobs were in 1998 for two BBC programs, the Vanity Fair miniseries and Queer as Folk, which later became a popular US series. Right from the start his work was recognized and he managed to win BAFTAs (British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award) for both series. From then on, his fate was sealed. Overnight, he had become one of the most well respected names in the business. It was this notoriety that eventually brought Gold into the world of Doctor Who. One day he got e-mail from the executive producer, Russell T. Davies, "…we're doing Doctor Who. It probably won't interest you, but we'd love for you to write the score for it" and simple as that, he was in. It was in a way a childhood dream come full circle. Gold began watching the original BBC series as a child. "It wasn't my entire life, but I use to talk about it a lot with a friend of mine and then didn't think about it again until I was 35."

Russell T. Davies

A Transatlantic Telecommute

I was lucky enough to watch Gold work on the music for Episode 11 of Doctor Who's 5^th Season while we did the second half of this interview. For every 60-minute episode, Gold needs to compose and record 45 minutes worth of music.

Just a few years ago, Gold would have never been able to telecommute across the Atlantic for his very high profile job. Armed with a guitar, bass, a few keyboards, a Mac Book Pro and a plethora of hardware and software, Gold creates the music that accompanies the #1 British Sci-fi series of all time.

Gold working in his NYC apartment. Photos by MethodShop's own Gia Pace.

It is a fascinating process to witness. While Gold sits in his Manhattan apartment, his assistants are sitting in a control room across the pond at Abbey Road Studios in London. These assistants help him to manage and conduct a full-sized orchestra. He simply uses Skype to see and communicate with is team in London and the result is just as good as him being in the room with them. As my Mom would say, "That's Technology!" In a smaller sub-screen of his laptop the footage of the episode plays so that he can match the notes to the visuals. The orchestra continues playing the score until he stops them to correct something.

It is amazing to watch the intensity in which this man works. He sings along with the notes, vocally mimicking the music as he listens. He is everything you would expect in a composer and conductor. Intense, serious and focused, Gold knows exactly what he wants to hear and demands perfection. This perfection shows up in every single episode he writes for.

One of his favorite Doctor Who episodes to score for so far was the final David Tennant episode. This is the point in the interview where I came out of my journalist skin and gushed, "I cried when the Universe sang to him!" He was polite not to laugh at my outburst and explained, "That was a sort of free hit if you like because Russell left me a great big space, he left me a two and a half minute space." Davies presented him several gifts to work with in that final episode. The large amount of time the Doctor spends just walking through the snow with no lines written in the script and the "singing creatures, the Oods" both left Gold the creative freedom to do what he wished. Some other favorites of his are the "dark and scary" angel episodes as well as Episode 12 of the 5th season, which he also considers moving. Besides, Doctor Who, Gold has has composed music for other popular BBC programs such as Torchwood as well as the films, "Beautiful Creatures," and "Death at a Funeral."

An "Ood" from Doctor Who

The Future of Orchestra for TV

According to Gold, you can count the number of television shows on one hand across Europe and America that have a full orchestra. There are a few more with smaller orchestras, but the truth is Murray Gold's art is a dying breed. More and more musicians are out of work than ever and the harsh reality is that with budgetary constraints and technological advancements in digital music, it will probably only get worse as the years pass.

Murray Gold at the piano. Photo by Alun Vega.

Gold is one of the lucky few that get to practice his art and make a living doing it, but E flat and B flat aren't the only notes Gold has to worry about. He has to also concern himself with bank notes too. Managing funds and scheduling and planning the sessions are surprisingly the most challenging and boring parts of his job. "We only have 2 days with the large orchestra to cover the whole series then the rest is smaller collections of individuals." After that, whatever work is left, he covers using synthesizers and other instruments that he records either in his apartment or at a studio he uses on Long Island.

The Doctor's Fame

When asked about Doctor Who fans who create Murray Gold fan pages and mob him for autographs, Gold humbly says that he's happy to just be "behind the scenes." He tries to stay away from the glitz of fame and the good and bad it brings and tends to listen only to the advice and comments that come from those close to him. "It is delightful that people [fans] do say nice things but if you seek those things out then you really have to do the same with all of the awful things that people say. Once you open the gate you have to listen to all of it." Well Mr. Murray Gold, this fan only has great things to say about you and my apologies in advance, you will have to listen! I can't wait to hear the music for Doctor Who's 6th Season. Images without music is like bangers without mash, fish without chips, Camilla without Charles. Cheers to you Murray Gold for creating the incredible music that accompanies the much-loved images we watch on both our big and small screens.

Murray Gold signing autographs at The Prom. Photo by Jonathan Cresswell.