I've watched the first two of this BBC One series now, and I'm quite impressed with Ben Foster's compositional work on them from what I can here within the programmes themselves. Apparently there's going to be a CD of the music (according to a line at the end of the article here http://www.silvascreen.com/index.php/2014/01/17/hidden-kingdoms-soundtrack-by-ben-foster/) so that will be one to watch out for.
I've wondered for some time about how much Ben's orchestrations have been responsible for the quality of Murray Gold's music for Doctor Who, and this is based soley on his excellent Torchwood: Children of Earth. It was during this serial that I thought he'd be a brilliant choice of replacement should Murray ever leave. Your comments, my friends, have already convinced me to look out for this programme asap.
I've had the pleasure to see Ben conducting the Who scoring at no less than four events. Though I have to confess that I walked right past him at the first, the Children in Need charity concert of 2006 at the Millenium Centre in Cardiff, Wales. He was mobbed by a lot of girls, and I thought "well, he's only the orchestrator not the composer". Please, don't anyone tell me how dumb that was! As it happens, we share a mutual friend who assures me he's a thouroughly nice chap.
It's taken eight months, but I've finally managed to get this score via a birthday present, and I have to say I'm glad I did. The TV show was a short three programme affair and the programs quite light hearted in their approach to natural history compared to the BBC's normal offerings, but this score has a big sound. As mentioned in the liner notes, it's got more than a bit of a big Pixar score sound to it
Finally getting around to this. It's a wonderful listen with a whole range of musical styles and flavors, but generally it all works well together. Of course you hear some DW styling as well as David Arnolds James Bond. While certainly heads above an average RC offering, some of it sounds temp tracked from some of Zimmer's work. (Edit: I hear some Tron Legacy temp too) Some cues almost has a christmassy feel to them too.
