When it was announced that the iconic music for sci-fi drama 'Doctor Who' was to be reinvented by a young composer and musician called Segun Akinola, their was doubt in the minds of loyal fans. Yet their fears were swiftly dimished when Akinola's emotive work was heard, re-energising the soundtrack to coincide with the advent of the show's first female doctor in its 55-year history.
Akinola grew up in Luton, north of London, the first member of a Nigerian family born on British soil. There was no musical background in the family, but as a child he listened intently to everything from African folk music to Michael Jackson and U2. His father came home one day with a keyboard and asked if he wanted to learn to play. The young boy took not only lessons on piano but drums as well. He played wherever he could, in church, school orchestras and at home listening to big bands and musicals. He also loved films and saw the opportunity of following his dreams in becoming a soundtrack composer.
Consequently, he went off to study composition at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and, after flirting with the idea of following the path of one of his great idols Quincy Jones into the world of record production, decided to concentrate on film, doing further studies at the National Film and Television School. His dynamic work impressed the BBC and his textured work found a home on the current affairs show 'Panorama', though his key breakthrough came in 2016 when he scored the music for the BBC documentary mini-series 'Black & British: A Forgotten History', in which he melded together the various musical influences on his life from Nigeria to classical and more contemporary music. This opened a lot of doors for him, including winning a place on the BAFTA Breathrough Brit Scheme. He then got a call from the BBC inviting to contribute ideas for a new soundtrack to 'Doctor Who' and the imaginative, experimental ideas he devised impressed the bosses enough to give him responsibility for the show's fresh soundscapes, involving cello, French horn, guitar and drums, along with samples and electronically generated effects.
