Time Lord rock (sometimes shortened to Trock) is a genre of

geek rock Geek rock (also known as nerd rock or dork rock) is a musical subgenre derived from pop rock and alternative rock within the nerd music group. It is a sister genre to the chiptune-influenced rock subgenre Nintendocore and related to other branch ...

music based on, and about, the '' Doctor Who'' television series. It was created in 2008 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

with the formation of Chameleon Circuit.

History

The first Doctor Who inspired songs were recorded during the

Dalekmania ''Dalekmania'' is a 1995 direct-to-video documentary released in the United Kingdom. "Dalekmania" is the name given to the craze or "mania" among children in the United Kingdom in the 1960s for all things associated with writer Terry Nation's cr ...

of the mid 1960s. The most famous of these was the

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and wi ...

I'm Gonna Spend My Christmas With A Dalek, recorded by Newcastle band

The Go-Go's The Go-Go's are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. Except for short periods when other musicians joined briefly, the band has had a relatively stable lineup consisting of Charlotte Caffey on lead guitar and keyboards, Beli ...

in 1964. Other notable songs of this time included ''Who's Who?'' by

Roberta Tovey Roberta Tovey (born 9 August 1953) is an English actress who has appeared in films and television programmes. One of her better-known roles was that of Susan, the granddaughter of Dr. Who, in the films '' Dr. Who and the Daleks'' (1965) and ''D ...

Frazer Hines Frazer Simpson Frederick Hines (born 22 September 1944) is an English actor. He began his career as a child actor and appeared in '' A King in New York'' (1957) with Charlie Chaplin. He later played Jamie McCrimmon in '' Doctor Who'', appeari ...

' album ''Time Traveller'', and also the

Third Doctor The Third Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. He was portrayed by actor Jon Pertwee. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lor ...

Jon Pertwee John Devon Roland "Jon" Pertwee (; 7 July 1919 – 20 May 1996) was an English actor, comedian, entertainer, cabaret performer and TV presenter. Born into a theatrical family, he served in the Royal Navy and the Naval Intelligence Division during ...

's hit single '' I Am the Doctor.'' In 1988,

The KLF The KLF (also known as the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, the JAMs, the Timelords and other names) are a British electronic band formed in London in 1987. Bill Drummond (alias King Boy D) and Jimmy Cauty (alias Rockman Rock) began by releasing ...

released the single "

Doctorin' the Tardis "Doctorin' the Tardis" is a 1988 electronic novelty pop single by the Timelords ("Time Boy" and "Lord Rock", aliases of Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty, better known as The KLF). The song is predominantly a mash-up of the ''Doctor Who'' theme ...

" under the alternative band name The Timelords, which reached number 1 in the

UK singles chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

as well as charting in other countries. However, the group never released anything else under this name or with the same subject, nor did any other band follow up on the single, leaving it as a novelty rather than a genre. In the summer of 2008,

Alex Day Alex Richard George Day (born 8 April 1989) is an English musician, vlogger and writer. Day has released seven studio albums, two EPs, and had three UK Top 40 hits.Holiday, RyanYouTube and Chart Sensation Alex Day the Future of Music? ''Forbe ...

, a fan of '' Doctor Who'', was inspired by the growing phenomenon of

wizard rock Wizard rock (or Wrock) is a type of novelty rock music themed around the '' Harry Potter'' franchise. The music was largely prevalent in the United States in the early 2000s. Wizard rock initially started in Massachusetts with Harry and the Pot ...

(formed from

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students a ...

fandom) to begin writing songs about ''Doctor Who'', dubbing the resulting genre "Time Lord Rock" (abbreviated to "Trock", after the "Wrock" abbreviation used for wizard rock).Archive
on

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming s ...

Charlie McDonnell Charlie McDonnell (born 1 October 1990) is a British filmmaker, screenwriter, musician, former vlogger, author and Twitch streamer from Bath, Somerset. On 15 June 2011, her YouTube channel charlieissocoollike became the first in the UK to r ...

, also a fan, did the same, and released an acoustic video performance of "Blink" on YouTube. Combined with the Scottish vloggers Liam Dryden and Chris Beattie, they formed the first Time Lord rock band, Chameleon Circuit. Time Lord rock performers are usually British or Australian. Chicago-based

Time Crash "Time Crash" is a mini-episode of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was broadcast on 16 November 2007, as part of the BBC One telethon for the children's charity Children in Need. Written by Steven Moffat, it st ...

may have been the first American band playing in the genre. In 2013

Legs Nose Robinson A leg is a weight-bearing and locomotive anatomical structure, usually having a columnar shape. During locomotion, legs function as "extensible struts". The combination of movements at all joints can be modeled as a single, linear element c ...

became a trock-rocking American band picking up the new genre and broad in range. "references to the series, while present, are subtle, with styles ranging from glam-tinged rock to a burlesque reminiscent of

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...

Groups and performers

* Chameleon Circuit *

The Doctor's Daughter "The Doctor's Daughter" is the sixth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was broadcast on BBC One on 10 May 2008. Set on the planet Messaline, the episode features Georgia Moffett as Je ...

Mr. Saxon The Master, is a recurring character in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its associated spin-off works. He is a renegade alien Time Lord and the childhood friend and later archenemy of the title character, th ...

* Allegra Rosenberg *

Turn Left "Turn Left" is the eleventh episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was written by showrunner Russell T Davies and broadcast on BBC One on 21 June 2008. David Tennant only makes a small cont ...

References

{{nerd music 2008 establishments in the United Kingdom 2008 in music 21st-century music genres Alternative rock genres Doctor Who fandom Geek rock Music based on Doctor Who