Not everyone has the facility for subtitles. And it's absurd to expect people with perfectly decent hearing to have to use them.

If people don't "whinge", then nothing changes.

Gold doesn't write and place music for every single passing minute of the episode.

I'm sure theres a source somewhere that says he can only create 20 minutes of new episode music per episode - and even then - it's up to the editors to place that music into the final version.

Got to admit, I watched it on BBC1 then again on BBC HD and the difference in the volume of the background music was very noticeable. When people complained back in 2005, and every series since, about the music, I thought it was just because they were listening through their tv speakers and not a surround sound system, which I've had for years cos it really does make a difference when watching stuff. Even so, I would have never come out with a smart arsed comment like, "Put the subtitles on." I agree with Dave above, why should people who aren't deaf or hard of hearing, or trying to watch something when someone else is on the phone, feel the need to use subtitles to understand what is being said onscreen? They shouldn't. However, I suppose if they haven't listened to complaints about the music volume before, they're hardly going to start now. That's a shame because it really does make a difference, in my experience, to the enjoyment of the programme.

Glad I've seen this thread - Watched DW last night and thought my TV was playing up!

Had to wind up the volume to hear the speaking (as you need to know whats going on) but then the music was way too loud.

Surely there must be a balance. Agree it has to be dramatic but half of DW relys on you listening to what he says as it explains stuff.

I am an old fart of 61 who has no difficulty hearing dialect on any other program with or without music. The fact that the difficulty is only with Dr Who blows the verbosity of this article away.

I am 47 and have regular hearing tests at work and my hearing is a higher than average for may age. I thought the music/is way too loud and had trouble hearing the dialogue. I have no problems with any other program and.or TV Channel. So OP I agree 100%.

Yes, the mix seems to be wrong, not an error of the composer.
Maybe the equipment they are using to test the mix is soooo much more advanced, the sound-mixers themselves wouldn't even know it's going all wrong on normal-peoples TV-sets.

And NO, it should not be necessary to put subtitles on to be able to follow a program. At least not if you are not deaf (for these people it is great that it is being done).

Well I watched this weeks episode last night and found out that VM catch up TV doesnt have subtitles available so I couldnt do that so instead I just rewound it a few times. That said I enjoyed it and loved the new daleks.
Oddly enough the TV paper I get has a letter from someone complaining about being unable to hear the dialogue as well

To me this does seem to be the latest TV phase, there seems quite a few programs playing load background music, when quite a few people are complain, it seems obvious it's to load.

Thanks for this thread - I thought I was going mad!

I have pretty good hearing, but even on my modern LCD TV (with no surround system attached) the sound mix seems completely wrong and the music appears to be drowing out the dialogue where both are present simultaneously. It doesn't appear to happen with any other programmes that I've noticed, and yes, i understand it's a fast-paced action/adventure, but it seems to be a technical fault, as if the people doing the final mix have a different set-up/equipment, or that it is skewed towards a surround setup.

If I ever watch Dr Who at my brother's house (who DOES have a stereo surround setup) there isn't a problem hearing dialogue (even when the music is loud), but last Saturday's (Time Of Angels) episode seemed particularly bad for me - I had to whack up the vloume to almost 30 (a usual level for me with most programms is around the 20-22 mark) just to hear the dilaogue.

I've tried playing around with my TV's audio settings, but nothing seems to solve it. The iPlayer version seems fine. Maybe some TV's are just setup differently to others, which would explain some people having a problem and not others... (I have a Toshiba Regza, just for the record)