Review: BBC PROMS: HORRIBLE SCIENCE - THE BIG BANG PROM, Royal Albert Hall

There really is a Prom for everyone. In the past we’ve had ‘Orrible Opera, the Earth Prom, a variety of CBeebies offerings (including A Trip to the Moon and Wildlife Jamboree), not to mention several Doctor Who Proms - but this year it was time for something new. Given that science-focused university Imperial College has its main campus just around the corner in the heart of Albertopolis, a Horrible Science Prom was very much overdue.

Hosted by famous scientists Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, and Katherine Johnson (played by Richard David-Caine, James McNicholas, Jessica Ransom, and Timmika Ramsay), the first order of business was to try and establish which of them was the best; hard to compare when there are multiple laws of physics, elements, Nobel Prizes, and men on the moon between them. It wasn’t until a little while in that the potential threat posed by Dr Big Brain became clear, following a few performances inspired by space and space travel.

The Horrible Science TV series started broadcasting just over a year ago, following in the hugely successful footsteps of Horrible Histories and also featuring some of the same actors. Both shows have the same penchant for memorable parody songs, so naturally several were included in the programme for this Prom - as well as the theme tune (same melody as its sister show, but with science-specific lyrics).

With the lack of a Doctor Who Prom this year, following another stall in production, it was nice to hear Murray Gold’s take on Ron Grainer’s original theme tune performed quite early in proceedings. Other screen-based compositions included were “The Imperial March” from The Empire Strikes Back, Monty Norman and John Barry’s “James Bond Theme”, and Jack Black’s ditty “Steve’s Lava Chicken” from A Minecraft Movie.

There were also a number of fairly well known classical pieces peppered throughout the programme, such as Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King”, a third appearance this season of Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man”, and Richard Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” - the latter chosen because it was used by NASA as one of their wake-up calls for the Apollo 17 crew. Opening the second half was the opening section of “Also sprach Zarathustra” by Richard Strauss, famously used in 2001: A Space Odyssey (and later pastiched by Greta Gerwig in Barbie).

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales was back to perform all of these pieces, under the watchful eye of conductor Karen Ní Bhroin - they also gamely joined in with the onstage shenanigans on a couple of occasions, to dispel any thought of classical music being a stuffy environment in which to work.

Family-oriented Proms are always billed as relaxed performances, which is completely understandable as you never know when a child might suddenly need to go to the toilet, or if there are any youngsters with accessibility needs in the audience. I have attended several over the past few years (mostly matinées), but this was the first time where there was a constant hum of chit-chat throughout, despite the audience seeming very engaged. If any parents had hoped to try and teach their children about usual behaviour in theatres or at concerts, then that probably wasn’t possible during the afternoon show at least.

It maybe did go on a little too long for some, as the Dr Big Brain narrative was stretched out a little too far in the end; perhaps two acts of 45 minutes with a 30-minute break would have been more refreshing for families, allowing ample time to get everyone to and from the toilet (perhaps with an ice cream on the way back) and ready to go for the second half. The sections with Luna the Magician and Mary Ploppins probably weren’t integral to the structure of the show, despite the fact that I always have time for toilet humour. The excerpt from Errollyn Wallen’s ‘The Elements’ was wonderful, but also maybe a bit lost on some younger, more restless members of the audience.

What was well thought out were the lengths of the musical compositions performed - nothing too long to prevent attentions from waning - and having little skits and scenes in between these pieces. The pre-recorded cameos from Professor Hannah Fry, “famous astronaut” Tim Peake, and Dame Maggie Aderin were a lot of fun, and Agent Goodie’s timely arrival in the pit delighted the many children watching the show from there.

These Proms are more about the event than the music, so it was a complete joy to see so many families visibly enjoying themselves all around the auditorium - particularly spotting toddlers having a dance and making friends in the pit. It’s the perfect occasion to pique someone’s interest in classical music, add to that the science element (see, STEM and the arts can work together) and you’re in for a memorable couple of hours. Consider this experiment a success.

The BBC Proms run at the Royal Albert Hall until 12 September

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