Consequently, a major component of the episode is that it breaks the fourth wall: the Doctor (David Tennant) "converses" with the audience and conducts the orchestra to perform his symphony Ode to the Universe.

He briefly converses with the audience and then conducts the orchestra in a performance before he realises the Graske has escaped into the Prom with his water pistol.

Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner decided to create a "mini-episode" to be screened at the Doctor Who Prom in part because actor David Tennant was unable to participate in the live concert due to his commitments to the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Hamlet.

[10] Davies incorporated interactive elements into his script to ensure that the live performance was "an event":[10] You can watch it later on the website, or on YouTube, or whatever, but frankly, you'll never know what it was really like unless you are in the Albert Hall on that day.

[5][16] In writing the episode, Davies expressed hope that "this mini-adventure [would show] that music can take any shape or form, whether it’s singing, or playing the recorder, or even the spoons."

[4][7] The episode premièred at the Royal Albert Hall before the interval of the Doctor Who Prom on Sunday 27 July 2008 and could be heard simultaneously on BBC Radio 3.

[7][17] The Doctor Who Prom, described as "fantastic" by Davies, was attended by 6,000 people who were addressed directly in the "panto-style scene", "Music of the Spheres".

He also stated that the audience in the Royal Albert Hall had a "unique, one-off Doctor Who experience", repaying them for their effort in getting there and queuing in the heat.