Mummy, Where Do Dalek Voices Come From?

When you think of Doctor Who arguably the first thing that will spring (or else come trundling doggedly on nylon castors) to mind is the Daleks. Created by the scientist Davros from mutated Kaleds from the planet Skaro, they are well known for their iconic look (primarily their dustbin-like bodies and deadly weaponised sink plungers). But how did they make that characteristic grating robotic voice that terrifies audiences both past and present?

The sound effects for Doctor Who were first created by the BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop (now disbanded but with a sound library of recordings by the workshop having been assembled for posterity); giving the Daleks a voice was definitely a group effort. Voice actors Peter Hawkins and David Graham are credited with initially developing the Dalek voice’s distinctive harsh, staccato delivery, with its pitch and volume varying depending on the emotion (inasmuch as Daleks can experience emotion) needed. Co-creator of the Dalek voice effect Dick Mills said of them: “We tried to give the impression that whenever a Dalek spoke, it wasn’t speaking like we do, it was accessing words from a memory bank, so they all sound the same dispassionate, mechanical and retrievable.”. Dick Mills, co-creator of the Dalek voice effect, said of them: “We tried to give the impression that whenever a Dalek spoke, it wasn’t speaking like we do, it was accessing words from a memory bank, so they all sound the same dispassionate, mechanical and retrievable.”

Since the days of Hawkins and Graham a small army of voice actors have taken on the collective Dalek mantle. Nicholas Briggs has been on Dalek voice duty since the new series began in 2005, speaking into a microphone connected to a voice modulator. He was instructed to bring his own analogue ring modulator (which he had previously used in Big Finish Productions audio plays) as the BBC’s sound department, recently changed to a digital platform, could not adequately create the iconic Dalek sound. Striving for authenticity (or perhaps merely loathe to part with it), he even goes as far as to bring the voice modulator to script readings.