Special sound (sometimes credited as special sounds) was a credit on Doctor Who and K9 and Company.
"Special sound/s" were the unique sounds featured in Doctor Who which were not the music, but went beyond what might be called "sound effects". In modern television production is now known as sound designer.[1]
The TARDIS materialisation sounds, the ring modulator treatment of the Daleks, Auton gun noises and the noise of the Zarbi are examples of Brian Hodgson's contribution to the Doctor Who oeuvre of special sounds. [2]
Peter Howell, who was mostly known for his music contributions in Doctor Who provided the special sound for the 1975 story Planet of Evil [+]Loading...["Planet of Evil (TV story)"].
Dick Mills became known as "Mr Swarfega" at one point for his use of swarfega gel to generate special sounds. When Sarah Jane Smith was trapped by Styre within his psychological testing in The Sontaran Experiment [+]Loading...["The Sontaran Experiment (TV story)"], the sounds of the mud was generated by Mills with a handful of Swarfega gel between his hands. [3]
Dick Mills would take an annual holiday which fell during the production of Doctor Who leading to others providing the special sound for the production. During The Sun Makers [+]Loading...["The Sun Makers (TV story)"], Paddy Kingsland took on the special sound duties. In fact the music and effects tapes survive to this day because Kingsland did not follow procedure at the time of leaving the banded master tapes of the music and effects with BBC Enterprises to be archived instead he took them back to the Radiophonic Workshop in Maida Vale where they were later found by Mark Ayres in 1997 when it closed down.[1]
During the production of The Stones of Blood Mills was again on holiday and Liz Parker worked on the story providing the special sound. Unfortunately due to an oversight she was not credited for any of the story's four parts. (DWMS Summer 1995))
Dick Mills also provided the special sound for Doctor Who's first spin-off K9 and Company for its first (and only) episode A Girl's Best Friend [+]Loading...["A Girl's Best Friend (TV story)"].
Doctor Who[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Brian Hodgson - An Unearthly Child [+]Loading...["An Unearthly Child (TV story)"] to The Sea Devils [+]Loading...["The Sea Devils (TV story)"]'; Carnival of Monsters [+]Loading...["Carnival of Monsters (TV story)"]
- Dick Mills - TV: The Mutants [+]Loading...["The Mutants (TV story)"] to The Three Doctors [+]Loading...["The Three Doctors (TV story)"]; Frontier in Space [+]Loading...["Frontier in Space (TV story)"] to Terror of the Zygons [+]Loading...["Terror of the Zygons (TV story)"]; Pyramids of Mars [+]Loading...["Pyramids of Mars (TV story)"] to Image of the Fendahl [+]Loading...["Image of the Fendahl (TV story)"]; Underworld [+]Loading...["Underworld (TV story)"] to The Pirate Planet [+]Loading...["The Pirate Planet (TV story)"]; The Androids of Tara [+]Loading...["The Androids of Tara (TV story)"] to Survival [+]Loading...["Survival (TV story)"]
- Peter Howell - Planet of Evil [+]Loading...["Planet of Evil (TV story)"]
- Paddy Kingsland - he Sun Makers [+]Loading...["he Sun Makers (TV story)"]
- Liz Parker - The Stones of Blood [+]Loading...["The Stones of Blood (TV story)"] (Liz Parker provided the special sound for this story (while Dick Mills was on holiday), however unfortunately she was not credited on screen due to an oversight Mills was credited for all four parts of the story. (DWMS Summer 1995))
K9 and Company[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Dick Mills - A Girl's Best Friend [+]Loading...["A Girl's Best Friend (TV story)"]
Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mark Ayres. SILCD1569-TheSunMakers-digitalbooklet.pdf The Sun Makers music release notes. Silva Screen. Retrieved on 30 July 2025.
- ↑ Patrick Mulkern (29 July 2009). Doctor Who's Brian Hodgson on how he created the Tardis and Dalek sounds. Radio Times. Retrieved on 30 July 2025.
- ↑ The Sound Of Effects - DICK MILLS: THE TSV INTERVIEW. NZDWFC. Retrieved on 30 July 2025.