This November the iconic BBC show Doctor Who celebrates 50 years on the air. As the longest running science fiction show on the planet, with 77 million viewers worldwide, it has become an instantly recognizable part of the cultural history of Britain. The anniversary special episode was broadcasted simultaniously in 94 countries across six continents.

A key element in the success of Doctor Who, is the distinctive style of sounds and music. From the first theme, creepy and alien, composed by Ron Grainer and Delia Derbyshire, to the more up beat version of the current series, it has always heralded the coming of epic adventures in time and space for millions of viewers.

50 years of Doctor Who!

Music from the show has become merchandise in it self. In 1983, the BBC released a full-length album with music and sound, titled Doctor Who: The Music. Music from the show has been featured at the Proms in Royal Albert Hall and a concert called Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular has been performed in New Zealand.

When the first episodes of the show was in production in 1963, a whole set of new sounds and music had to be created. The sound engineers at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop experimented freely and the results have had a enduring legacy.

Brian Hodgson, a former BBC sound engineer who worked on the original series of Doctor who, recently told BBC Radio Norfolk some of the secrets behind many of the iconic sounds from the show. He said the sound of the Tardis, the blue police box shaped combined time machine and space craft, was made by scraping his mothers keys against the strings in a old Sunday school piano.

Hodgson also told BBC how he had constructed the voice of the Daleks together with Peter Hawkins by shortening the length of the vowels to create the staccato voice. ‘EX-TER-MIN-ATE!’

VIDEO: Original Doctor Who theme (1963 – 1969)