Doctor Who’s Dalek voice actor Nick Briggs has revealed how he’s paid homage to those who came before him in the creatures’ voices.
Nick has voiced the Doctor’s oldest enemy, who are set to appear in the festive special Revolution of the Daleks, since the show returned to screens in 2005, and he follows artists such as Peter Hawkins and David Graham, who originally co-created the iconic voice.
Over the years, fans have been introduced to individual Daleks, with Nick revealing that he does change his voice for each one – and he uses Peter and David’s names to remind him which one to use where.
‘I always try to make [the Daleks] individual,’ he explained to Metro.co.uk. ‘I always know which one is which on the set and have little notes on my script giving me the name of each one.
‘I give them their names based on – there were many Dalek voice artists in the past, before the show came back in 2005, and I’m fond of all their versions of it, so I use their names as reminders for the kind of Dalek voice I’m going to do, but then I have little adjustments.
‘I’d say like, “Peter, but more angry,” or “David, but lower.” Peter Hawkins was the artist who originated the Dalek voice style and in a way, everyone who came after him is paying homage to his fantastic work.’
‘Usually the Commander Dalek, or the Emperor Dalek has a more extravagant way of speaking, I had strange cackling Daleks in the past, so there’s always a challenge and there are plenty of challenges in [Revolution of the Daleks] as well,’ he continued.
‘It’s such an absence of all the best things about human beings,’ Nick added of the iconic voice. ‘It’s expressionless, it’s harsh, it’s relentless. It’s very clear that it’s meant to be horrid’.
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Speaking about the upcoming festive special, Nick also revealed how the Daleks’ new design will cause problems for our heroes.
‘The thing about the Daleks is they’re always coming up with new schemes and always evolving,’ he pointed out.
‘This is just another step in this direction. There have been different types of Daleks and different types of Dalek design over the years and this one will present a unique threat to the forces of good, I think I can say!’
Consider us intrigued.
Revolution of the Daleks is available for catch-up on BBC iPlayer.
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