Rightly recognised as icons of 1960s popculture design, the Daleks have always looked great. But no matter how visually impressive they are, it’s the voice that makes them evil and scary. You’d expect me to say that, of course, since I’ve been doing the Dalek voices, one way or another, since the space year 2000.
That staccato, unfeeling, grating vocalisation is still the go-to analogy for anything that’s insensitive or just plain horrible about human
interactions. Whether it’s TV dramatist Dennis Potter using the phrase “croak-voiced Daleks” to describe his corporate BBC bosses, or kids in the Royal Albert Hall fleeing for their lives the moment a Dalek screams “Exterminate!” during a Doctor Who Prom (the same Dalek they’d previously been hugging when it was silent), it’s clear that it’s the voice that has the impact and sends out the shockwaves. It’s like your fridge suddenly telling you that it wants to kill you.