Delia Derbyshire was a genius and that’s an understatement. Her work at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop was both creative and challenging, serving both the BBC’s ident for radio and tv broadcasts, and as the recognisable scores for many a show, including of course Doctor Who.

Derbyshire’s arrangement of Ron Grainier’s composition is perfect. Field recordings on tape carefully cut and taped together, manipulated with effects like reverb and chorus, made for the song a staple of the show’s identity and without this masterful arrangement, the best in my opinion, the show managed to ingrain itself into it’s zealous fandom.

Her band White Noise, with other Workshop alumni like Brian Hodgson and David Vorhaus, released a watermark on experimental music with An Electric Storm, which challenged me at first, until I got it and then I loved it.

Delia’s career went unsung during her lifetime, which is a shame, as she gave Doctor Who too much and the BBC repaid her with too little. I’m choosing the eerie Ziwzih Ziwzih, with it’s chorus of droning robots, first appearing on the now sadly missing episode of Out of the Unknown, The Prophet. Love how it’s a bunch of people chanting “His Will, his will”, reversed and manipulated.

The track received much love from the current version of the Radiophonic Workshop, and its mantra like nature is a meditation of transistor gods and coil beliefs.

-Sam J. Valdés López