Behind the Doctor Who Theme: Mathematics for Music

Delia Derbyshire at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Photo: BBC

Delia Derbyshire quickly showcased an undeniable intellect and understanding of the congruency between maths and music in her youth. She studied Maths and Music at the University of Cambridge, and took an analytical approach to experimenting with sound. After graduating, she worked at the BBC as a studio manager and in 1963, using feedback and bits of tape to give the listener a realistic feeling of traveling through space, she laid a foundation in which the fantastical world of Doctor Who could come to life. It was one of the very first TV themes to be entirely composed of electronic sounds, giving the series its inherent eeriness.