The Daleks (Dalek score)

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The Daleks (Dalek leitmotif) or The Daleks (Dalek score)

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You may wish to consult The Daleks (disambiguation) for other, similarly-named pages.

"The Daleks" is the main musical motif for the creatures of the same name, composed by Murray Gold. The song is available on the Doctor Who - Series 1 & 2 soundtrack.

The piece is split into four sections making up the whole track. The track begins with the particularly identifiable electronic synthesised sting that represents the impending Dalek threat.

The track then blends into a rising choral section, most notably used in Bad Wolf when the hidden Dalek ships are discovered. This part contains vocalists singing "Ho, mah koreh?" (?הו, מה קורה), which is Hebrew for "Oh, what is happening?".

The third section is a break from the heavy chorus and orchestra, which features heavy percussion, timpani and synthesisers to represent the robotic and ominous side to the Daleks. This section is mainly used in The Parting of the Ways and Journey's End.

The fourth and final section, probably the most used in the series, are rising vocals and an intense orchestral build-up to a climax. Used in every RTD Dalek episode except Bad Wolf, Daleks in Manhattan and The Stolen Earth, the piece features the choir singing Hebrew words "'Ole sutlah" (סוטלה עולה) which roughly translates to "Ascending Higher" [from Israeli slang for getting "high" on mood-altering drugs, via Arabic] and "Koreh gever" (גבר קורה), also slang, meaning "[What's] happening, man?".

The choral elements of the track were recorded with the Crouch End Festival Chorus at AIR Studios, London in December 2004. The vocals in the fourth section of the track were lowered in pitch to give a deeper and darker male sound; a "monkish" sound as quoted by Murray Gold. The reasoning behind the choice of Hebrew, particularly slang words, is unknown, but one can assume that this may have been done in a ironic way, as the Daleks are frequently compared to Nazis while Hebrew is synonymous with Judaism. It is also worth noting that Murray Gold himself is of a Jewish background, and may have simply felt familiar with some of the words, which would carry a "foreign" quality for British audiences.

According to Murray Gold, the chorus vocals were supposed to be used throughout the Dalek pieces in Dalek, but they were only used twice. The other tracks in the episode have the vocals performed by Murray himself and were apparently accidentally left in as temp tracks. Gold said he recorded and layered physical copies of tracks of himself singing the Hebrew lyrics; "...about 10 tracks layered on top of each other of me singing".

Episodes featured in

Series 1

• Dalek
• Bad Wolf
• The Parting of the Ways

Series 2

• Army of Ghosts
• Doomsday

Series 3

• Daleks in Manhattan
• Evolution of the Daleks

Series 4

• The Stolen Earth
• Journey's End

Series 5

• Victory of the Daleks