Tristram Cary, electronic music pioneer and Doctor Who composer inducted into Adelaide Music Collective’s Hall of Fame

Tristram Cary, one of the pioneers of electronic music – and the man who composed music for Doctor Who – has been honoured after living much of his life in Adelaide.

Tristram Cary, considered by many to be the father of British electronic music, has been inducted into the Adelaide Music Collective’s Hall of Fame.

Cary, who moved to Adelaide in the mid-70s to take up at teaching position at Adelaide University and died here in 2008 aged 82, composed music for many film and television productions but is best known for his groundbreaking work on Doctor Who.

During his time with the groundbreaking UK science fiction series, Cary composed the music that accompanied the very first appearance of the Daleks, as well as pieces that appeared across several more well-loved episodes.

He also wrote the music for the comedy classic The Ladykillers and scored 1967 Hammer sci-fi Quatermass and Pit and the horror flick Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb (1971).

The son of novelist Joyce Cary, Cary’s studies at Oxford were interrupted by World War II, in which he served as a radar operator, a role that sparked a lifelong love of electronics.

Tristram Cary in his home studio in the 1960s, from the TV documentary What The Future Sounded Like.

After the war, he completed his degree and became a founder of Electronic Music Studios (EMS) with Peter Zinovieff and David Cockerell.

The trio developed the VCS3, regarded as the first portable, commercially available synthesiser, used by Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Brian Eno and Hawkwind, among others.

The EMS VCS3 is now considered to be one of the most important synths in the history of music.

Cary received the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1991 for his services to Australian music.

Stepdaughter Dr Emma Miller said Cary lived an “incredibly social and vibrant life”.

“Every time I went to my mother’s, it seemed like there was a party going on. But he was a very supportive person,” Dr Miller said.

“He would come to my gigs and gigs my brother played, and he was always very supportive of us and of all musicians and artists in general.”

Carey composed the music that accompanied the first appearance of the Daleks on Doctor Who. Picture: Supplied

Dr Miller said that while her stepfather was involved in countless projects, it was his work with Doctor Who that was best remembered.

“He is much loved by what we call the Whovian Community,” she said.

“I was MC at his funeral, and the whole upper deck was filled with Whovians who had come from around the world.”

Cary was inducted on Friday night, along with Elder Hall, which was recognised for the important part it has played in the Adelaide music scene over more than 100 years.

In a separate ceremony on Saturday night, the late J.J. Hackett (Mondo Rock) and Kevin Farrant (live audio engineer to LRB, Midnight Oil and others) were also inducted.