Dick Mills's background seemed unlikely to lead to a career in entertainment, as his father was a shipwright in the Royal Navy and his mother worked in a chemical firm. He initially held a brief job at a London-based insurance firm before serving in the Royal Air Force as a wireless ground mechanic for two years.
In 1958, Mills joined the BBC as a recording engineer and eventually found himself working at the Radiophonic Workshop in Maida Vale. His first projects included the TV miniseries Quatermass and the Pit and the radio program Song of a Quiet Street.
From 1963, Mills focused primarily on creating special sound effects for the iconic Doctor Who television series. He was part of the team that created the original theme music, working alongside Ron Grainer, who wrote it, and Delia Derbyshire, who did the electronic arrangement.
In 1973, Mills replaced Brian Hodgson as chief sound effects creator for Doctor Who, a position he held until 1989. One of his most well-known effects was the so-called 'cloister bell' sound, which typically signified danger for the TARDIS or its occupants.
Mills also created other notable effects, such as Styre's Scouting Machine from The Destructors, the Sutekh Time Tunnel from Pyramids of Mars, and the Dodecahedron Energy Beams from Meglos.
After retiring in 1993, Mills toured with a band called The Radiophonic Workshop, performing music from Doctor Who at British festivals and concerts. He is also a renowned collector and authority on tropical aquarium fish, serving as a member of the Federation of British Aquatic Societies Council and authoring or co-authoring numerous books on the subject.
In 2009, Mills was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science at Bradford University.
