Voice actor David Graham (99) from Dr Who, Thunderbirds and Peppa Pig has died

British voice actor David Graham has died aged 99. He entertained generations of children with contributions to TV series such as Doctor Who, Thunderbirds in Peppa Pig.

Graham loved to play as a child. After serving as a radar technician in World War II, he found work on the stage and had small TV roles. After two appearances in the British sci-fi series Doctor Who he was asked to provide the voice of one of the main character’s most iconic enemies: the Daleks.

“We used a staccato style and fed it through a synthesizer to make it sound even more sinister,” he says of the race of cyborgs who have no emotion but hate. their cry”Dismissal“to kill all the enemies” became one of the most famous phrases in the series.

In addition to the Daleks, Graham was also a voice actor for some roles in the 1960s puppet series. Thunderbirds about an international rescue team. Graham voiced the roles of pilot Gordon Tracy and technician Brian, but his favorite was the voice of butler Aloysius Parker.

Graham concluded that Parker was trying to disguise his humble origins with a smart voice and added a cockney accent to the beauty The Queen’s English. “He swallowed some and then put them back completely in the wrong place,” he explained of one of the traits for the character.

Graham based the character’s voice on a waiter who had once served him in a pub outside London, a former butler to the royal family. Graham returned for a week to see the nuances of his sounds. “The man must not have even known, or he would have asked for royalties.”

Watch an interview about Parker’s origins here:

Graham worked on two seasons of the series and several films in the 1960s. In 2015, he returned as the only original cast member for new episodes of the series, now titled Thunderbirds are leaving. “My driving skills are excellent and I’m looking forward to getting behind the wheel again my wife” he said in reference to his expression on that show.

In the meantime, Graham would also appear regularly as Grandpa Big Peppa Pig. Since the first season of the preschool series in 2004, the grandfather has been jumping up to go sailing, gardening or other activities with his grandchildren.

Graham continued to do voice work into his old age. “A great actor with an iconic voice and just a really nice guy,” says director Jamie Anderson, son of Thunderbirdscreator Garry Anderson, he. “We will miss him.”