Peter Hawkins

For the association footballer, see Peter Hawkins (footballer).

Peter Hawkins
200px Peter Hawkins in 1996
Born	Peter John Hawkins (1924-04-03)3 April 1924 London, England
Died	London, England
Occupation	Voice actor
Years active	1949 - 1995

Peter John Hawkins (3 April 1924 – 8 July 2006) was an English actor and voice artist. During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s Hawkins was one of the most sought-after voiceovers for television and radio, being a regular face and voice around the Soho-based circuit of commercial production studios, and working regularly with the likes of Patrick Allen, Edward Judd, David Tate and David Jason.

Early life

A policeman's son, Peter John Hawkins was born in Brixton, south London. He made his first stage appearance as a member of the chorus in a musical sketch at school in Clapham. At 14 he wrote, with three friends, a revue entitled The Five Bs. He ran with the Herne Hill Harriers. Hawkins joined the Royal Navy, and survived, though shrapnel pierced his clothing when HMS Limbourne sank after being torpedoed. While recovering he took part in plays, which resulted with him being taken into Combined Operations Entertainments.

Career

Hawkins worked at the East Riding Theatre, and then did a two-year course at the Central School of Speech and Drama. His first West End appearance was at the Comedy Theatre. Hawkins' long association with British children's television began in 1952 when he voiced both Bill and Ben, the Flower Pot Men. In 1955–1956, he voiced Big Ears and Mr. Plod in The Adventures Of Noddy. He also provided all the voices for the animated series Captain Pugwash, The Family Ness, The Adventures of Tintin, The Adventures of Sir Prancelot, and Bleep and Booster, the last of which was a regular feature of the long-running children's magazine series Blue Peter in the 1960s and early 70s. He was also the narrator for SuperTed and Jimbo and the Jet-Set.

He voiced several characters on Doctor Who in the show's early years, especially the Daleks and the Cybermen. He was also the original voice of Zippy on Rainbow during the first year of its run (1972). Coincidentally his replacement on Rainbow, Roy Skelton, also voiced the Daleks. Hawkins and Skelton also voiced the Cybermen in The Tenth Planet.

Hawkins was the original voice for the character of Frankie Mouse in the fourth radio episode of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, originally broadcast in March 1978.

He also provided the voice of Money, a walking, talking pound sign on the UK adverts for the Access credit card, during the 1980s and 1990s.

Hobbies and collections

Hawkins was the owner of a fine art collection, including works by Monet, Pissarro and Alfred Sisley, Graham Sutherland, Jacob Epstein and Elisabeth Frink. He also owned a collection of Japanese sword guards and was very keen on Japanese delicacy.

Health issues

In 1992 Hawkins developed a brain tumour which, although successfully treated, left him with short-term memory problems and his retirement from the profession. Due to this he was unable to contribute to any DVD release of Doctor Who outside of archive footage.

Death

He died in London, aged 82, on 8 July 2006, coincidentally the same day that the 2006 season finale of Doctor Who, "Doomsday", the first to feature Daleks and Cybermen confronting each other, was transmitted. He had married Rosemary Miller, an actress, in 1956, with whom he had a son, Silas, who is also an actor and voice artist.

Nicholas Briggs, who has voiced the Daleks on television since the revival of Doctor Who in 2005, paid tribute to him in Doctor Who Magazine, praising him as the best Dalek voice artist, saying "...all of us who've provided Dalek voices over the last 40 years owe him a massive debt. None of us have been as good as Peter, but he supplied our inspiration. He was truly the Emperor of the Daleks."

In 2013 the BBC produced a docudrama depicting the creation and early days of Doctor Who, called An Adventure in Space and Time, screened as part of the programme's fiftieth anniversary celebrations. Hawkins was a small role, played by Nicholas Briggs.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1964	Goldwhiskers	James Burk Goldwhiskers Goldwhiskers' girlfriends	voice only
1965	Dr. Who and the Daleks	Daleks	voice only, uncredited
1966	Daleks - Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D.	Daleks	voice only, uncredited
1969	Tintin and the Temple of the Sun	Captain Haddock	English version, voice only, uncredited
1973	Assassin	Passport Officer
1976	Feelings	Unkown
1979	Quincy's Quest	Unkown	voice only
1989	Asterix and the Big Fight	Getafix	English version, voice only,
1995	The Four Corners of Nowhere	Therapist

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1949	The Good Companions	Albert Tuggeridge	TV Movie
	Old English	Reporter	TV Movie
1950- 1956	Whirligig	Mr. Turnip Alexander Scrope Petrio	Season 1: (18 episodes) Season 2: (18 episodes) Season 3: (18 episodes) Season 4: (19 episodes) Season 5: (18 episodes)
1951	Stranger from Space	Petrio	Season 2: (17 episodes)
	Aladdin	Lord High Chamberlain	TV Movie
1951- 1953	Saturday Special	Porterhouse Various characters	Season 1: (19 episodes) Season 2: (16 episodes)
1952	Flower Pot Men	Bill Ben	Season 1, Episode 1
1954	Billy Bean and His Funny Machine	Billy Bean	Unknown
1955	The Woodentops	Unknown	Unknown
1955 1956	A Rubovian Legend	UnknownLord Chamberlain Albert Weatherspoon	Season 1: (4 episodes)
1956	The Bird of Truth	Unknown	TV Movie
1957	The Machine Breakers	Tom Thorpe	Season 1, Episode 1: "The Oath"
	The Emporer's Nightingale	Unknown	TV Movie
	Treasure Island	Narrator	TV Movie
1957 1961	Captain Pugwash	Captain Horatio Pugwash Master Mate Pirate Barnabas Pirate Willy Tom the Cabin Boy Cut-Throat Jake	Season 1: (3 episodes)
1958	The Thompson Family	Ron Hicks	Season 2: (3 episodes)
1960	Life with the Lyons	Unknown	Season 1, Episode 42: "The Auction"
	Small Time	Unknown	Season 1, Episode 3: "Cookery Tales of Oaktree Kitchen: Part 1
	The Days of Vengeance	PC Harris Narrator	Season 1: (6 episodes)
1961 1963	ITV Play of the Week	Bill Sparks	Season 7, Episode 12: "Two on the Beach" Season 8, Episode 40: "The Seventh Wave"
1962	The Tommy Steele Show: Quincy's Quest	Topper	TV Movie
1963	Bleep and Booster	Narrator	Unknown
1963- 1968	Doctor Who	Dalek voices Cybermen Voices	Season 1: "(6 episodes) Season 2: (12 episodes) Season 3: (12 epispdes) Season 4: (14 episodes) Season 5: (8 episodes)
1965	The Big Spender	Spiro	Season 1, Episode 1: "The Soft Bribe"
1966	The Wednesday Play	Mr. Willis	Season 1, Episode 54: "A Walk in the Sea"
	Softly, Softly	Detective Sergeant Thorne	Season 1, Episode 14: "Blind Man's Bluff"
1969	The Power Game	Interpreter	Season 3, Episode 8: "Standard Practice"
	Hark at Barker	Unknown	Season 1, Episode 7: "Rustless and the Solar System"
1970	Doomwatch	Computer	Season 1, Episode 5: "Project Sahara"
	Tomfoolery	Various characters	Unknown
1971	A Family at War	Dimmock	Season 2, Episode 9: "We Could Be a Lot Worse Off"
1972	Stories from Toytown	Unknown	Season 1: (2 episodes)
	The Adventures of Sir Prancelot	All characters	Season 1: (31 episodes)
	The Dick Emery Show	Unknown	Season 11, Episode 5
	The Shadow of the Tower	Voice	Season 1, Episode 5: "The Serpent and the Comforter"
	Rainbow	Zippy	Season 1: (50 episodes)
1973	Son of the Bride	Mr. Cuthbertson	Season 1, Episode 3: "Of Unsold Mind"
1974	Dial M for Murder	Sergeant Maclean	Season 1, Episode 7: "Dead Connection"
	Father Brown	Gibbs	Season 1, Episode 1: "The Hammer of God"
1975	Sadie, Its Cold Outside	Radio announcer	Season 1, Episode 4
1976	Noah and Nelly in.. SkylArk	Narrator	Season 1: (7 episodes)
	Bless this House	Radio announcer	Season 6, Episode 2: "Beautiful Dreamer"
1972 1973 1975 1978	Dave Allen at Large	Unknown	Season 2: (6 episodes) Season 3: (6 episodes) Season 4: (6 episodes)
1979	The Perishers	Narrator Marlon BH	Season 1: (20 episodes)
1982- 1985	SuperTed	Narrator	Season 1: (11 episodes) Season 2, Episode 12: "SuperTed Meets Father Christmas"
1984	The Family-Ness	Unknown	Season 1: (9 episodes)
1985	Seasview	Mynah Bird	Season 2, Episode 2: "The Godfather
1986	Jimbo and the Jet-Set	Jimbo	Season 1: (25 episodes)
1988	Windfalls	Narrator Various characters	Season 1: (26 episodes)
	The Storyteller	Devil	Season 1, Episode 1: "The Soldier and Death"
1989	The Jim Henson Hour	Devil	Season 1, Episode 3: "Monster Telethon"
	Theatre Night	Michael Lomax	Season 4, Episode 4: "Knuckle"
1989- 1990	Penny Crayon	Dennis	Season 1: (12 episodes)
1990	It's Fun to Learn with Spot	Narrator	Season 1: (13 episodes)

External links

• Peter Hawkins at the Internet Movie Database
• Voice of the Daleks dies at 82 Lester Haines (The Register) Thursday 20 July 2006 10:35 GMT
• Daily Telegraph obituary
• Times obituary