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Roy Skelton

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Roy Skelton
Roy Skelton in Doctor Who: The Green Death
Born
Roy William Skelton

(1931-07-20)20 July 1931[1]
Nottingham, England
Died8 June 2011(2011-06-08) (aged 79)
Brighton, East Sussex, England
Occupation(s)Actor, voice artist
Years active1954–2011
Spouse
Hilary Tooze
​
(m. 1959)​
[2]
Children2

Roy William Skelton (20 July 1931 – 8 June 2011) was a British actor most noted for his voice work. He was best known for playing Zippy and George in Rainbow, and for voicing the Daleks and the Cybermen in Doctor Who.

Life and career

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Born in Nottingham[3] to John H Skelton and Dorothy (née Bromley),[1] Skelton trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and worked at Oxford for a year, being lead juvenile to Ronnie Barker.[3] He discovered his vocal talents by reading the script of a Pinocchio TV serial he was involved in, as Lampwick, using Goon voices, which got the attention of Gordon Murray.[4][5]

Roy met Peter Hawkins during Toytown, who would become a close friend.[4] In 1957, he met his future wife Hilary Tooze at the nightclub, after being announced as a television personality, which Hilary replied to affectionately. They married two years later.[6] They would go on to have two children, Eliza and Samantha.

In 1966, he began his long association with Doctor Who voicing the Monoids in The Ark, which Peter Hawkins recommended him for.[4] In the 1966 story, The Tenth Planet, Skelton originated the voices of the original Cybermen, delivering an unsettling, sing-song voice constructed by placing the inflections of words on the wrong syllables.[7] This confused many of the actors, who did not know when his lines finished.[8][4]

In 1967, Skelton began voicing the Daleks with The Evil of the Daleks alongside Peter, who recommended him for this as well. He made a rule that although the Dalek voice could get higher when angry, it could never go down.[3][9] Roy also voiced the Krotons in their sole 1968 appearance, giving them South African accents.[5] Skelton's first on-screen role was as Norton in Colony in Space (1971); during rehearsals could not stop laughing while warning of killer lizards.[3]

In 1973, he became the voice of both Zippy and George in Rainbow, continuing the roles for over 30 years and writing over 150 episodes. Some moments Roy most fondly-remembered included meeting Elizabeth II and Ernie Wise,[10] and with his singing experience he played Father Christmas in one episode, although the producers at Thames Television did not believe he did the singing. He considered Rainbow to be his best work,[4] and particularly enjoyed being able to quickly switch between Zippy and George.[11] Contrary to popular belief, he did not base Zippy's voice off of the Daleks,[4][12] but when asked where he got it, he jokingly claimed that it was a cross between Margaret Thatcher and Ian Paisley.[12][13] Roy had intentions to write for other programmes,[13] including Take a Chance, but never received any further contracts requiring him to do so.[13]

Also in 1973 he played the on-screen role of James in the Doctor Who story The Green Death standing in for Tony Adams. Skelton was asked to play Davros in Genesis of the Daleks, but due to filming Rainbow had to be replaced by Michael Wisher,[3] a good friend. He, Michael[4] and another Dalek voice, Brian Miller, who he befriended alongside his wife Elisabeth Sladen, would appear together in Barry Letts's 1986 production of Alice in Wonderland.[3]

When Nicholas Briggs became the voice of the Daleks in its 2005 revival, Skelton praised his performance for being able to put emotion into it, even though he wished he had been doing it.[14] He died at his home in Brighton, East Sussex, on 8 June 2011, after suffering a stroke at age 79.[15]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1954 Sunday Night Theatre Angelo's assistant Episode “The Comedy of Errors”
1956-1958 Toytown Mr. Growser and Dennis the Dachshund 16 episodes
1957 Beauty and the Beast Voices TV movie
1958 The Emperor’s New Clothes Voices TV movie
The Winkleburg Armourer Voices TV movie
1958-1964 A Rubovian Legend Lord Chamberlain

King Boris of Borsovia

25 episodes
1959 The Petrified Princess Voices TV movie
The King of the Golden River Voices TV movie
1960 The Crumpot Candles Voices TV movie
The Magic Tree Voices TV movie
1962 The Dancing Princess Voices TV movie
Play It Cool Mechanic #1 Film, uncredited
1964 Detective Porter Episode “The Case of Oscar Brodski”
1965 Give the Dog a Bone Mr. Mouse Film
1966–1988 Doctor Who Monoid voices

Cyberman voices

Dalek voices

Britannicus Base Computer

Kroton voices

Norton

Wester

James

Marshal Chedaki

King Rokon

K9 (uncredited - Destiny of the Daleks only)

50 episodes
1966 Quick Before They Catch Us Danny 5 episodes
1967 Out of the Unknown Robot Episode “The Prophet”
1968 Z-Cars Tommy Wyatt 2 episodes
Softly, Softly Fred Thomas Episode “Five Pair O Hands”
1969 Fraud Squad Eddie Bone Episode 6 “Over a Barrel”
1970 Ivanhoe Higg Episode “Time of Trial”
Sentimental Education Auctioneer Episode 4 “Last Love”
There's a Girl in My Soup Reporter Film, uncredited
1971 The Last of the Mohicans Private Jones 2 episodes
1972 Frenzy Detective Film, uncredited
1973–1992 Rainbow Zippy and George 993 episodes
1980–1981 Take a Chance Various 13 episodes
1986 Alice in Wonderland Mock Turtle Episode 4
1989–1998 The Bill Various 4 episodes
2003 Ghost of Albion: Legacy Henry Swift

Vauturm

Balberith

Webseries, 4 episodes
2004 Ghost of Albion: Embers Henry Swift

Farris

Webseries, 5 episodes
2008 Ashes to Ashes Zippy and George Episode 1
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References

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  1. ^ a b "Obituaries: Roy Skelton". The Telegraph. 8 June 2011. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
  2. ^ Hayward, Anthony (9 June 2011). "Roy Skelton obituary". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "TV Zone Special 31 (1998)". Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Roy Skelton at The Day of the Daleks convention". YouTube. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Ghosts of Albion - Interviews - Roy Skelton". Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  6. ^ "The Independent obituary". Independent.co.uk. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  7. ^ Butler, David (2007). Time and Relative Dissertations in Space: Critical Perspectives on Doctor Who. Manchester University Press. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-7190-7682-4. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  8. ^ The Cyber Story.Attack of the Cybermen DVD
  9. ^ The Dalek Tapes. Genesis of the Daleks DVD
  10. ^ "The Roy Skelton Interview 1". YouTube. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  11. ^ "The 100 Greatest Kids TV Shows". 100 Greatest.
  12. ^ a b "Roy Skelton Interview - www.rainbow.web.com". Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  13. ^ a b c "Roy Skelton interview - Matt Blank". Archived from the original on 17 July 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  14. ^ "Dalek Roy Yearns to Obey Orders - Doctor Who Cuttings Archive". Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  15. ^ "Zippy voice actor Roy Skelton dies aged 79". BBC News. 8 June 2011. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
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