Voice actor Roy Skelton has passed away at the age of 79.
Skelton worked for years on Doctor Who, providing the voices for some of the series most popular adversaries including the Krotons, the Cybermen and the Daleks.
He began work on the show with the William Hartnell story, “The Ark” and went on to provide the voices for a multitude of monsters during the classic series run.
Skelton is also known for his work as the voices of Zippy and George, the orange and pink puppets from the long running children’s show Rainbow.
Skelton’s daugher tells the BBC that her father passed away from a stroke.
Geoffrey Hayes, who also starred in the show, said: “He really brought Zippy and George to life through his voice.”
Skelton was “fabulous at improvising if something went wrong,” he added.
“The most wonderful thing was if Zippy and George were having an argument between themselves, it sounded like he’d double-tracked it as they seemed to be talking over each other. It was a wonderful technique and I don’t know how he did it.
“Although he was known for Zippy and George he was actually a fabulous actor with a great singing voice and a wonderful raconteur – he used to tell us some wonderful stories.”
In 2002, he guest-starred in the audio drama Sarah Jane Smith: Test Of Nerve.
He reprised the role of Zippy in 2008 for the BBC One series Ashes to Ashes.’
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