Peter Hawkins

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 in his 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.