David Graham, the man behind some of children’s TV’s most iconic characters, including Grandpa Pig in Peppa Pig, Parker in Thunderbirds, and the original voice of Doctor Who’s Daleks, has died at the age of 99. Alongside several other iconic voice roles, Graham became known across several generations, and continued working well into his 90s, returning to voice his Thunderbirds character in the rebooted Thunderbirds Are Go series.
The British actor was born in London in 1925,but moved to New York with several other family members and trained at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre after serving in the Royal Air Force. After returning to England, Graham made several TV appearances before meeting producer and writer Gerry Anderson, who was in the process of developing several puppet productions. Graham’s ability to mimic accents led him to make the first of many appearances as a voice actor in western puppet series Four Feather Falls.
From there, Graham would also appear in Supercar, Fireball XL5, and Stingray before joining a new,exciting BBC sci-fi show, Doctor Who. Although he didn’t know it then, Graham helped to create one of the most iconic villains from the series, working with Peter Hawkins to create the voice of the Daleks. He helped create the alien race’s unique voice pattern, and did so in all of the Daleks’ appearances during William Hartnell tenure as The Doctor. He also worked on the Peter Cushing Doctor Who movies, Dr. Who and the Daleks and Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. in the 1960s, and returned to record new dialogue for the 60th anniversary colorized recut of “The Daleks.”
Thunderbirds and Peppa Pig Brought Later Success for Graham
Among his many other roles, he played several key roles in Anderson’s Thunderbirds series, lending his voice to Gordon Tracy, Brains, and Lady Penelope’s chauffeur, Parker, among others. He also became the voice of George Orwell’s Big Brother for a Super Bowl advert that promoted the first Apple Macintosh computer.
However, for newer audiences, Graham will be known as the voice of a very different character; Grandpa Pig in the phenomenally successful series Peppa Pig. Voicing the character since 2004, along with Mr. Zebra and Father Christmas, Graham has managed to endear himself to three different generations, and it seems that his Peppa Pig role could be one that also allows him to become an icon for another future generation at least, as the popularity of the series has not waned in the last two decades.
The official Gerry Anderson account on X shared a short message about the actor, saying: “We’re incredibly sad to confirm the passing of the legendary David Graham. The voice Parker, Gordon Tracy, Brains and so many more. David was always a wonderful friend to us here at Anderson Entertainment. We will miss you dearly, David. Our thoughts are with David’s friends and family.”
TV producer Jamie Anderson, the son of Thunderbirds creator Anderson, also paid personal tribute to the actor (via BBC):
“Just a few weeks ago, I was with 2,000 Anderson fans at a Gerry Anderson concert in Birmingham where we sang him happy birthday – such a joyous occasion. And now, just a few weeks later, he’s left us. From the Daleks to Grandpa Pig and numerous voices for Anderson shows including Brains, Gordon Tracy and the iconic Parker. He will be sorely missed.”