EyeSpy: Remembering Roy Skelton

It was announced yesterday that actor, voice artist and singer Roy Skelton has died aged 79. He was best known as being the voice of Zippy and George in Thames Televisions classic children’s series Rainbow.

The series ran on ITV from 1971 until 1992, with two short-lived revivals in the mid-1990s of which Skelton was not asked to return for..

Geoffrey Hayes, who was the lead presenter of Rainbow for most of its original run, told the BBC: “He really brought Zippy and George to life through his voice… …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.”

Zippy has made guest appearances on many programmes since the demise of Rainbow, notibly retro 1980s detective drama Ashes to Ashes in 2008.

Skelton was also a popular figure in Doctor Who circles having provided voices for the Daleks between 1967 and 1988, as well as other evil alien beings such as the Krotons and Cybermen. He last appeared within a Doctor Who production in 2002, when he recorded voices for the audio drama, Sarah Jane Smith – Test of Nerve.

*Note the Rainbow clip is from a Thames TV internal tape and is a little saucey…