I was away on holiday when I discovered that David Graham had passed away at the grand age of 99. It took the shine off my vacation a little as I was vividly reminded that I have gotten to a stage in life where the generation that entertained me in my formative years – be it music, films, or television – are now very old or are disappearing. It won’t be long until that entire generation will only live on through their work and contribution to popular culture.
Such is the case with David Graham, who passed away on the 20th September 2024, as he was the last surviving regular voice artist for Thunderbirds. This is the end of an era of some magnitude; something that the media seemed to notice when reporting on Graham’s passing.
Born in the London borough of Hackney in 1925, David Graham’s most famous voice was Thunderbird’s Aloysius “Nosey” Parker and his often-uttered catchphrase “Yes, M’lady”. Parker was an ex-convict turned loyal butler to Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward and secret agent for International Rescue where the pair were required to mop up any loose ends after a disaster had been averted. This usually meant shooting some hapless ner-do-well (or The Hood) off the road using the machine guns in Lady Penelope’s garish pink Rolls Royce.
Such was the dexterity of Graham’s voice he wasn’t confined to the one character; he was also the voices of Thunderbird Four aqua naught, Gorden Tracy, International Rescue’s inventor and genius, Brains (yep, him too), and the Tracey family’s manservant (and The Hood’s half-bother), Kyrano.
It doesn’t stop there: David Graham was also one of the voices of the original Daleks during the Hartnell years, and the two Cushing Dalek films, along with fellow voice maestro Peter Hawkins.
Graham was also the first voice artist to record original dialogue for a commercial Doctor Who vinyl when Century 21 records released an EP of a version of part six of The Chase. This was over a decade before Tom Baker did the same for the Genesis of The Daleks LP.
Indeed, at the time of writing it may be true that Graham has been the last new Dalek voice on television as he re-recorded some Dalek dialogue, along with Nicholas Briggs, for last year’s re-edited and colourised The Daleks shown on BBC Four as part of Doctor Who’s 60th celebrations.
There is a similar situation with Shane Rimmer, who sadly passed away in 2019, where David Graham never really became a household name despite voicing some of the most famous characters on television. And like Rimmer, Graham appeared in so many genre shows: lending his voice to various Stingray and Fireball XL5 characters; plus live appearances in The Saint, The Tomorrow People, Ace of Wands, The Avengers, Timeslip, and Danger Man.
Doctor Who viewers may remember Graham as the doomed Dr Kerensky who was killed by Count Scarlioni in the Fourth Doctor adventure, City of Death; a grizzly demise I certainly remember during the summer holidays of 1979 on its repeat showing.
There were also other Doctor Who appearances such as Charlie the barman in The Gunfighters and Big Finish audios: Static (Sixth Doctor), and The Defectors (Seventh Doctor). In fact, the list on IMDB with a career that just tips over 70 years, is quite breathtaking – starting with the TV movie Portrait of Peter Perowne (alongside the original and best Master, Roger Delgado) and ending with the voice of Grandpa Pig in Peppa Pig – they are just too numerous to properly cover.
That Graham had such a very long and illustrious career was just a tribute to his talent and voice dexterity. But, much like Shane Rimmer, Graham was never the star of any show. He was a character actor who would turn up when you least expected with bit parts in shows such as Casualty, The Bill, Doctors or Howard’s Way. I suspect Graham would have been one of those actors that was widely recognised when seen on television, but viewers not really knowing where from…
Sadly, unlike Rimmer, Graham never really made it to Hollywood with only Supergirl (1984) on his CV.
Even so, he was revered in genre circles where he was never (and will never be) forgotten. When the CGI series Thunderbirds are Go was launched in 2015, he was the only original cast member to be brought back; again, voicing his most famous role.
Our thoughts to David Graham’s family and friends.
I’ll leave the last word to Lady Penelope… “That’ll do, Parker.”
