Well it’s about 3pm and I’m looking forward to seeing whether or not Mr Hancock meets his testing target of 100,000 by today. If he does I’ll stand at the front door wearing lipstick and applaud him loudly tonight. I bet he’s not even presenting the daily briefing. Anyway I’ve had more than enough to say on the subject of politicians recently so I thought I’d talk about something else. Voiceovers.
Now I’ve done something on Voices before at this link which attracted some nice comments. It was about the names and faces behind some of the famous voices on tv and radio, who had made an impression upon me. This posting is slightly different. It’s just that I’ve noticed certain voices that seem to dominate voiceover work on ads and tv commentary. They are all chaps and they must be absolutely coining it in because I hear them so frequently. They are:
- Dave Lamb – the slightly annoying narrator on Come Dine With Me who does dozens of ads including the recent ones for Aldi, Smarty and Vanish.
- Stephen Mangan – has become a well-known face especially on TV featuring in The Green Wing, Episodes, anchoring Have I Got News For You and most recently as the dual presenter on Sky Arts’ Portrait Artist of the Year (one of my fave shows btw). But his voice is also really high-profile featuring on ads for such products as Fairy Liquid and Admiral insurance as well as the voice of Postman Pat.
- But the daddy of all voiceovers must be Ralph Ineson, the Yorkshire-born chap who played the brilliant Chris Finch in the Office and who’s also featured in many tv and film roles including Game of Thrones. But it’s his gruff northern tones that massively appeals to advertisers and programme makers alike. He’s featured in dozens and dozens of ads for the likes of last minute.com, Wickes, Gaviscon, Newcastle Brown Ales as well as narrating loads of tv programmes like Salvage Hunter, SH Classic Cars, even Countryfile. You’ll know his voice if you don’t know his face, so here it is…
A face just made for radio if ever there was one. Sorry Ralph. Apart from being a fan of Leads Utd, I think you’re great. If you have an ad with a fave voiceover artist just let me know. Meantime I bet you’ll be listening out for these guys over the next few days. Ha, happy hearing!
pp
Pasta Paulie 