[Archive 2011-06-09] British voice artist Roy Skelton dies at age 79

Historical archive — originally published 2011-06-09. This report records what was known on that date. It is not current news; subsequent events may have changed the situation. Wikinews closed in May 2026.

Roy Skelton, a voice artist and actor from the United Kingdom, has died at the age of 79. Skelton was known for providing the voices of George and Zippy in the ITV children's television programme Rainbow. He voiced the two characters from around 1970 until 1992, when the programme's run concluded. Skelton also voiced the Daleks in the BBC television series Doctor Who between 1967 and 1988.

Roy Skelton managed to achieve writing approximately one hundred episodes of Rainbow. As well as the Daleks, Skelton used his voice to assume the roles of Cybermen and the Krotons within Doctor Who. However, despite the prominence of the characters and their voices, Skelton once said that he could walk down the street without being identified by others. "People don't say, 'There's Zippy,' or ask me to say, 'Exterminate!' I sometimes wish they did," said Skelton.

According to Hilary, Roy would have wanted to have a "green funeral," during which his body would be buried in a cardboard coffin. He also would have wanted people to be able to write on the coffin, Hilary noted.

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