Peter Dickson is a Northern Irish voice-over artist. He is best known as the brand voice of ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' and ''

Britain’s Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially ...

'' and also as the voice of television channel E4. His other work includes ''

Ireland's Got Talent ''Ireland's Got Talent'' is the Irish version of the international ''Got Talent'' franchise. The series launched on 3 February 2018 on Virgin Media One (formerly known as "TV3") and was hosted by Lucy Kennedy, accompanied by a sister show enti ...

'', ''

The Price Is Right ''The Price Is Right'' is a television game show franchise created by Bob Stewart, originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman; currently it is produced and owned by Fremantle. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also i ...

'', ''

Family Fortunes ''Family Fortunes'' is a British television game show based on the American game show ''Family Feud''. The programme ran on ITV from 6 January 1980 to 30 December 2002. A celebrity version, '' All Star Family Fortunes'', followed from 2006 to ...

'' and ''

All Star Mr & Mrs ''All Star Mr & Mrs'' is a British television show which first began airing on 12 April 2008 on ITV. It is a celebrity revival of the original '' Mr and Mrs'' that aired on ITV from 1968 to 1988 with two separate revivals in 1995–1996 and 1 ...

''.

Career

Dickson was educated at the

Belfast Royal Academy The Belfast Royal Academy (commonly shortened to ) is the oldest school in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a co-educational, non-denominational voluntary grammar school in north Belfast. The Academy is one of 8 schools in North ...

in his home city of

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingd ...

, Northern Ireland. He later graduated with a

BA Hons Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in psychology from

Queens University Queen's or Queens University may refer to: *Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK **Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950) **Queen's University of Belfast ...

. While there he was a member of the

University Air Squadron University Air Squadrons are training units under the command of No. 6 Flying Training School RAF of the Royal Air Force and their main role is to attract students into careers as RAF officers. Primarily its goal is achieved through offering ba ...

, where he flew the Bulldog. He was a reporter and journalist at the BBC, later moving to the presentation department at

Radio Ulster BBC Radio Ulster ( ga, BBC Raidió Uladh) is a Northern Ireland, Northern Irish radio station owned and operated by BBC Northern Ireland, a division of the BBC. It was established on New Year's Day 1975, replacing what had been an opt-out of B ...

. From there he moved on to

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content ...

as a newsreader and announcer, also presenting overnight shows and his own comedy-based Friday show ''Peter Dickson's Nightcap''. During the 1980s and early 1990s, Dickson worked alongside Steve Wright on his

Radio 1 Radio 1 or Radio One most commonly refers to: *BBC Radio 1, a music radio station from the BBC **BBC Radio 1Xtra, a digital radio station broadcasting black music *CBC Radio One, a talk radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation ...

afternoon and morning shows. He created, wrote and voiced many household name characters for Wright's award-winning programmes. In 1990, he launched Melody Radio in London, where he presented the breakfast show for three years. He has contributed to two series of ''

Quote Unquote Quote is a hypernym of quotation, as the repetition or copy of a prior statement or thought. Quotation marks are punctuation marks that indicate a quotation. Both ''quotation'' and ''quotation marks'' are sometimes abbreviated as "quote(s)". Co ...

'' for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

, and has read the morning story on

. Playwright

Dennis Potter Dennis Christopher George Potter (17 May 1935 – 7 June 1994) was an English television dramatist, screenwriter and journalist. He is best known for his BBC television serials '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), '' The Singing Detective'' (1 ...

invited Dickson to play cameo parts in several of his TV dramas. More television beckoned with

Harry Enfield Henry Richard Enfield (born 30 May 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer and director. He is known in particular for his television work, including '' Harry Enfield's Television Programme'' and '' Harry & Paul'', and for the creation an ...

in his award-winning

Tiger Aspect Tiger Aspect Productions (formerly known as Tiger Television from 1988 until 1993 and also known as Tiger Aspect Films for theatrical films) is a British television and film production company, particularly noted for its situation comedies. Fou ...

series ''

Harry Enfield and Chums ''Harry Enfield & Chums'' (originally titled ''Harry Enfield's Television Programme'') is a British sketch show starring Harry Enfield, Paul Whitehouse and Kathy Burke. It first broadcast on BBC2 in 1990 in the 9 pm slot on Thursday nig ...

''. Various on screen character roles followed in the first two series of ''Steve Wright People's Show'' for

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's Flagship (broadcasting), flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News ...

Bruce Forsyth Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was a British entertainer and presenter whose career spanned more than 70 years. Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the ITV series ''Sunday Night ...

called Dickson to voice the famous "Come on Downs" and prize descriptions for seven series of ITV's ''

Bruce's Price is Right ''The Price is Right'' is a British game show based on the The Price Is Right (American game show), US version of the same name. It originally aired on ITV (TV network), ITV from 24 March 1984 to 8 April 1988 and was hosted by Leslie Crowther. ...

'' and he was on board for ''

'' starring

Les Dennis Leslie Dennis Heseltine (born 12 October 1953) is an English television presenter, actor, and comedian. He presented '' Family Fortunes'' from 1987 until 2002. Early life Dennis was born Leslie Dennis Heseltine on 12 October 1953 in the Liverpo ...

, and

Patrick Kielty Patrick Kielty (born 31 January 1971) is a Northern Irish comedian and television personality. Background Kielty was born in County Down, Northern Ireland, and grew up in the village of Dundrum. He is one of three sons born to the businessm ...

's Channel 4's ''Last Chance Lottery Live''. He provided the commentaries for the world record attempts on Sky 1's ''

Guinness World Records Smashed ''Guinness World Records Smashed'' is a British television show for Sky1, that features record attempts, celebrity guests and death-defying stunts. A one-off pilot episode was transmitted on 23 November 2008, and a full 10-part series was broadc ...

'' in 2009. He has also contributed to 11 series of the award-winning BBC One panel game ''

They Think It's All Over "They think it's all over" is a quote from Kenneth Wolstenholme's BBC TV commentary in the closing moments of the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final, when England beat West Germany 4–2 after extra time to win the FIFA World Cup. In the final few second ...

'' presented by

Nick Hancock Nicholas John Hancock (born 25 October 1962) is an English actor and television presenter. He hosted the sports quiz '' They Think It's All Over'' for 10 years. He also formerly presented '' Room 101'' (1994–1999) on TV, as well as its earlie ...

, ''

Catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recogni ...

'', ''TV's Naughtiest Blunders'' and ''Safe'' for ITV and the cult animation series ''

Monkey Dust ''Monkey Dust'' is a British adult animated satirical sketch comedy series created by Harry Thompson and Shaun Pye. The series is characterized by its dark humour, frequent shifts in animation styles, and handling of taboo topics such as bes ...

'' for BBC in which he famously played himself. His other TV credits include ''

Never Mind The Buzzcocks ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first hoste ...

'', roles in ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' Casualty'', and ...

'', ''

Noel's House Party ''Noel's House Party'' is a BBC light entertainment series that was hosted by Noel Edmonds. Set in a large house in the fictional village of Crinkley Bottom, leading to much innuendo, it ran from 23 November 1991 to 26 March 2000 on BBC One, ...

'' and ''

Live & Kicking ''Live & Kicking'' is a British children's television series that originally aired on BBC1 from 2 October 1993 to 15 September 2001. It was the replacement for '' Going Live!'', and took many of its features from it, such as phone-ins, games, ...

'', ''The 10%'ers'' and ''The Unknown Soldier'' for Carlton TV. He has featured on

Griff Rhys Jones Griffith Rhys Jones (born 16 November 1953) is a Welsh comedian, writer, actor, and television presenter. He starred in a number of television series with his comedy partner, Mel Smith. Rhys Jones came to national attention in the 1980s for ...

' ''Crystal Balls'', ''Tales from FEAR'' for Cartoon Network, ''Sing It Your Way'' with Denise Van Outen and

Ian Wright Ian Edward Wright (born 3 November 1963) is an English television and radio personality and former professional footballer. He works as a pundit for BBC Sport and ITV Sport. Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arse ...

, and ITV's ''Year of Promise'' with

Carol Vorderman Carol Jean Vorderman, HonFIET (born 24 December 1960) is a Welsh media personality, best known for appearing on the game show '' Countdown'' for 26 years from 1982 until 2008, as a newspaper columnist and nominal author of educational and diet ...

. Dickson has written for the

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream ...

comedy series ''

The Fast Show ''The Fast Show'', known as ''Brilliant'' in the US, is a BBC comedy sketch show that ran from 1994 to 1997, with specials in 2000 and 2014. The show's central performers were Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Simon Day, Mark Williams, Joh ...

'' and '' Play Your Cards Right'' for ITV. He worked on

Jerry Springer Gerald Norman Springer (born February 13, 1944) is a British-American broadcaster, journalist, actor, producer, former lawyer, and politician. He hosted the tabloid talk show '' Jerry Springer'' between September 30, 1991 and July 26, 2018, an ...

's ITV Friday night hit programme, and his subsequent '' Late Night With Jerry Springer'' for Five which ran for two series. He was the voice of the BBC's ''Test the Nation'' live specials and has featured in ''

Little Britain Little Britain may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little Britain'' (sketch show), a British radio and then TV show ** ''Little Britain USA'', an American spin-off * "Little Britain", a song by Dreadzone from the 1995 album '' Second Light'' ...

'', ''

The Paul O'Grady Show ''The Paul O'Grady Show'' is a British comedy chat show presented by comedian Paul O'Grady, first shown on 11 October 2004. The programme is a teatime chat show consisting of a mixture of celebrity guests, comic stunts, musical performances, a ...

'' on ITV and the ''New Paul O'Grady Show'' on Channel 4. He provided the live commentary for

Cirque de Celebrite A (; from the Latin word ') is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from Scottish Gaelic , meaning a pot or cauldron) and (; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform ...

and introduced ''An Audience with Joe Pasquale'', and voiced a

Westlife Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporari ...

special on ITV. In 2006, Dickson became the brand voice of youth channel E4. In 2011 and in 2012 he was the host of MTV's three big end-of-year video chart shows. In 2012 he was the official voice of Olympic Beach Volleyball at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Documentaries

Since 1998 Dickson has worked closely with the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Chan ...

, narrating over 250 documentaries, including the 25 part ''

The FBI Files ''The FBI Files'' is an American television docudrama series that originally ran from 1998 to 2006 on the Discovery Channel and produced by New Dominion Pictures. The show was cancelled in 2006. However, Court TV Mystery, Discovery, and its sis ...

''. He has completed over 150 other documentary series for

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced t ...

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by the National Geographic Global Networks unit of Disney General ...

, Wall to Wall TV,

The History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Dis ...

, Outline Productions, Adrenaline TV, Café Productions, Discovery Health, and Flat Earth Films. He narrated the 13 part series ''World War 2: The Complete History'', and the 50 part ''Millennium Minute''.

Radio

Beyond his earlier radio work, Dickson's voice is heard daily on many commercial radio stations across the UK. He has voiced many advertising campaigns including

Dominos Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces, commonly known as dominoes. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also ca ...

, Money Supermarket,

British Gas British Gas (trading as Scottish Gas in Scotland) is an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It is the trading name of British Gas Services Limited and British Gas New Heating Limited, both subsidiaries of Centrica. Servi ...

, ''

Downton Abbey ''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. The series first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United States on ...

'', The Sun, Branston Pickle,

Walls Walls may refer to: *The plural of wall, a structure * Walls (surname), a list of notable people with the surname Places *Walls, Louisiana, United States * Walls, Mississippi, United States *Walls, Ontario, neighborhood in Perry, Ontario, Ca ...

, Euro Millions, Dairylea,

Schweppes Schweppes (, ) is a beverage brand that originated in the Republic of Geneva; it is made, bottled and distributed worldwide by multiple international conglomerates, depending on licensing and region, that manufacture and sell soft drinks. Schwep ...

KFC KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...

Heinz The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six contin ...

and Wrigleys. He has voiced over 30,000 radio and TV campaigns. He was the brand voice for Irish radio stations I 102–104 and

4FM Ireland's Classic Hits Radio is an Irish independent multi-region radio station based in Dublin, and broadcasting to that city as well as Cork, Limerick, Galway, County Clare, County Wicklow, County Kildare, County Meath. It can also be picked ...

. He was the brand voice of The Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show on

Absolute Radio Absolute Radio is a British Independent National Radio, National radio station owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK, Bauer as part of the Absolute Radio Network. It broadcasts nationally across the UK via Digital audio broadcasting and ...

. He makes appearances on BBC Radio 1's breakfast and drive time shows. He played various character roles in ''The Department'', a comedy series on BBC Radio 4 starring and written by

Chris Addison Christopher David Addison (born 5 November 1971) is a British comedian, writer, actor, and director. He is perhaps best known for his role as a regular panellist on ''Mock the Week''. He is also known for his lecture-style comedy shows, two of ...

John Oliver John William Oliver (born 23 April 1977) is a British-American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. Oliver started his career as a stand-up comedian in the United Kingdom. He came to wider attention ...

, and

Andy Zaltzman Andrew Zaltzman (born 6 October 1974) is a British comedian and author who largely deals in political and sport-related material. He has worked with John Oliver, with their work together including '' Political Animal'', ''The Department'', an ...

Music

In March 2009, Dickson released a UK single as ''Voiceover Man and The Credit Crunchers'' called "What a Bunch of Bankers".

Credits

Television

*'' Paddy's Show and Telly'' *'' OOglies'' *''

'' *''

Vic Reeves Big Night Out ''Vic Reeves Big Night Out'' was a cult British comedy stage show and later television series which ran on Channel 4 for two series in 1990 and 1991, as well as a New Year special. Its live incarnation marked the beginnings of the collaboratio ...

'' * E4 *''

'' (2004–2018) *''

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially ...

'' (2007–2016) *''

'' (2018–2019) *''

'' *''

'' (

and

Joe Pasquale Joseph Ellis Pasquale (born 20 August 1961) is an English comedian, actor and television presenter. He won the fourth series of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'' in 2004 and participated in the eighth series of ''Dancing on Ice'' ...

versions) *''

'' *'' Gameshow Marathon'' *''

Soapstar Superstar ''Soapstar Superstar'' is a British talent show that aired on ITV from 6 January 2006 to 13 January 2007. The show's format works in a similar format to that of ''Pop Idol'' and ''The X Factor'', in that the competition features a group of soa ...

'' *''

All Star Family Fortunes ''Family Fortunes'' is a British television game show based on the American game show ''Family Feud''. The programme ran on ITV from 6 January 1980 to 30 December 2002. A celebrity version, ''All Star Family Fortunes'', followed from 2006 to 2 ...

'' *''

Test the Nation ''Test the Nation'' is a television programme, first broadcast in 2001 by BNN in the Netherlands. The concept is owned by Eyeworks Holding who license it to TV production companies around the world. Show format The format is designed to allow v ...

'' *'' Last Chance Lottery'' *''

'' *''The Fall of the British Empire'' *''

Stalemate Stalemate is a situation in the game of chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check and has no legal move. Stalemate results in a draw. During the endgame, stalemate is a resource that can enable the player with the inferi ...

'' *''The Young Elizabeth'' *''George and Elizabeth'' *''Churchill'' *''Superted'' *''Margaret Royal Rebel'' ( Five) *''Search for Destiny'' *''Mountbatten'' *''Edward VIII'' *''Charles'' *''Aircraft Stories'' (Discovery Wings) *''Air Traffic Control'' (Discovery Wings) *''Abbamania'' (ITV) *''Christmas Mania'' (ITV) *''

It'll Be Alright on the Night ''It'll be Alright on the Night'' is a British television bloopers programme screened on ITV and produced by ITV Studios. It was one of the first series created with the specific purpose of showing behind the scenes bloopers from film and TV. ...

12'' *''

Today with Des and Mel ''Today with Des and Mel'' was a British television chat show hosted by Des O'Connor ('' Des O'Connor Tonight'') and Melanie Sykes. The show featured celebrity guests, phone-in competitions and chat between the hosts. It was produced by Carlt ...

'' *'' Mission: 2110'' *'' Brainiac: Science Abuse'' *''

Russell Howard's Good News ''Russell Howard's Good News'' was a British comedy and topical news television show which was broadcast on BBC Three between 2009 and 2014, and on BBC Two between 2014 and 2015. Hosted by comedian Russell Howard, it offered his commentary on ...

'' (BBC)

Video games

*'' Official Formula 1'' game (by

Eidos Eidos may refer to: * Eidos (philosophy), a Greek term meaning "form" "essence", "type" or "species". See Plato's theory of forms and Aristotle's theory of universals * Eidos plc, a British software company, which created video game publisher Eido ...

) *'' Monster World'' *''

Xenoblade Chronicles is a series of action role-playing games developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo. It is a part of the '' Xeno'' metaseries created by Tetsuya Takahashi, but was formed after Nintendo's acquisition of Monolith Soft in 2007. The seri ...

'' – English VA of Sorean Antiqua *'' Blades of Time'' *''

Fable Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a particular mor ...

'' *''

Fable II ''Fable II'' is a 2008 action role-playing open world video game, developed by Lionhead Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360. The game is the second installment in the ''Fable'' game series, and the sequel to 2004's '' ...

'' * ''Folklore'' (Faery Lord) *''

Dragon Quest previously published as ''Dragon Warrior'' in North America until 2005, is a franchise of Japanese role-playing video games created by Armor Project ( Yuji Horii), Bird Studio (Akira Toriyama) and Sugiyama Kobo ( Koichi Sugiyama) to its pu ...

'' *'' Evolva'' *'' Lotus Challenge'' *''

Flying Heroes ''Flying Heroes'' is a fantasy action game produced by Take 2 Interactive, Illusion Softworks, and Pterodon. Gameplay Flying Heroes is an arena based shooter game that takes place on various flying creatures. There are four clans to choose ...

'' *''Atrox'' *''Pizza Connection II'' *''

Kinect Sports ''Kinect Sports'' is a sports video game developed by Rare and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360. The game utilizes the Kinect motion-sensing peripheral and was released in North America on 4 November 2010 as a launch title ...

'' (the Announcer) *'' Kinect Sports: Season Two'' *''

Books

*''Voiceover Man - The Extraordinary Story of a Professional Voice Actor'' (Provox Publishing)

References

External links

PeterDickson.co.uk
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dickson, Peter Living people British radio personalities British television presenters Radio and television announcers Television personalities from Belfast Year of birth missing (living people)