Peter John Hawkins (3 April 1924 – 8 July 2006) was a British actor. During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, he was one of the most sought-after voice artists for radio and television, becoming a regular face and voice around the Soho-based circuit of commercial production studios, appearing in titles such as Rainbow, SuperTed and Doctor Who. Early life A policeman and piano player’s son, Peter John Hawkins was born on 3 April 1924 in Brixton, south London. He made his first stage appearance as a member of the chorus in a musical. During his last year at school, he wrote, with three friends, a revue entitled The Five Bs. Hawkins joined the Royal Navy, and survived, though shrapnel pierced his clothing when HMS Limbourne sank after being torpedoed. He was rescued by Ronnie Hill, a theatre actor at the time, and while recovering he took part in plays, which resulted in his being taken into Combined Operations Entertainments. Career Hawkins did a two-year course at the Central School of Speech and Drama. His association with British children's television began in 1950 voicing the BBC's children's show Whirligig character Mr Turnip. He hosted Can We Help You? voiced Willoughby and Petrio in Stranger from Space within it as well. In 1952 he voiced both Bill and Ben, the Flower Pot Men, whose Oddle-Poddle language Peter devised himself. He also provided all the voices for the animated series Captain Pugwash, Adolphus, Little Watha and Little Jimmy, Bleep and Booster, The Adventures of Sir Prancelot, Windfalls, Chris and Crumble, It’s Fun to Learn with Spot and Little Brrm. He was also the narrator for The Tomfoolery Show, The Perishers, The Adventure Game, SuperTed, The Family-Ness and Jimbo and the Jet-Set. In 1956, Peter married actress Rosemary Miller, who he met doing voices in Toytown (Rosemary was Larry the Lamb). The two would provide voices together in The Land of Grot and Stowaways on the Ark. He voiced several characters on Doctor Who in the show's early years, especially the Daleks and the Cybermen, the former which he would reprise in the two 1960s feature films. He was friends with fellow Dalek voice David Graham , who he worked with again on Stowaways on the Ark. He was also the original voice of Zippy on Rainbow during the first year of its run (1972). He was struggling with frequent policy changes, so he