Thunderbirds & Doctor Who legend famed for being voice of the Daleks leaves behind eye-watering amount in will

Scottish Sun

14-05-2025

EXCL LAST GIFT Thunderbirds & Doctor Who legend famed for being voice of the Daleks leaves behind eye-watering amount in will
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
ACTOR David Graham - the voice of cockney chauffeur Parker in the Thunderbirds - left a £1.2million fortune in his will, probate documents reveal.
Voice artist Graham, who died aged 99 last September, was familiar to millions as the voice of the Daleks on BBC's Doctor Who.
Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter
Sign up
8
Jamie Anderson, son of Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson, with David Graham
Credit: X
8
David Graham with a Thunderbirds' Parker puppet
Credit: Rex
8
Parker, from Thunderbirds
Credit: Alamy
8
Graham played the widely-loved character Grandpa on Peppa Pig
Credit: YouTube
8
Daleks are the most famous baddies on Doctor Who
Credit: BBC
He later wowed generations of children as Peppa Pig's lovable Grandpa, and as the Wise Old Elf in Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom.
His will saw him leave an estate valued at £1,235,001 - most of which was passed on to his niece Elizabeth Rehfeld and nephew Jonathan Smit, who both live in the United States.
He found fame as Lady Penelope's croaky-voiced driver Parker - a cult TV figure whose famous 'Yus, m'lady' expression is still a popular catchphrase.
Parker, a reformed safecracker, drove his employer Lady Penelope around in a pink Rolls Royce in Thunderbirds and won immortality among the show's legions of fans.
Read more Showbiz
TRICKY ONE Desperate Millionaire player uses TWO lifelines on tough £8k Prince question
Graham - born into a Jewish household in London in 1925 - provided voices for many other characters in all 32 episodes of the much repeated hit show, which first ran in the mid-1960s.
The inspiration for the voice of Aloysius 'Nosey' Parker was said to have been a cockney waiter that served Graham and Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson at a pub lunch.
Explaining how they based the character on him, Graham said in an interview: 'A lovely grey-haired old gentleman came over and said, 'Would you like to see the wine list, sir?'
'I looked at Gerry and Gerry looked at me. We kept him talking and it turned out that he had 'worked for 'is majesty at Windsor Castle'.'
Graham provided the voices of up to seven different characters in the each of the episodes including that of Gordon Tracy, Kyrano - the Tracy family's loyal servant - and Brains.
He provided some of the voices for the Daleks first appearances on Doctor Who although the words were electronically processed to give them their distinctive sound.
David Tennant tells Doctor Who haters to 'f--k off' in hilarious new The Assembly trailer as he gets a grilling
And, from 2004 onwards Graham won million of new fans as the voice behind Grandpa in the smash-hit cartoon series Peppa Pig.
He gave Grandpa a jovial, faltering upper-class voice that helped give the character an upbeat but occasionally grumpy nature.
And his distinctive tones came through as the Wise old Elf in magic-themed British animated series Ben and Holly.
Graham, who served as an RAF radar mechanic during World War Two, later trained as an actor in New York after being invited to the city by his sister who had married an American GI.
His time in the US helped him to pick up an American accent which proved useful in his later voice artist career on his return to the UK.
He also provided the voice of Big Brother in the landmark TV advert, first screened during the 1984 US Superbowl, that introduced the world to the Apple Macintosh computer.
Graham, who lived in Hampstead, north London also played on-screen roles in Coronation Street and Casualty as well as the scientist Professor Kerensky in Doctor Who.
His will also stipulate donations to Prostate Cancer, The Medical Foundation for the Victims of Torture, the Actors Benevolent Fund, a north London hospice and two Jewish charities.
And he left a small chunk of his fortune to a local friend, Christopher, or his wife.
The probate document said: "I would like Christopher to know that this small gift is a token of my gratitude for his devoted friendship to me throughout my professional life. Man has no better friend."
8
David Graham in 2017 had the legendary role of voicing the Daleks on Doctor Who
Credit: PA
8
Thunderbirds puppets Lady Penelope and Parker outside Planet Hollywood, central London
Credit: Alamy