I Know That Voice

Marc Silk (Star Wars, Thunderbirds, Bob the Builder US, Go-Jetters, Johnny Bravo, Roary the Racing Car and tons more)

Marc Silk has too many credits to put in this space, but he has been and continues to be one of the country's most successful and in-demand character voice artists. In our long and wide ranging conversation, we cover his early days as a producer and engineer on local radio in Birmingham, the day he turned down a job on Radio One, his love of all things Hanna-Barbara and Warner Brothers, and he has a lot to say about AI and the future of the Entertainment industry. There are funny voices along the way and a classic triumph over tragedy story to add to the mix.

Jake Yapp (BBC Radio, The voice of DAVE, Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe)

Prolific and multi-talented comedian, presenter and composer Jake Yapp has been working in the audio industry since he was 19. "The BBC was my University" he says, and was the BBC's youngest producer at 20 years old. In this highly entertaining conversation, he tells me about his career, and has some fantastic insights into the business of writing and performing comedy and music for radio. He owes his later career to his brilliant video 'Radio 4 in four minutes' which caused a bit of a stir at the time. We also have a long and interesting talk about AI and the future of the business. There's also an unexpected Easter Egg, which he did when the internet connection went down. He has his own comedy podcast: Modern Sex With Dora Dale https://shows.acast.com/modern-sex-with-dora-dale [https://shows.acast.com/modern-sex-with-dora-dale]

Rob Rackstraw (Bob the Builder, The Octonauts, Thomas and Friends)

Yes, it's Scoop, Muck, Mr Bentley, Spud, & Travis from Bob the Builder, Kwazi from The Octonauts and James and Percy from Thomas and Friends all rolled into one. In a 30 year career he's voiced hundreds of commercials and animations (he and I were the Koala Brothers). Born in Sunderland, Rob cheekily got a job writing and voicing commercials for local radio and never looked back. Hear about his forays into musical impro, flying light aircraft and also his attitude to AI and the voice industry.

David Menkin (Thunderbirds are Go, Bob the Builder, The Skywalker Saga, Thomas and Friends)

Norwegian-American David Menkin is a voice artist and a film actor. In an entertaining, frank and wide ranging conversation, we hear about his work in theatre, his approach to voice acting, and acting in general. He is also active in the vanguard of championing actors rights, trying to protect creative work in the world of AI, which he talks about passionately and with great clarity. It's not often I get to talk to three iconic action figures, but Virgil and Gordon Tracey and Luke Skywalker in one hit is pretty impressive!

Sue Elliott-Nicholls (Horrid Henry, Magic Roundabout, Tracey Ullman, Catherine Tate)

A great episode with the voice of Moody Margaret in Horrid Henry, Florence in the Magic Roundabout and hundreds of other characters in animations, promos, commercials and sketch shows. Sue has also made documentaries for BBC Radio, and has her own podcast - The Hackney and Newham History Social Club. Funny, positive and hugely talented, our conversation covered her career, the future of the voice industry, and the art and craft of voicing animation.