Tim Whitnall

Tim Whitnall
in 2010
Born
Timothy Charles Whitnall

(1961-06-27) 27 June 1961 (age 63)
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Playwright, screenwriter, actor, musician
Years active1977–present

Timothy Charles "Tim" Whitnall (born 27 June 1961 in Canvey Island, Essex) is an English playwright, screenwriter, and actor known for playing Angelo in the long-running CITV series Mike and Angelo and narrating the BBC children's TV programme Teletubbies (UK and Canada). In the US, the USA narrator was Rolf Saxon.[1] He currently co-provides voices in Thomas & Friends.

Career

He has starred in many West End musicals including Elvis, Grease, The Rocky Horror Show, and Good Rockin' Tonight.[source?]

He worked extensively in film, TV, and radio and presented (and wrote for) the BBC School's series, "The Music Arcade" (with Lucie Skeaping), "Into Music", "Time and Tune", "Music Workshop", and "Let's Sing".[source?] He has provided many voice-overs and vocals for TV commercials, animations, and jingles.

Whitnall's theatre play The Sociable Plover, first performed at Old Red Lion Theatre in 2005,[2] was made into a feature film by Poisson Rouge Pictures and Solution Films (re-titled as The Hide) and received its UK première on Film4 in February 2009.[3] Following its screen release at the ICA Cinema, London, the film was released on DVD in January 2010. For this work, Whitnall was nominated for Best First Feature Length Screenplay category in the 2010 Writer's Guild of Great Britain Awards.[source?]

Whitnall's stage-play Morecambe – a tribute to the late comedian Eric Morecambe – won a Fringe First Award[4] for 'innovation and excellence in new writing' at the 2009 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The show opened at London's Duchess Theatre the following December and toured the UK through 2010. The piece was nominated in two separate categories in the 2010 Laurence Olivier Awards[source?] and won the 'Best Entertainment' category.[5]

In 2012, BBC Four screened Whitnall's 90-minute drama Best Possible Taste: The Kenny Everett Story,[6] which examined and celebrated the life of Kenny Everett. It was directed by James Strong, produced by Paul Frift and starred Oliver Lansley and Katherine Kelly. For it, Whitnall won the Breakthrough Talent Award in the 2013 BAFTA Television Craft Awards.[7]

During 2014, Whitnall joined the cast of the CGI version of the British TV series Thomas & Friends, and has provided the voices of the characters Timothy and Reg (in the UK/US), and since 2015–6, Mike, Jerome and Oliver the Excavator in the UK/US.

Personal life

He lives in Richmond, Surrey with his partner, Anna Murphy, with whom he has a production company, Feather Productions Ltd.[8]

Filmography

Actor

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1996 Famous Fred Additional Vocals
2000 Teletubbies: Christmas in the Snow Narrator Direct-to-video
2008 Like Other People Do Rich Man Short
2010 Rainbow Magic: Return to Rainspell Island Edison
King Oberon
Snow Beast
Bitten
Devil's Playground News Anchor
2014 Thomas & Friends: Tale of the Brave Timothy and Reg UK/US voice; Direct-to-video
2015 Thomas & Friends: The Adventure Begins Jerome UK/US voice; Direct-to-video
Thomas & Friends: Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure Mike and Oliver the Excavator UK/US voice
2016 Thomas & Friends: The Great Race Timothy and Mike UK/US voice

Video games

Year Title Role
2000 Play with the Teletubbies Narrator
The World Is Not Enough (Nintendo 64 and PlayStation) Davidov

Screenwriter

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2008 The Hide "The Sociable Plover"

Television

Year Title Role(s) Notes
1985–1986 And There's More
1989 The Bill Rodgers Episode: "Found Offending"
1990 Bergerac Desk Constable Episode: "A True Detective"
1989–2000 Mike and Angelo Angelo
1997–2001 Teletubbies Narrator (UK version)
2005-2009 Fifi and the Flowertots Aunt Tulip, Stingo Recurring cast
2006–2009 Underground Ernie Hammersmith, Jubilee, Paris, and Osaka Voice over
2007 The Beeps Sleepy Beep
2007–2010 Roary the Racing Car Plugger, Mr. Carburettor, Farmer Green, Farmer Will and Dinkie UK/US Voice cast
2008–2009 The Mr. Men Show Mr. Lazy and Mr. Nervous (UK version)
2010 Best Possible Taste: The Kenny
Everett Story
TV movie
2012–2015 Tree Fu Tom Zigzoo, Stink, Squirmtum, Chezz, and Rickety McGluman Main cast
2013 Agatha Christie's Marple Episode: "Greenshaw's Folly"
2014–present Thomas & Friends Timothy (UK/US), Reg (UK/US), Mike (UK/US), Jerome (UK/US), Oliver the Excavator (UK/US) and The Deputy Minister (UK/US) Recurring role; UK/US
2015 Jake and the Never Land Pirates Captain Ander Recurring cast

Awards and nominations

2009 "The Scotsman" Fringe First Award Innovation and outstanding new writing Morecambe Won
2010 Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award Best First Feature-Length Film Screenplay The Hide Nominated
2013 British Academy Television Craft Award Breakthrough Talent Best Possible Taste: The Kenny Everett Story Won
2013 Broadcasting Press Guild Award Best Single Drama
Shared with Paul Frift and James Strong
Nominated

References

  1. Young, Graham (18 August 2009). "Say eh-oh again to Teletubbies; TOUR: Hit children's TV stars back with nationwide dance dates". Birmingham Mail. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2014 – via HighBeam Research.
  2. Taggart, Bronagh (2005). "The Sociable Plover". British Theatre Guide. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  3. "Ff Film4 - Collections | Channel 4".
  4. "Home Page – The TLS". TheTLS.
  5. "From a play without a venue to a first for the Olivier Awards". The Independent. 22 March 2010. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  6. Frost, Vicky (3 April 2012). "BBC to celebrate Kenny Everett". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  7. "Television Craft - Breakthrough Talent in 2013". BAFTA. 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  8. "Feather Productions :: Tim Whitnall and Anna Murphy". www.featherproductions.com.

Other websites