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Tim Whitnall

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Tim Whitnall
Whitnall at BFI London in 2013
Born
Timothy Charles Whitnall

(1961-06-27) 27 June 1961 (age 63)
Canvey Island, Essex, England
NationalityEnglish
Occupation(s)Actor, playwright, screenwriter
Years active1977–present

Timothy Charles Whitnall (born 27 June 1961) is an English actor, playwright and screenwriter. He is known for playing Angelo in the long-running CITV series Mike and Angelo and narrating the BBC children's TV programme Teletubbies from 1997 to 2001.[1] As a writer, he has won a BAFTA and an Olivier Award for his work on TV movie Best Possible Taste: The Kenny Everett Story and play Morecambe. He is also a voice actor, providing voices on characters from television shows such as Fifi and the Flowertots, Roary the Racing Car, and Thomas & Friends.

Career

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Whitnall began his career in West End musical Elvis in 1977 after winning the role in an open call audition.[2] He has starred in many West End musicals including Grease, The Rocky Horror Show, and Good Rockin' Tonight.[3]

After making TV appearances for the musicals he was involved in, he began a career in television - presenting (and writing for) the BBC Schools series, "The Music Arcade" (with Lucie Skeaping), "Music Time", "Time and Tune", "Music Workshop", and "Let's Sing".[4] He also began making appearances as an actor, playing Jake in ITV children's drama The All Electric Amusement Arcade and Paul in Play for Today episode Not for the Likes of Us.

Whitnall is also known for providing many voice-overs and vocals for TV commercials, animations, and jingles. From the late 1980s to the channel's demise in 2000, he was an announcer on The Children's Channel, also providing the voice to the station's early 1990s mascot Link Anchorman.[5] He was also the voice for Woolworths mascot Keith the Alien in 1998.[6]

In 1990, he succeeded Tyler Butterworth in the role of alien Angelo in Children's sci-fi sitcom Mike and Angelo. He portrayed the character for ten series, until the show's end in 2000.[7]

Whitnall's theatre play The Sociable Plover, first performed at Old Red Lion Theatre in 2005,[8] 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.[9] 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.[citation needed]

Whitnall's next play Morecambe – a tribute to the late comedian Eric Morecambe – won a Fringe First Award[10] 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[11] and won the 'Best Entertainment' category.[12]

In 2012, BBC Four screened Whitnall's 90-minute drama Best Possible Taste: The Kenny Everett Story,[13] 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.[14]

During 2014, Whitnall joined the cast of the CGI version of the British TV series Thomas & Friends, providing the voices of the characters Timothy, Reg, Mike, Jerome, Oliver the Excavator and the UK version of Max.

Personal life

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Whitnall lives in Richmond, London[citation needed] with his partner, Anna Murphy, with whom he has a production company, Feather Productions Ltd.[15]

Filmography

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Actor

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Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1980 Play for Today Paul Episode: "Not for the Likes of Us"
1982 The Music Arcade Presenter
Sunny Side Up Presenter, various characters
1983 The All Electric Amusement Arcade Jake Main cast
1986 C.A.T.S. Eyes Jack Episode: "Freezeheat"
1989 The Bill Rodgers Episode: "Found Offending"
Bergerac Desk Constable Episode: "A True Detective"
1989–2000 Mike and Angelo Angelo Main cast
1993 Backchat Link Anchorman Voice over
Link's Shorts
1994 Link Looks Into Cartoons
1994 KTV Dr. Hunk, Fred Segments: General Accident, Arthur Square
1997–2001 Teletubbies Narrator UK version
1998 Tom and Vicky Tom, Dickie, Flash
2003–2004 MechaNick All male characters
2005-10 Fifi and the Flowertots Aunt Tulip, Stingo and Hornetto UK
2006 Underground Ernie Hammersmith, Jubilee, Paris, and Osaka Voice over
2007 The Beeps Sleepy Beep
2007–10 Roary the Racing Car Plugger, Mr. Carburettor and Farmer Green UK
2008 Britain's Got The Pop Factor Performer in Eye-patch
2008–09 The Mr. Men Show Mr. Lazy and Mr. Nervous UK version, Voice over
2010 Muddle Earth Norbert Benson Main cast
2012–15 Tree Fu Tom Zigzoo, Stink, Squirmtum, Chezz, and Rickety McGluman Main cast, Voice over
2013 Henry Hugglemonster Various characters Voice over
2014–2021 Thomas & Friends Max
Timothy, Reg, Mike, Jerome, Oliver (Excavator) and The Deputy Minister		 UK Version
Recurring roles, Voice over
2021 DinoCity Dad Main cast, Voice over

Stage

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Year Title Role Venue
1977 Elvis Young Elvis London Astoria
1979 Grease Doody
1981 Godspell Jesus Young Vic Theatre
Spring Awakening Melchior Young Vic Studio, London
1983 Yakety Yak Danny UK Tour
1985 The Lambusters The Bloomsbury Theatre, London
1988 Be Bop a Lula Eddie Cochran The Playhouse, Liverpool; UK tour
1991 The Rocky Horror Show Riff-Raff Picadilly Theatre, London
1992; 1993 Good Rockin' Tonite Eddie Cochran, Cliff Richard Metropolitan, London; Liverpool Empire, Liverpool
1996-1997 Elvis (revival) Middle Elvis UK Tour
1998-1999 Four Steps to Heaven Elvis, Eddie Cochran
2005 The Sociable Plover Dave Old Red Lion, Inner London

Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1986 Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire Member of Billy the Kid's entourage
1996 Famous Fred Additional Vocals
1999 Animal Farm
2000 Teletubbies: Christmas in the Snow Narrator Direct-to-video
2005 Renart the Fox Renart (English dub)
2008 Like Other People Do Rich Man Short
2010 Rainbow Magic: Return to Rainspell Island Edison, King Oberon, Snow Beast and Bitten
Devil's Playground News Anchor
2014 Thomas & Friends: Tale of the Brave Timothy and Reg Voice; Direct-to-video
2015 Thomas & Friends: The Adventure Begins Jerome
Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure Oliver the Excavator and Mike Voice
2016 Thomas & Friends: The Great Race Timothy and Mike
2018 Thomas & Friends: Big World Big Adventures! Bill, Timothy and a Moai Head

Video games

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Year Title Role(s) Notes
1998 Play with the Teletubbies Narrator UK
2000 The World Is Not Enough Charles Robinson

Screenwriter

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Film

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Year Title Notes
2008 The Hide Based on his play "The Sociable Plover"
2018 Mr Sunshine Short, Based on his play "Morecambe"

Television

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Year Title Notes
1985–86 And There's More
2010 Best Possible Taste: The Kenny Everett Story TV movie
2013 Agatha Christie's Marple Episode: "Greenshaw's Folly"
2021 The Mallorca Files Episode: "The Blue Feather"

Stage

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Year Title Venue
1999 Harry's Web Theatre Royal, Windsor
2005, 2010 The Sociable Plover Old Red Lion, Inner London; UK Tour
2006 The Fabulist Old Red Lion, Inner London
2008, 2014 Morecambe Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh; UK Tour
2018 Once Seen on Blue Peter Chiswick Playhouse, London; Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh
2022, 2023 Lena The Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock; Assembly George Square (Gordon Aikman Lecture Theatre), Edinburgh
2023 Notes from a Small Island The Watermill Theatre, Newbury

Discography

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Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Result
2009 "The Scotsman" Fringe First Award Innovation and outstanding new writing Morecambe Won
2010 Laurence Olivier Awards Best Entertainment Won
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

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  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. ^ "Elvis 77". Keith Strachan. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  3. ^ "Tim Whitnall". Ovrtur. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  4. ^ "Radiophonic Workshop - Music Arcade". BBC. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Television". Bonner Animation. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Tim's a Teletubby - The Bury Free Press". British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  7. ^ "Mike & Angelo". Glad You Remember. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  8. ^ Taggart, Bronagh (2005). "The Sociable Plover". British Theatre Guide. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  9. ^ "Film4 Search results for the Hide". www.film4.com. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  10. ^ "The Times". The Times. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  11. ^ "Olivier awards nominations". The Guardian. 8 February 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  12. ^ "From a play without a venue to a first for the Olivier Awards". The Independent. 22 March 2010. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  13. ^ Frost, Vicky (3 April 2012). "BBC to celebrate Kenny Everett". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  14. ^ "Television Craft - Breakthrough Talent in 2013". BAFTA. 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  15. ^ "Feather Productions". Featherproductions.com. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
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