John Leeson

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John Leeson
John Leeson at The Television & Movie Store, Norwich, England, on 20 September 2008.
Born	John Francis Christopher Ducker (1943-03-16) 16 March 1943 (age 78) Leicester, England
Nationality	British
Occupation	Actor, freelance wine educator
Years active	1964–present
Known for	Voice of K9 in Doctor Who and Bungle in Rainbow

John Leeson (born John Francis Christopher Ducker; 16 March 1943, Leicester, England)^[1] is an English actor who is well known for voicing Bungle in Rainbow and K9 in Doctor Who.

Early career[]

Leeson trained at RADA and his varied stage and television career spans nearly half a century. It includes work in both repertory and West End productions including Neil Simon's Plaza Suite (1969), Flint (1970) and Don't Start Without Me (1971), and character acting work across a wide range of television sitcoms and costume dramas from the 1970s onwards, including Dad's Army, Sorry!, Rings on Their Fingers, adaptations of The Barretts of Wimpole Street and Vanity Fair, Shadow of the Noose, Crown Court and Longitude. He also embarked on a parallel career in voiceover work, freelancing as a continuity announcer with BFBS Television in Germany, BBC Television, and Channel 4.

Doctor Who and spin-offs[]

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Leeson was brought on as the voice of K-9 for 1977's The Invisible Enemy and producer Graham Williams liked the concept so much that the decision was made to retain him as a regular character to appeal to the younger members of the audience. Tom Baker detested the character of K-9, but luckily got on very well with Leeson (when Leeson appeared on Tom Baker's edition of This Is Your Life in 2000, Leeson entered on all fours).

Leeson became frustrated with the limitations of the character, and he left the programme after the conclusion of the 16th season in 1979. He was also seen on-screen that season as the character Dugeen during the serial The Power of Kroll (1978–79). David Brierly took over for four stories (one of which was never completed due to a BBC strike) the following year. When John Nathan-Turner took over as producer of the series for season 18 in 1980, he tempted Leeson back, with the promise that the character would be 'killed off' that year. Although the character was ultimately written out, rather than "killed", Leeson agreed to return.

Leeson also agreed to return to voice K-9 in K-9 and Company (1981), a spin-off from Doctor Who which was not picked up after the airing of its pilot episode. He voiced K-9 for a cameo appearance in the 20th anniversary episode of Doctor Who, The Five Doctors, and has since reprised K-9's voice in two BBV and several Big Finish audio dramas including Zagreus and the Gallifrey series.

He voiced K-9 for its return in the 2006 Doctor Who episode "School Reunion", leading to giving it recurring character status in The Sarah Jane Adventures. Leeson's voice was also heard in the Doctor Who episode "Journey's End" once more as K-9. The most recent occasion of Leeson voicing K-9 is in the spin-off television series K-9. Leeson also voiced K-9 in a Doctor Who-themed episode of The Weakest Link. He did not reprise his role as K-9 in Lego Dimensions as he was unavailable at the time, so archive audio was used instead.^{[citation needed]}

Leeson's vocal contributions to Doctor Who can also be heard as other characters in the serials The Invisible Enemy and Remembrance of the Daleks. Leeson played the role of "Prosecutor 2" in the 2005 stage production of The Trial of Davros and has compiled a one-man show, A Dog's Life, directed by Richard Fawkes.^{[citation needed]}

In November 2013, Leeson appeared in the one-off 50th anniversary comedy homage The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot.^[2]

Other credits[]

Other credits include appearances in Blake's 7 (in the season A episode "Mission to Destiny" and the season B episode "Gambit"). Also, notably in children's programmes, ITV's Rainbow from 1972 as the original Bungle,^[3] and the BBC's Jigsaw in which he voiced Jigg, the show's "mascot" and played the giant Biggum, who was so tall only his feet were seen and his voice heard. He was one of the resident team of actors in stunts for ITV's Game for a Laugh (1981-85), appearing in one memorable stunt involving a car transporter wrecking his car and blaming it on the unsuspecting victim.^[4] His film credits are few but included the Hunt Secretary in the film of Tarka the Otter (1979), and a TV interviewer in the film version of Whoops Apocalypse (1986). His radio work includes the comedy serial (1990) in which he played the character of Mike^[5] and additionally provided the scripted continuity link at the beginning.^[6]

Leeson has read extensively for the audio book charity Calibre Audio Library, and is also the narrator/character voices behind The Space Gypsy Adventures on Children's UK hospital radio. In 2010 John appeared in a character role in the independent film Rebels Without A Clue with actor Rik Barnett.^[7]

Away from stage and screen he was regularly heard as continuity announcer on Channel 4 when his warm tones proved a distinct contrast to the K-9 voice. A lively interest in both classical music and particularly wine, led him to develop a longstanding parallel career as a wine educator.^{[citation needed]}

Under his birth name he is an accredited tutor for the Wine & Spirit Education Trust, and he is a member both of the Association of Wine Educators and the Circle of Wine Writers. He is a freelance lecturer in wine both on land and in cruises at sea, and is a regular tutor for The Wine Education Service Ltd. ^[8]

Literature[]

Leeson's autobiography, entitled Flight of the Budgerigar, was published by Hirst in October 2011.^[9] It was superseded by an updated and expanded version entitled Tweaking the Tail which was published in July 2013 by Fantom Films.^[10]

A book of favourite recipes collected across the years, Dog's Dinners (the title referencing his work as the voice of K9), also published by Fantom, was published in May 2014.^[11]

An enthusiastic cook, he also contributed a chapter on teaching wine tasting (in his birth name of John Ducker) to Educated Tastes: Food, Drink and Connoisseur Culture, edited by Jeremy Strong, and published by the University of Nebraska Press.^[12]

Family Life: In 1969 he married his wife Judy, their having met initially at a party to which neither of them had been invited, and their son Guy Ducker is a film editor and director.

Local government[]

Now statutorily retired, he also served as a local justice of the peace for over 25 years, having served as Deputy Chairman of his local Bench (Ealing) for six years across the period.

In 2002 and 2010, under his birth name of John Ducker, he stood as a candidate for the Liberal Democrats in the district of Perivale in the local council elections for Ealing London Borough Council, but failed to be elected.^[13][14]

Filmography[]

Television[]

Video games[]

Film[]

References[]

External links[]

• John Leeson at IMDb
• BBC press release announcing the return of K-9