Tim Whitnall

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Tim Whitnall
Tim Whitnall.jpg
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 .

Contents

Career

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

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

Filmography

Actor

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1980 Play for Today PaulEpisode: "Not for the Likes of Us"
1982The Music ArcadePresenter
Sunny Side UpPresenter, various characters
1983 The All Electric Amusement Arcade JakeMain cast
1986 C.A.T.S. Eyes JackEpisode: "Freezeheat"
1989 The Bill RodgersEpisode: "Found Offending"
Bergerac Desk ConstableEpisode: "A True Detective"
1989–2000 Mike and Angelo AngeloMain cast
1993BackchatLink AnchormanVoice over
Link's Shorts
1994Link Looks Into Cartoons
1994 KTV Dr. Hunk, FredSegments: General Accident, Arthur Square
1997–2001 Teletubbies NarratorUK version
1998Tom and VickyTom, Dickie, Flash
2003–2004MechaNickAll male characters
2005-10 Fifi and the Flowertots Aunt Tulip, Stingo and HornettoUK
2006 Underground Ernie Hammersmith, Jubilee, Paris, and OsakaVoice over
2007 The Beeps Sleepy Beep
2007–10 Roary the Racing Car Plugger, Mr. Carburettor and Farmer GreenUK
2008 Britain's Got The Pop Factor Performer in Eye-patch
2008–09 The Mr. Men Show Mr. Lazy and Mr. NervousUK version, Voice over
2010Muddle EarthNorbert BensonMain cast
2012–15 Tree Fu Tom Zigzoo, Stink, Squirmtum, Chezz, and Rickety McGlumanMain cast, Voice over
2013 Henry Hugglemonster Various charactersVoice over
2014–2021 Thomas & Friends Max
Timothy, Reg, Mike, Jerome, Oliver (Excavator) and The Deputy Minister
UK Version
Recurring roles, Voice over
2021DinoCityDadMain cast, Voice over

Stage

YearTitleRoleVenue
1977 Elvis Young ElvisLondon Astoria
1979 Grease Doody
1981 Godspell JesusYoung Vic Theatre
Spring AwakeningMelchiorYoung Vic Studio, London
1983Yakety YakDannyUK Tour
1985The LambustersThe Bloomsbury Theatre, London
1988Be Bop a LulaEddie CochranThe Playhouse, Liverpool; UK tour
1991 The Rocky Horror Show Riff-RaffPicadilly Theatre, London
1992; 1993Good Rockin' ToniteEddie Cochran, Cliff RichardMetropolitan, London; Liverpool Empire, Liverpool
1996-1997Elvis (revival)Middle ElvisUK Tour
1998-1999Four Steps to HeavenElvis, Eddie Cochran
2005The Sociable PloverDaveOld Red Lion, Inner London

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1986 Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire Member of Billy the Kid's entourage
1996 Famous Fred Additional Vocals
1999 Animal Farm
2000Teletubbies: Christmas in the SnowNarratorDirect-to-video
2005Renart the FoxRenart (English dub)
2008Like Other People DoRich ManShort
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 RegVoice; Direct-to-video
2015 Thomas & Friends: The Adventure Begins Jerome
Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure Oliver the Excavator and MikeVoice
2016 Thomas & Friends: The Great Race Timothy and Mike
2018Thomas & Friends: Big World Big Adventures!Bill, Timothy and a Moai Head

Video games

YearTitleRole(s)Notes
1998 Play with the Teletubbies NarratorUK
2000 The World Is Not Enough Charles Robinson

Screenwriter

Film

YearTitleNotes
2008 The Hide Based on his play "The Sociable Plover"
2018Mr SunshineShort, Based on his play "Morecambe"

Television

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

Stage

YearTitleVenue
1999Harry's WebTheatre Royal, Windsor
2005, 2010The Sociable PloverOld Red Lion, Inner London; UK Tour
2006The FabulistOld Red Lion, Inner London
2008, 2014 Morecambe Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh; UK Tour
2018Once Seen on Blue PeterChiswick 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

Awards and nominations

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

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References

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  15. "Feather Productions". Featherproductions.com. Retrieved 18 August 2020.