Derek Griffiths

Derek Griffiths MBE (born 15 July 1946) is a British actor and voice artist who appeared in numerous British children's television series in the 1960s to present and has more recently played parts in TV drama.

Derek Griffiths

MBE
Born (1946-07-15) 15 July 1946
Woking, Surrey, England
OccupationActor
Years active1964–present

Career

Griffiths was known in his early years for his Play School appearances alongside the likes of Chloe Ashcroft, Johnny Ball and Brian Cant. A talented multi-instrumentalist, he voiced over and sang the theme tune to Heads and Tails, a series of short animal films for children produced by BBC Television, and also sang and played the theme tune to the cartoon Bod. Another children's TV role was in Granada Television's early 1980s series Film Fun, in which he played the entire staff of a cinema (the manager, the commissionaire (with the catchphrase "Get on with it!!"), the projectionist, the usherette and also himself) while also showing cartoons such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner. He appeared on Crown Court (1973) as an accused fraudster Raoul Lapointe, from the Belgian Congo. In 1975, Griffiths played Ko-Ko in The Black Mikado at London's Cambridge Theatre. He was also the English voice of SuperTed (SuperTed was originally made in Welsh).

In 1997, Griffiths originated the role of Lumière in the original West End production of Beauty and the Beast at the Dominion Theatre and played the role of the Child Catcher in the West End run of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium.

In 2014, Derek Griffiths was presented with a BASCA Gold Badge of Merit award.[1] This was in acknowledgement of his unique contribution to music.

From 2016, he played Freddie Smith in Coronation Street: he left the role in March 2017 to star in a stage production of Driving Miss Daisy.[2]

Children's TV work
  • Play School (1971–81)
  • Play Away (1971)
  • Cabbages and Kings (1972)
  • Various Look and Read stories as singer, including:
    • "Cloud Burst" (1974) as singer.
    • "The King's Dragon" (1977) as singer.
    • "Sky Hunter" (1978) as singer.
    • "The Boy From Space" (1980) as singer.
    • "Dark Towers" (1981) as singer.
    • "Fair ground!" (1983) as singer.
    • "Geordie Racer" (1988) as singer.
    • "Through The Dragon's Eye" (1989) as singer.
    • "Earth Warp" (1994) as voiceover.
  • "Watch It!" (1980–83) regular continuity announcer on children's ITV segment for Yorkshire Television.
  • Bod (1975) where he composed the theme music for each of the main five characters.
  • "Ring-a-Ding!" (1975) stories & singer
  • "Heads and Tails" (1978) as voiceover and singer.
  • "Insight" (1980) as presenter and various characters in this Yorkshire Television educational series for deaf and hearing-impaired children
  • Dinosaurs: Fun, Fact and Fantasy (1982) as the voice of Dil the Crocodile.
  • SuperTed (1983-1985) as the voice of SuperTed.
  • Muzzy in Gondoland (1986) as the voice of Bob and Corvax.
  • King Greenfingers (1989) as narrator.
  • The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends (1993) as Simpkin in animated short stories based on the popular book series.
  • Christopher Crocodile (1993) as narrator.
  • Mio Mao (2005) as the narrator and all of the characters in the UK dub.
  • Film Fun
  • Little Red Tractor (2004) as the voices of Mr Jones and Walter
  • Animal Antics (1997-2015) as narrator.[3]
  • "Sarah & Duck" (2014) Series 2 Episode 3: Cloud Tower as Cloud Captain

Comedy TV work

Other TV work
  • Crown Court (1973) as Raoul Lapointe.
  • Don't ask me! (1974)
  • Casualty (1999) as Duke Baines.
  • Holby City as Greg Martin (2004) and Ted O'Connor (2011).
  • Doctors broadcast 15 May 2015, as shopkeeper Renton Miles.
  • Silent Witness "River's Edge" broadcast 2 February 2016, as DS Malcolm Guillam.
  • Coronation Street 2016–2017, as retired mechanic Freddie.

Appearances
  • Derek Griffiths appears in This Is Your Life

Advertising work

Griffiths is also used frequently in advertising. In the past, he has won the Italian advertising Oscar for a series of comedy commercials.[5]

Film work

Theatre

In the theatre, Griffiths has been particularly associated with the Royal Exchange, Manchester. His roles include:[6][7]

Honours

Griffiths was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to drama and diversity.[8][9]

References
  1. "Sir Bob Geldof to be honoured by Gold Badge Awards - M Magazine". 10 September 2014.
  2. "Coronation Street: Derek Griffiths to leave soap". BBC.com. 17 March 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  3. Animal antics on Channel 5 web site (retrieved 19 January 2013). Archived 4 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Man Down Episode Guide, accessed 22 November 2017
  5. "Derek Griffiths". 27 October 2009.
  6. Murray, Braham (2007). The worst it can be is a disaster. London: Methuen Drama. ISBN 978-0-7136-8490-2.
  7. The Royal Exchange Theatre Company Words & Pictures 1976-1998, ISBN 0-9512017-1-9.
  8. "No. 62866". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 2019. p. N18.
  9. "Order of the British Empire, Derek Griffiths". The Gazette. 27 December 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
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