Peter Dickson (announcer)

Peter Dickson is a Northern Irish voice-over artist. After spending a period working on hospital radio, he became a newsreader at BBC Northern Ireland and worked for Good Morning Ulster. After tiring of covering The Troubles, he moved to BBC Radio 2 in London, spending ten years there before going freelance. He is best known for announcing The X Factor, though has also announced various other talent shows and game shows and the channel E4.

Peter Dickson was born in Knock, Belfast^[1] to a father who had a clerical job at Harland & Wolff and a mother,^[2] he attended Belfast Royal Academy, where he sat A-levels in geology, physics, and geography. He moved to Queen's University Belfast in 1975, where he met his future wife; he graduated in 1979, having written his thesis on childhood memory development.^[3] He spent a period working as a porter at the Stormont Hotel in Belfast^[2] and then time broadcasting on hospital radio.^[4]

Dickson became a newsreader at BBC Northern Ireland, where he worked on Good Morning Ulster.^[1] Several sources claim that he was the youngest newsreader ever and that he got the job aged 17;^[5][6][3] however, he has stated that he got the job while studying at university.^[1] His first job at BBC Northern Ireland was reading fatstock prices to farmers at 6am;^[2] a subsequent job there entailed breaking the news of the assassination of Lord Mountbatten.^[6] After tiring of reporting on The Troubles, he moved to BBC Radio 2 in London in 1982, where he worked with Terry Wogan^[6] and presented the comedy series Peter Dickson's Nightcap, which ran for four years.^[5]

Dickson moved next to Chequers in 1991, where he has lived next to several Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom.^[2] Around the time he moved in, he launched Melody 105.4 FM, on which he presented the breakfast show for four years.^[7] He left the BBC in 1992 to go freelance;^[2] around this time, he appeared in Harry Enfield & Chums.^[8] Dickson began his voiceover career after providing voices for Steve Wright's radio show, for which he would create characters,^[7] and was subsequently hired for Bruce Forsyth's version of The Price Is Right.^[7] By 2003, he had developed the nickname "Peter Diction" for his careful enunciation.^[9]

Dickson began providing a bombastic voiceover for The X Factor in 2004,^[10][11][12] where his job was to introduce the contestants to the stage and to shout "It's time to face the music".^[13] He has stated that he got the job after a sound supervisor on Test the Nation suggested that he audition.^[14] His pronunciation of the name of one series six contestant, Rachel Adedeji, became especially popular.^[15][16] Writing in July 2015, The Independent wrote that Dickson's voiceover was integral to the series' success and that his "over-enunciation of commonplace syllables lent the show a pomp and pageantry which it could never have earned otherwise".^[17]

Dickson took over the voiceover for E4 in 2006 following the death of Patrick Allen.^[8] Two years later, he narrated The Mental Spa, a podcast presented by Emma Clarke and Dan Whittaker,^[18] and Britain's Got the Pop Factor... and Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly on Ice, a parody of talent shows such as The X Factor. He stated in his 2020 autobiography Voiceover Man that The X Factor's creator Simon Cowell had been initially annoyed by Dickson's involvement in the latter but cooled after seeing how popular the show was with viewers.^[19] As a member of Peter Dickson & The Shakettes, he released the August 2010 single "Shake It", a promotional vehicle for the milkshake bar Shakeaway.^[20] Around this time, a different Peter Dickson bought the firm.^[21]

In 2011, Dickson provided the voiceover for a Staffordshire University student's masters dissertation on the requirements of successful comedians^[22] and his own app, Peter Dickson's Pocket Announcer.^[23] Around this time, he was seeking employment as an announcer for movie trailers in Los Angeles.^[24] In 2013,^[2] after tiring of people asking him how to enter the voiceover industry,^[25] he and his friend Hugh Edwards co-founded Gravy for the Brain, a training academy based in Banbury.^[2][26] The following year,^[27] Dickson produced a relaxation tape for use in a Buttery Brown Monk sketch^[28] and appeared on the BBC One Northern Ireland panel show Monumental.^[29]

By July 2015, Dickson's voice had become synonymous with The X Factor and he had announced Britain's Got Talent, Family Fortunes, All Star Mr & Mrs,^[13] and Live at the Apollo.^[30] He left The X Factor that month^[13] but returned for that year's live finals,^[8] leaving the previous week's Judges' Houses for Redd Pepper.^[31] In 2017, he played a disgruntled phone-in caller on John Cleese Presents...;^[32] by April 2018, he had narrated 100 television shows and 30,000 adverts.^[2] His voice has been mimicked by impressionists including Britain's Got Talent contestants^[33][34] and Joe Lycett.^[35]

• Voiceover Man – The Extraordinary Story of a Professional Voice Actor (Provox Publishing)

• Official website
• Peter Dickson at IMDb