Peter Dickson is a Northern Irish announcer. 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 has announced for the channel E4 and for various talent shows including The X Factor.

Life and career Peter Dickson was born in Knock, Belfast, to a father who had a clerical job at Harland & Wolff and a mother; 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. He spent a period working as a porter at the Stormont Hotel in Belfast and then time broadcasting on hospital radio.

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

In 1991, Dickson moved next to a house next to Chequers, where his neighbours have included Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom. Around the time he moved in, he launched Melody 105.4 FM, on which he presented the breakfast show for four years. After leaving the BBC in 1992 to go freelance, he appeared in Harry Enfield & Chums. Dickson began his voiceover career after providing voices for Steve Wright's radio show, for which he would create characters, and was subsequently hired for Bruce Forsyth's version of The Price Is Right. By 2003, he had developed the nickname "Peter Diction" for his careful enunciation.

Dickson began providing a voiceover for The X Factor in 2004, where his job was to introduce the contestants to the stage and to shout "It's time to face the music". He has stated that he got the job after a sound supervisor on Test the Nation suggested that he audition. His pronunciation of the name of one series six contestant, Rachel Adedeji, became especially popular. Multiple sources describe his voiceover as "bombastic", with The Independent additionally writing in July 2015 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".

Dickson took over the voiceover for E4 in 2006 following the death of Patrick Allen. Two years later, he narrated The Mental Spa, a podcast presented by Emma Clarke and Dan Whittaker, 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 Factors 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. As a member of Peter Dickson & The Shakettes, he released the August 2010 single "Shake It", a promotional vehicle for the milkshake bar Shakeaway.

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

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, and Live at the Apollo. He left The X Factor that month but returned for that year's live finals, leaving the previous week's Judges' Houses for Redd Pepper. In 2017, he played a disgruntled phone-in caller on John Cleese Presents...; by April 2018, he had narrated 100 television shows and 30,000 adverts. His voice has been mimicked by impressionists including Britain's Got Talent contestants and Joe Lycett.

Works

Filmography YearSeriesEpisode(s)Role1994Harry Enfield & ChumsEpisodes 2 and 5Ensemble actor1995The Smell of Reeves and MortimerEpisodes 1 and 3Announcer1995–2007The Price Is RightEight seriesAnnouncer1995Quote... UnquoteSeries 19Reader1995–2006They Think It's All Over20 seriesAnnouncer1996–97TellystackSeries 1Announcer1997Last Chance LotterySeries 1Announcer2000–02; 2007–2015Family Fortunes, All Star Family FortunesSeries 20–21, Series 2–presentAnnouncer2001It's Not the AnswerSeries 1Announcer2002CatchphraseSeries 17Announcer2002–06Test the Nation15 episodesAnnouncer2003Monkey DustSeries 1Various (voice)2004–06The DepartmentSeries 1–3Ensemble actor2004–14, 2015–19The X Factor16 seriesAnnouncer2004–09The Paul O'Grady ShowSeries 1–11Announcer2005The Big CallSeries 1Announcer2005Hit Me, Baby, One More TimeSeries 1Announcer2005–07Gameshow MarathonTwo seriesAnnouncer2006Not Today, Thank YouSeries 1Ensemble actor2007HedzSeries 1Various (voice)2007–16, 2018–presentLive at the ApolloSeries 3–12, 14–presentAnnouncer2007–presentBritain's Got TalentSeries 1–presentAnnouncer2007Soapstar SuperstarSeries 1Announcer2007Soapstar SuperchefSeries 1Announcer2008–16All Star Mr & MrsEight seriesAnnouncer2008Britain's Got the Pop Factor...Series 1Announcer2008Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding DongSeries 2Announcer2008Hole in the WallSeries 1Announcer2009No Signal!Series 1Various2009–11Chris Moyles' Quiz NightFive seriesAnnouncer2009Michael McIntyre's Comedy RoadshowTwo seriesAnnouncer2009Harry Hill's TV BurpSeries 9, episodes 9 and 11–14; series 10, episodes 4–8Announcer2009–15OOgliesThree seriesAnnouncer2010–16Channel 4's Comedy GalaSeven seriesAnnouncer2010Edinburgh Comedy Fest LiveFive seriesAnnouncer2010The King Is DeadSeries 1Announcer2010Comedy Central at the Comedy StoreSeries 1 and 3Announcer2010Celebrity JuiceSeries 4, episode 8 and "The Best Bits"Self2010Magic NumbersSeries 1Announcer2010Mission: 2110Series 1Announcer2012Alan Carr: Chatty Man"Alan Carr's Summertime Specstacular"Announcer2013Births, Deaths, and MarriagesSeries 2, episode 2Peter2013Funny Old YearSeries 2Announcer2014MonumentalSeries 2, episode 1Self2015Miffy's Adventures Big and SmallSeries 1, episodes 1–12, 17–23, 25Uncle Pilot2017John Cleese Presents...Series 1Ensemble actor2017Pointless CelebritiesSeries 10, episode 31Self2018ObsessionsSeries 1, episode 4Self2020Isolation Song ContestSeries 1Announcer2025Michael McIntyre's Big ShowSeries 8, episode 6Self

Singles YearTitleCreditRef2009"What a Bunch of Bankers"Voiceoverman & The Credit Crunchers2010"Shake It"Peter Dickson & The Shakettes

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

References

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