John Leeson, 1943 – 2026

British actor John Leeson, best known for voicing the robot dog K9 in Dr. Who and its many, many spin-offs, died on Nov. 1. He was 83. Leeson went to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and had a very respectable stage career, appearing in such shows as Plaza Suite, Flint, and Don't Start Without Me. His film and TV credits include Crossroads, Dad’s Army, Crown Court, Jigsaw, The Barretts of Wimpole Street, ‘Allo ‘Allo!, The Bill, and Vanity Fair. But it was his voice-over work that brought him fame: Leeson played Bungle the bear in the 1970s kids’ show Rainbow, and of course there was K9—he voiced that character from 1977-88, and in such spinoffs as Dimensions in Time, Shada, The Companion Chronicles,  The Sarah Jane Adventures, You Can’t Run Forever, and others; he even titled his cookbook Dog’s Dinners. Leeson was a wine expert, lecturing for the Wine & Spirit Education Trust; he was also a justice of the peace in Ealing for 25 years, and ran (unsuccessfully) for local offices as a Liberal Democrat. He is survived by his third wife (since 1969), production assistant Judy Ducker, and their son, film editor and director Guy Ducker. Leeson said of his most famous role, “Well you don’t leave RADA hoping to get the part of K9. It’s one of those really weird jobs that comes up. A friend of mine, a director I’d worked with years ago in rep in the North of England, was in a local pub and I was there too. He said ‘I may have something for you.’ A week later, my agent called me up and said ‘John, I’ve just had the BBC on the line, they’d like you to play a tin dog in Doctor Who. What do you think?’ I thought, well, I’d been asked to do some strange things in my time, I had nothing to lose, except my dignity, my sanity and my family, so I did it.”