European Railroad Discussion > Phil Sayer, "Voice of the London Underground," dies

Phil Sayer (what a name for an ANNOUNCER), the voice of
the London Underground ("MIND THE GAP," "STAND CLEAR OF THE
DOORS") has died. He was 62.

His wife Elinor wrote on their Facebook page:

> Phil Sayer - voice of reason, radio, and railways. A dearly loved
> husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend.
>
> We are sorry to announce that this service terminates here.

Not the original though!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21737161

https://youtu.be/_WpC2pnaAWI



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/17/16 20:53 by newtonville150.

Interestingly the oldest recorded message on the Underground that I came across was the woman's voice who told us to "stand clear of the doors" on the high-speed lifts at Hampstead. In the early 60s these were unique on the system - all other stations with lifts still used the originals, usually manually operated. The new automatic lifts at Hampstead were installed in the 1930s as it was by far the deepest station, and the voice was recorded on an old movie soundtrack-style optical celluloid loop. We used to imitate the voice as schoolboys, talking through our handkerchiefs!

I note that on the new S stock trains (which bristle with recorded information) a stern male voice is used for safety related warnings, while a female is used for "helpful" information about the next stop etc. Is this a subtle and covert form of sexism or am I being rather too PC?

Whenever somebody mentions the London Underground, I immediately start hearing "Mind the gap!"