Sad news this morning, folks – Phil Sayer, a voice artist whose tones can be heard restraining over-keen passengers across London’s Underground stations, died yesterday at the age of 62.
According to the BBC, the voice artist and radio presenter died of cancer. His wife Elinor Hamilton, with whom he ran a voice-over company, posted a touching message on the company’s Facebook page to announce his death:
Sayer’s “Mind the Gap” recording is played across most of London’s Tube stations, so think of him if you hear it today.
One notable exception, though, is Embankment, where an announcement by the actor Oswald Laurence was kept on after his widow, Dr Margaret McCullum, begged for it to be reinstated.
McCullum used to visit Embankment station just to listen to her husband’s announcement after it was phased out elsewhere: “Since he died I would sit and wait for the next train until I heard his voice.” When it was replaced in November 2012 becuase of a new digital system, she was devastated to find “he wasn’t there” anymore. Thankfully, TfL relented, and also gave McCullum her own copy of the recording.
