Actor and star of The Archers

Born: June 4, 1930;

Died: April 23, 2019

EDWARD Harry Kelsey, who has died aged 88, was a gifted and versatile actor whose voice was known to millions of radio listeners and television viewers.

To any children enjoying the animated escapades of inept spy Dangermouse (1981-92), Kelsey provided not only the plummy tones of commanding officer Colonel K but also the scratchy, whispered villainy of the toad-like Baron Greenback.

On radio he made an even bigger impression. For listeners to Radio 4 he was the third actor – but longest running by a considerable margin – to play loveable ne’er-do-well Joe Grundy in The Archers, joining the soap in 1985.

Although often used for comic relief, he had his fair share of meaty storylines, not least when the family was evicted from their home of many years, Grange Farm, and forced to live on a local housing estate. This took its toll on Joe who, having been told he could no longer keep his beloved ferrets, was heard bludgeoning them to death with a hammer in an instalment of harrowing intensity.

It is a testament to Kelsey’s abilities that he could convey such raw emotion with the same level of skill as he did his character’s trademark humour, for Joe was every inch the wily yokel, dispensing rural wisdom and getting up to no good with a disarming guile that made him one of the series’ best loved characters. Kelsey died with some episodes in the can, so Archers fans will hear a few more mumbles and chuckles in Joe’s trademark treacly burr.

Edward was born in Petersfield, Hampshire, the son of a brewery manager and his wife, a full-time mother and talented dressmaker. Edward, known to friends and colleagues as Ted, put on plays to raise money for the Red Cross in the family’s front room and after appearing in the school nativity play was determined to become an actor.

His parents had other ideas and insisted that he study medicine, which he did for two years at the University of London before dropping out. He then did his national service with the Royal Air Force, conveniently stationed in Hampshire, travelling home on Wednesdays to rehearse for amateur productions. He auditioned for the Royal Academy of Music and was accepted, securing dispensation for early release from the forces.

Upon graduating in 1954 he was awarded the gold medal and the second ever Carleton Hobbs Award – a bursary rewarding chosen graduates every year with a six-month BBC radio contract. Future Archers stars – Patricia Gallimore (Pat Archer), Sara Coward (Caroline Sterling) and Tim Bentinck (David Archer) – were to follow in his footsteps.

He was therefore a regular voice in radio plays before and during his time on The Archers, and wrote a few as well. A good wordsmith, he had flirted with the idea of being a journalist, partly because it enabled him to get free theatre tickets for plays he was reviewing, and wrote the touring stage production The Archers’ Pageant, a celebration of the programme’s 40th year on the air in 1991.

He played many leading roles at Guildford repertory theatre between 1955 and 1960, and appeared at the West End with Dora Bryan at the Prince of Wales theatre in They Don’t Grow on Trees (1968).

His long list of television credits spanned several decades, beginning in 1958 with Mary Britton MD and ending with the hugely successful Aardman Animations film Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005). In between he cropped up in Shakespeare (The Age of Kings, 1960), fantasy adventures (The Avengers, 1963), police series (a number of appearances in Z-Cars from 1964 and in Juliet Bravo from 1981), war stories (Colditz, 1972) and sitcoms (The Vicar of Dibley 1994). He had a good role as Titus Price in Anna of the Five Towns (1985), played future Egyptian Prime Minister Mahmoud Fawzi in the TV drama Suez 1956 (1979) and was the first actor to play a guest part opposite more than one Doctor thanks to his three roles in Doctor Who: The Romans with William Hartnell (1965), Power of the Daleks (Patrick Troughton’s debut in 1966) and Tom Baker’s The Creature from the Pit in 1979.

He was an active member of the actor’s union Equity, fighting to secure good deals and equality for audio performers, and was on the examining board of the Royal Academy of Music.

He met Swedish student teacher Birgit Johansson at a dance in 1951 and they married in 1955. She was also an actress and dancer and went on to present in Swedish on the BBC World Service. She predeceased him as did a son, Peter, whilst two other children, Christopher and Lisbet, survive him. He was very proud to have become a great grandfather shortly before his death.