John Sparkes

For those of a similar name, see John Sparks (disambiguation) and John Sparke (disambiguation).
John Sparkes
Born (1954-01-09) 9 January 1954
Swansea, Wales
Occupation Comedian, actor, voice actor
Years active 1986–present
Notable work Fireman Sam
Peppa Pig

John Sparkes (born 9 January 1954) is a Welsh comedian, actor and voice actor born in Swansea and is more commonly known on Welsh television as Barry Welsh, in the award-winning (Best Light Entertainment, Welsh Baftas, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004) series Barry Welsh is Coming. He also had major roles in Naked Video, Absolutely, Pub Quiz, and Jeff Global's Global Probe, and is the narrator of children's TV show Peppa Pig.[1]

Naked Video and Absolutely

Sparkes starred in the sketch show Naked Video, where he played Siadwel, the geeky bedsit poet who wore an anorak and glasses.[2] The character also appeared when Sparkes was part of the BBC Radio 4 comedy programme Bodgers, Banks & Sparkes. After killing off Siadwel in Naked Video, Sparkes revived the character in 2014 for a new series of radio shows for BBC Radio Wales, which was recomissioned a year later.

He was one of the team behind the Channel 4 sketch show Absolutely, which ran for four years between 1989 and 1993.[3] Following an award-winning radio special, a new series for BBC Radio 4 was commissioned for broadcast in September 2015.[4]

Barry Welsh

Barry Welsh is Coming was a long-running comedy series for ITV Wales. As well as playing Barry Welsh, the hapless host of a chat show, Sparkes also plays other characters within the programme, such as pub singer Gwyn, Old Mr Ffff and Fishguard news reporter Hugh Pugh. Although the series ended in 2004, it returned in 2007 for a series of one-off specials.

Throughout its original run, the series also won four BAFTA Cymru awards for Best Light Entertainment.

Children's TV

He provides the voice of the narrator and some other characters in the children's animated series Peppa Pig[2] (in which the voice of fellow Absolutely star Morwenna Banks is also featured), in Shaun the Sheep he voices Bitzer the Dog and the Farmer. He also voices Mr. Elf and King Marigold in Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom. He also voices Professor von Proton in The Big Knights, Steven in A Town Called Panic, and Fireman Sam in the 2003-05 series.

Other work

In 2005 he performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Absolutely Presents John Sparkes and Pete Baikie with his colleague from Absolutely.[5]

For Welsh television he starred in Jeff Global's Global Probe (ITV Wales), and he resurrected the character Frank Hovis, originally devised for the Absolutely series, in Pub Quiz (BBC Wales).

Sparkes has written and presented three ongoing television series of Great Pubs of Wales for ITV Wales. He has voiced the unseen character of archivist Goronwy, in a section of Wallace and Gromit's World of Invention for BBC One and has written and presented Ghost Story in which he spent the night alone with a camcorder in haunted houses around Wales. He has also co-written and presented Doug Strong's Special Places, a factual comedy series for ITV Wales and ITV Central.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1989 Melancholia Roger Dere
2003 Calendar Girls Welsh Photographer
2015 Shaun the Sheep Movie The Farmer, Bitzer Voice role
2015 Peppa Pig: The Golden Boots Narrator Voice role

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1986 Naked Video Siadwel 6 episodes
1988 Cabaret at Jongleurs 1 episode
1989-1993 Absolutely Various characters 28 episodes
1992 Angry George Irons Voice role
1992 Saturday Zoo Glaswegian Matron 1 episode
1994-1995 The All New Alexei Sayle Show Various characters 8 episodes
1996-2004 Barry Welsh is Coming Barry Welsh, Hugh Pugh, various characters
1998 Comedy Nation Various roles
2000 The Strangerers Bilbo 2 episodes
2001-2005 Pub Quiz Frank Hovis
2002 A Town Called Picnic Voice role
2003-2005 Fireman Sam Samuel 'Sam' Peyton Jones Voice role
2004 Jeff Global's Global Probe Various roles
2004-present Peppa Pig Narrator, Mr. Rabbit, Mr. Potato, Uncle Pig Voice role
2005 Not Tonight with John Sergeant Barry Welsh TV movie
2007-present Shaun the Sheep The Farmer, Bitzer Voice role
2009 Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom Mister Elf, King Marigold, Zoe Baker Voice role
2015 Shaun the Sheep: The Farmer's Llamas The Farmer, Bitzer Voice role; TV special

References

External links

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