by Jennifer Whitehead Brand Republic 20-Feb-06, 13:00
LONDON - Tom Baker and Joanna Lumley are the voices that Radio Times readers most want to hear providing voiceovers for radio and television ads.
The pair were named best male and female voices respectively, out of a list of 50 of the most distinctive voices on television and radio. They were voted for by 4,500 readers of BBC Magazine's Radio Times via the radiotimes.com website.
Baker, who is famous for his long-running stint as 'Doctor Who', has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity after providing the voiceover for BBC comedy 'Little Britain'. He was also recently revealed as the voice of BT's voiced text message service.
Other popular male voices are Stephen Fry, James Nesbitt and Terry Wogan. Lumley was joined by Davina McCall and BBC news presenter Fiona Bruce as the most popular women.
At the other end of the scale, the poll also revealed who were the worst voices. Camp comic Julian Clary and Londoner Janet Street-Porter topped a list that revealed a dislike of speech impediments and strong regional accents -- others on the list were Brian Sewell, Jonathan Ross, Barbara Windsor and Cilla Black.
Lorraine Kelly and Jeremy Clarkson had the distinction of appearing simultaneously on best and worst voices lists.
The survey was conducted to tie in with a Radio 4 documentary called 'A Voice Like Honey', looking at advances in vocal surgery to help people with serious medical conditions.