Nicholas Briggs (born 29 September 1961) is an English actor, writer, director, sound designer and composer. He is known for his association with the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who, particularly for voicing the Daleks and Cybermen since 2005. Briggs is also the executive producer of Big Finish Productions since 2006, for which he has produced, directed, written and acted in licensed Doctor Who audio dramas.
Early life and education
Briggs was born in Lyndhurst, Hampshire on 29 September 1961 and grew up in a housing estate in Totton. He described his upbringing as having a "working-class mentality". His father worked in the car industry and his mother was a secretary. His older brother Colin was a broadcaster who presented BBC Look North for two decades.
Briggs' first public acting role was in the Nativity musical Follow the Star in his final year of school. He went on to technical college to take his A-levels and a drama diploma. He studied at Rose Bruford College with Barry Killerby, known for portraying Mr Blobby. Briggs graduated in 1983 with a degree in theatre arts.
Career
1985–1997: Doctor Who spin-offs
Briggs grew up fascinated by the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. He did not immediately find acting work following his graduation, so he became involved with a group of fans who produced not-for-profit unlicensed Doctor Who audio dramas called the Audio Visuals. Fueled by Doctor Who<nowiki/>'s 1985 hiatus, four seasons were released between 1985 and 1991. Briggs played the Doctor in all but the first Audio Visuals release,
From 1985, Briggs hosted Myth Makers, a series of direct-to-video documentaries produced by Reeltime Pictures, in which he interviewed various cast and crew members of Doctor Who. According to Briggs, "Myth Makers gave me an outlet for performance that I wasn’t getting otherwise." He also appeared in the Blade Runner parody Myth Runner as a private detective on the run from his android double—the storyline was a framing device to showcase bloopers from the Myth Makers series.thumb|Briggs (second from right) with Doctor Who cast members in [[Inglewood, California, in 2010]]Briggs performed occasionally in London fringe theatre, before becoming an editorial assistant at the publishing company Visual Imagination in 1988, working on the magazines Starburst and TV Zone. In 1995, he became editor of the magazine Film Review.
Briggs continued to work on Doctor Who fan productions, writing various direct-to-video science fiction films produced by BBV Productions, which were inspired by Doctor Who and featured actors from the series. He also wrote for the Channel 5 soap opera Family Affairs in the late 1990s.
Briggs wrote the Auton trilogy (1997–1999), a direct-to-video film series which licensed the Autons from the estate of their creator Robert Holmes. On the Auton films, Briggs stated "they are by no means perfect, in fact they're horribly flawed. But I wrote and directed both of them under fairly impossible budgetary and time constraints, with a lovely team of actors". Undeterred, Briggs wrote and directed The Sirens of Time (1999), the first of Big Finish's monthly Main Range series. He stated that his performance draws "on all the greats of the past, like [previous Dalek performers] Peter Hawkins, David Graham, Roy Skelton and Michael Wisher", though his favourite is Hawkins. At Big Finish, Briggs wrote and directed four series of Dalek Empire, a Dalek-centered spinoff. He co-wrote the 2002 Doctor Who book The Dalek Survival Guide. Briggs voiced the Cyber-Controller and Professor Osborn in the 2002 webcast audio series Real Time.
During his early work at Big Finish, Briggs continued to act on stage. He played Sherlock Holmes in London fringe theatre, and also directed a provincial production of Noël Coward's play Private Lives. Briggs acted in the comedy series The League of Gentlemen (2002).
Briggs has also voiced the Cybermen since their debut in the revived series in "Rise of the Cybermen" (2006). Other vocal roles include the Nestene Consciousness in "Rose" (2005), the Ice Warrior Skaldak in "Cold War" (2013), and the Judoon in both Doctor Who and its spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures. Briggs has also performed many of the monsters' voices for toys, video games and promotional events.
In 2006, Briggs replaced Gary Russell as executive producer at Big Finish. In 2007, he guest starred in the Sapphire and Steel audio drama Water Like a Stone. In 2007 he appeared on The Weakest Link. Briggs made his first physical appearance in a BBC Doctor Who production when he played parliamentary adviser Rick Yates in the 2009 Torchwood serial Children of Earth.
Briggs appeared in Noel Clarke's films Adulthood (2008) and 4.3.2.1 (2010). In 2009, he appeared in the television series Lewis. In 2010, Briggs starred in Doctor Who Live as Winston Churchill.
Briggs voiced the Daleks in a charity theatre production of The Daleks' Master Plan (1965–1966) and briefly appeared on stage playing a regenerated Doctor. Briggs also recorded a short cameo as the Daleks for the live Dr Who podcast stage show, 50 Years of Doctor Who: Preachrs Podcast Live 2.
Briggs's Doctor Who novel The Dalek Generation was published in 2012. Briggs wrote and directed the first series of the Doctor Who audio drama Dark Eyes (2012), which won the Audio Drama 2014 Award for Best Online or Non-Broadcast Drama.
2013–present: Overseeing Big Finish
In 2013, Briggs was involved in various licensed productions which celebrated Doctor Who<nowiki/>'s 50th anniversary. He wrote and directed the commemorative Big Finish audio drama The Light at the End. Briggs portrayed original Dalek voice actor Peter Hawkins in the biographical television film An Adventure in Space and Time, which depicted the development of Doctor Who.
thumb|Briggs with [[Bernard Cribbins at the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Celebration Weekend in 2013]]Outside the realm of science fiction, Briggs has appeared on stage at Nottingham's Theatre Royal since 1997, including a run as Sherlock Holmes in Holmes and the Ripper by Brian Clemens and The House of the Baskervilles, adapted by Briggs himself.
Briggs has also been playing Sherlock Holmes in a series of Big Finish audio dramas since 2010. Productions include dramatised adaptations of Conan Doyle stories such as The Hound of the Baskervilles, "The Final Problem" and "The Empty House", as well as original stories such as The Adventure of the Perfidious Mariner, The Ordeals of Sherlock Holmes and The Judgement of Sherlock Holmes. Richard Earl co-stars as Dr. Watson.
With Theatre Royal, Nottingham, Briggs played roles including Count Dracula and Sherlock Holmes from 2010. In 2016, he directed a touring stage adaptation of Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
At Big Finish, he wrote and directed The Prisoner (2016–2017). Briggs presented Radio 7's daily science fiction segment Seventh Dimension since 2010. As of 15 April 2013, he is part of a rotating line-up of hosts of the 7th Dimension on BBC Radio 4 Extra.
Briggs also directed, created the sound design and composed the incidental music for all three series of the BBC Radio 4 science fiction comedy Nebulous, written by Graham Duff and starring Mark Gatiss.
Briggs co-hosts the Big Finish podcast, a promotional podcast for Big Finish Productions, and The Benji and Nick show, a podcast about cult television shows, with Benji Clifford, until September 2021.
Briggs voiced Nyder, Davros's assistant originated by Peter Miles, in the 2023 Doctor Who minisode Destination: Skaro.
Personal life
As of 2017, Briggs lives in Dorset with his wife Stephanie Hornett and son.
Filmography
thumb|Briggs signing autographs in 2008
Film
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Title !! Director !! Screenwriter !! Actor !! Role !! Notes
!Ref
|-
| 1987 || Wartime || || |||| Soldier || Also assistant director<br />Video short
|
|-
| 1991 || The Corridor Sketch || || |||| Reporter || Short
|
|-
| rowspan=2|1993 || The Stranger: In Memory Alone || |||||| Minor || rowspan=2|Direct-to-video
|
|-
| The Airzone Solution || |||||| Sam Flint
|
|-
| rowspan=2|1994 || The Stranger: The Terror Game || |||||| Raven || Also composer<br />Direct-to-video
|
|-
| Breach of the Peace || |||||| Evans || rowspan=4|Direct-to-video
|
|-
| 1995 || Eye of the Beholder || |||||| Soldier
|
|-
| 1997 || Auton |||||| ||
|
|-
| 1998 || Auton 2: Sentinel |||||||| Mike
|
|-
| 1999 || Auton 3 || |||| || || Credited as Arthur Wallis<br />Direct-to-video
|
|-
| 2008 || Adulthood || || |||| Max ||
|
|-
|BBC Proms
|Dalek Dialogue
|Episode- 'Doctor Who at the Proms'
|
|-
| 2015 || The Big Fat Quiz of the Year || Dalek ||
|
|-
| 2018|| Gerry Anderson's Firestorm|| R.E.M.U.S. || (voice) / main role
|
|-
|2020
|Daleks!
|Daleks
|Voices; main role
|
|-
|2024
|BBC Proms
|Dalek Dialogue<br />The Vlinx
|Episode-Doctor Who at the Proms
|
|-
|2025
|Obsolete
|Dalek voices
|
|
|}
Video games
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
|-
| 2003 || Judge Dredd: Dredd Vs. Death || Judge Death ||
|-
| 2010 || Doctor Who: The Adventure Games || Daleks<br />Cybermen<br />Oswald Fox || Daleks in "City of the Daleks"<br />Cybermen in "Blood of the Cybermen"<br />Oswald Fox in "Shadows of the Vashta Nerada"
|-
| 2015 || Lego Dimensions || Daleks<br />Cybermen<br />CyberKing<br />Dalek Emperor<br />Rusty the Friendly Dalek || Uncredited
|-
| 2022 || Eve Online || Daleks || Voice role
|}
Bibliography
- Doctor Who (in Doctor Who Magazine #218–220, 1994)
- The Dalek Survival Guide (, published by BBC Books 2002)
- The Dalek Generation (2012)
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
Further reading
External links
- Official website