The Many Worlds of Lewis Macleod
Published: Friday 7th October 2022
It's a uniquely impressive set of universes to be part of: Star Wars. Harry Potter. War Of The Worlds. Postman Pat.
Lewis Macleod has lent his famously versatile voice to all of them - as well as appearing in shows like Dead Ringers, Look Around You and Toast Of Tinseltown (playing Orson Welles in the latter). Now he's got a link with Phoenix Nights too, as his spirit-channelling creation Ramone Tamine is the new antagonist for that enduring psychic phenomenon, Clinton Baptiste, as played by Alex Lowe.
Their beef began on Baptiste's podcast, and the warring duo are now touring. So it's the perfect time to ask about Macleod's greatest characters, from Jedi master Obi Wan Kenobi (in various Star Wars games) to postmaster Pat.
Where did Ramone emerge from? Did he arrive fully formed or evolve a fair bit?
He wasn't fully formed. I came up with the character as Alex needed a nemesis for Clinton to work with. I riffed the voice with him and came up with the name and we went into the recording. It took just a few minutes.
How's his relationship with Baptiste? Does it compare to other great rivals?
He and Clinton have bickered for years after Ramone claimed he stole his act. They have a grudging respect for each other. Possible rivals would include Gore Vidal and Bill Buckley, Siegfried & Roy or Burton & Taylor :)
Taking over as Postman Pat was a pretty big deal - did you try to add anything new, or stay true to the original?
The character was already well established having been played so beautifully by the late Ken Barrie.
The producers wanted to make him younger sounding, and I was asked to give some suggestions. I ended up playing Pat, the depot manager Ben Taylor and Alf the farmer.
Were you at all nervous about voicing Obi Wan Kenobi - big shoes to fill?
This was an exciting job to do as I'd just finished on the movie The Phantom Menace, playing Sebulba.
The sessions were great fun. We would link up with San Francisco at 6am their time and the client was on the phone from his bed. He'd often fall asleep during the recordings and we'd have to shout to him to wake up, down the phone.
You worked with Peter Serafinowicz on Look Around You - did you reminisce about your Phantom Menace days?
Working with Peter was an amazing time. We wrote and performed a series called The Two Dannys for Radio 4 from 1996-98. It was a riot. We both got Star Wars Episode One within about three weeks of each other, while writing the series.
War Of The Worlds, Harry Potter too - you must be in demand for comic-cons?
War Of The Worlds came in three weeks after finishing work on Star Wars in 1997. Recording on the mic at Jeff Wayne's house in which Richard Burton said 'No one would have believed in the last years of the 19th century...' was incredible.
I played the Martians on the video game and it ended up on the live tour and is still being used.
Finally, is there an impression you find yourself doing outside of work? And one person you've never quite managed to nail?
David Cameron was a hard voice to do. Duncan Wisbey and Rory Bremner nailed it.
We're on tour at the moment and there's lots of Ian McKellen and Professor Brian Cox impressions to make us laugh.
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