Derek Griffiths is a British actor and voice artist who appeared in numerous British children's television series in the 1960s to present and has more recently played parts in TV drama.
Career
Griffiths was known in his early years for his Play School appearances alongside the likes of Chloe Ashcroft, Johnny Ball and Brian Cant. A talented multi-instrumentalist, he voiced over and sang the theme tune to Heads and Tails, a series of short animal films for children produced by BBC Television, and also sang and played the theme tune to the cartoon Bod. Another children's TV role was in Granada Television's early 1980s series Film Fun, in which he played the entire staff of a cinema while also showing cartoons such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner. He appeared on Crown Court as an accused fraudster Raoul Lapointe, from the Belgian Congo. In 1975, Griffiths played Ko-Ko in The Black Mikado at London's Cambridge Theatre. He was also the English voice of SuperTed. In 1997, Griffiths originated the role of Lumière in the original West End production of Beauty and the Beast at the Dominion Theatre and played the role of the Child Catcher in the West End run of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium. In 2014, Derek Griffiths was presented with a BASCA Gold Badge of Merit award. This was in acknowledgement of his unique contribution to music. From 2016, he played Freddie Smith in Coronation Street: he left the role in March 2017 to star in a stage production of Driving Miss Daisy.
Children's TV work
Play School
Play Away
Cabbages and Kings
Various Look and Read stories as singer, including:
*"Cloud Burst" as singer.
*"The King's Dragon" as singer.
*"Sky Hunter" as singer.
*"The Boy From Space" as singer.
*"Dark Towers" as singer.
*"Fair ground!" as singer.
*"Geordie Racer" as singer.
*"Through The Dragon's Eye" as singer.
*"Earth Warp" as voiceover.
"Watch It!" regular continuity announcer on children's ITV segment for Yorkshire Television.
Bod where he composed the theme music for each of the main five characters.
"Ring-a-Ding!" stories & singer
"Heads and Tails" as voiceover and singer.
"Insight" as presenter and various characters in this Yorkshire Television educational series for deaf and hearing-impaired children
Dinosaurs: Fun, Fact and Fantasy as the voice of Dil the Crocodile.
SuperTed as the voice of SuperTed.
*The Further Adventures of SuperTed as the voice of SuperTed in the UK version.
Muzzy in Gondoland as the voice of Bob and Corvax.
King Greenfingers as narrator.
The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends as Simpkin in animated short stories based on the popular book series.
Christopher Crocodile as narrator.
Mio Mao as the narrator and all of the characters in the UK dub.
Film Fun
Little Red Tractor as the voices of Mr Jones and Walter
Animal Antics as narrator.''
"Sarah & Duck" Series 2 Episode 3: Cloud Tower as Cloud Captain
Comedy TV work
Please Sir!
Till Death Us Do Part
The Cobblers of Umbridge as The people of Umbridge.
Dick Whittington by Derek Griffiths. World premiere directed by Derek Griffiths at the Royal Exchange, Manchester.
Athos, The Three Musketeers by Braham Murray and Derek Griffiths. World premiere directed by Braham Murray at the Royal Exchange, Manchester.
Frontignac, Have you anything to declare? by Maurice Hennequin. British premiere directed by Braham Murray for the Royal Exchange, Manchester at the Roundhouse, London.
Rick, The Nerd by Larry Shue. European premiere directed by Braham Murray at the Royal Exchange, Manchester.
Khlestakov, The Government Inspector by Nikolai Gogol. Directed by Braham Murray at the Royal Exchange, Manchester.
The bluebird of unhappiness by Woody Allen. Directed by Braham Murray at the Royal Exchange, Manchester.
Feste, Twelfth Night. Directed by Braham Murray at the Royal Exchange, Manchester.
Oscar, The Odd Couple by Neil Simon. Directed by Ronald Harwood at the Royal Exchange, Manchester.
Sergeant Kite, The Recruiting Officer by George Farquhar. Directed by Braham Murray at the Royal Exchange, Manchester.