Preston Lockwood's voice was a comforting presence for listeners brought up during the Second World War by the BBC Repertory Company. It was a warm and authoritative tone that took the listener by the lapel and led them through the dramatist's imagination. Friendly or menacing, thoughtful or whimsical, it was a quintessential example of "received" English, as we used to call it.
Lockwood was the son of a London Transport driving instructor and grew up between the wars, when every town or city suburb had two or three theatres. He treasured the weekly repertory theatre, where he would learn one play in the morning, rehearse another in the afternoon, and perform a third at night. Productions may have been a bit "rough," but they made an actor ready for anything.
Before everything was pre-recorded, plays went out "live," and Lockwood would vividly recall the days of Saturday Night Theatre, when the cast would gather round a microphone to continue their performance during a Nazi air-raid on London. It was the teamwork of such broadcasts and weekly rep that Lockwood loved and missed in later years.
Lockwood's early years were spent in the world of wireless drama, where he would often play characters that were not dissimilar from himself - friendly, authoritative, and warm. He was a staple of Children's Hour, playing Dennis the Dachshund in Toytown, and would pop up now and then on television as a doctor, the Lord Chancellor, a butler, or a ghost.
In his eighties, Lockwood gained fame once more, this time in a Cutting Edge programme, where he played an old golfer at Northwood, Middlesex, describing his attitude to the game, his club, and the rights of women players. He was also seen in Miss Marple, The Power Game, Doctor Who, Keeping Up Appearances, and Inspector Morse, among many other shows.
Lockwood's film credits included Julius Caesar, Time Bandits, Great Expectations, The Pirates of Penzance, and Lady Caroline Lamb, in which he played a publisher. He was a solid workaday player who loved the work wherever it led him, and he was seldom out of it.
