Guest c4evap Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 NEWS FLASH Former Doctor Who actor Tom Baker is to be the voice of a talking text message service for three months. He replaces BT's computerised voice which currently translates texts into voice messages on a landline. Baker, 72, who also narrates sketch show Little Britain, was chosen for his instantly recognisable voice. It took him 11 days to record 11,593 phrases and sounds which could then be broken down and reassembled by a computer to make new words. Engineers then spent five months processing the recordings so the computer would be able to recognise it and translate them into words using English pronunciation. Rude words The service also recognises common text abbreviations such as "gr8" and will translate "xx" into "kiss kiss", while "xxxx" is "lots of kisses". BT says there are no barriers to what Baker's voice can say - including rude words. "What appeals to me most is the thought that I will be bringing good news to people whether it is a cheeky message, a birthday greeting, or just a quick hello," said Baker. "Whatever it is, hopefully my voice will bring a smile to people's faces." c4 B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USWhoFan Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 Now that's pretty darn cool. B) Too bad I can't get that over here. :( (We always lose out on the good stuff!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hrimmer Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 Oh how I want that so bad. I've never been sadder to be a Yank in my life. Now that's pretty darn cool. B) Too bad I can't get that over here. :( (We always lose out on the good stuff!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
underscore Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 Yeah, this is a pretty damn cool idea!!!!!! You never know, they might do some kind of online tom baker speech thing for you americans :) I had pictured something like this, in case you havent already seen this page, http://www.sr.se/p1/src/sing/ The first message i typed in was " I am a dirty horse" It sounded great. Have fun!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paniq Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 wonder if people will be inserting phrases like "I used to be doctor who you know" when they send messages. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnifex Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 Yeah, this is a pretty damn cool idea!!!!!! You never know, they might do some kind of online tom baker speech thing for you americans :) I had pictured something like this, in case you havent already seen this page, http://www.sr.se/p1/src/sing/ The first message i typed in was " I am a dirty horse" It sounded great. Have fun!! Sry dude, but that absolutely sucks.. it's just a mishmash of sound. :p As for the original post... Yeah, I saw this yesterday and was gonna post it.... but I didn't.... ah well.........Did you see the bbc streaming interview of him talking about it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pella Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 The possibilties of this are endless hehehehehehe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StitchInTime Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 wonder if people will be inserting phrases like "I used to be doctor who you know" when they send messages. LOL "used to be?" As he has often said, he never quit being the Doctor. :cyclops: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StitchInTime Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 Did you see the bbc streaming interview of him talking about it? Alas, no, but someone did do a transcript of an inverview, . . . Tom Baker: The 5-Minute Interview 'The living are just the dead on holiday' By Elisa Bray Published: 31 January 2006 The former 'Doctor Who' actor, Tom Baker, 72, is the voice of BT Text for three months. When you send a text to a landline, Tom's voice will read the message. Being the voice of text appeals to me because ... Everybody wants to give good news. All my life I wanted to. And text is largely good news and making people happy. If I wasn't talking to you right now I'd be ... Telling lies to someone else. A phrase I use far too often is ... "Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be." I say it often to my wife who is a good deal younger than me, but she doesn't often see the joke. I wish people would take more notice of ... Where their dogs shit. Where I live in Toulouse it's as if they all play hopscotch. I love dogs but I hate some of the people who have them. The most surprising thing that ever happened to me ... Was BT choosing me to be their voice. I'm going to talk to millions of people. I'm so reassuring; I keep sending myself messages. I'm not a politician but ... I adore political scandal and to see some wretched would-be coming adrift. I love Charles Kennedy. The next time I see him I'm going to buy him a drink. The next time I see Simon Hughes I'm going to squeeze his leg. Huhne, I'm not going to go near. The ideal night out is ... A night in. Bed is actually, I think, my second favourite place. A common misperception of me is ... That I'm difficult. I'm not. I'm good at ... Persuading people they need me but I'm very bad at being needed. In moments of weakness ... I tell the truth to disarm criticism. People who've done dreadful things plead guilty in the hope they will get it over with. In a truer life, I would have been a ... Good waiter. Not as good as Edward Fox in Shaw's You Never Can Tell. It would be funny if I worked in an Indian. In a nutshell, my philosophy is ... The living are just the dead on holiday. The former 'Doctor Who' actor, Tom Baker, 72, is the voice of BT Text for three months. When you send a text to a landline, Tom's voice will read the message. And, an article, . . . A brief rumble with Tom Baker : Tim de Lisle Wednesday February 1, 2006 The Guardian Tom Baker's voice is rich, dark and traditional, a great big slice of fruitcake soaked in molasses. And it has slowly turned into a national treasure. The Former Dr Who has become The Voice of Little Britain, and now he's going to play you and me. Send a text to a BT landline and your words will be spoken by a disembodied Baker. BT chose him for his broad appeal; at 72, he is the young person's old person. I call him to talk voices. His seems to have become an icon. "Well, yeah," he booms, " but that's because of comedy, isn't it? It's because of Little Britain. Advertising people are very reassured if you've been in something that has done well with the young. Yesterday I was doing McDonald's hamburgers!" Telephone voices tend to be cool, clinical and female. Not this one. "You wouldn't want a freezing, robotic voice," he thunders. "I had thousands of nonsensical phrases to read out, and I read them very warmly. Most text messages are passionate or funny, and some, of course, are utterly treacherous or wicked. We don't want any indifference! Wickedness is marvellously expressed when it's warm." Voiceovers have been Baker's constant in a hot-and-cold career. After making his name as Rasputin in Nicholas and Alexandra in 1971 (for which he received a Golden Globe nomination), Baker was working on a building site before landing Dr Who. His first voiceover came along in 1973. "I was filling in because they couldn't get someone well-known. It was for [his voice darkens] Noir, the after-dark aftershave. They hadn't quite written it and there were a lot of people from the agency, all throwing in their threepennyworth. I was going for it, very keen. And it changed my life, because these people knew who I was, and soon I was doing Sainsbury's." I wonder what other voices he likes. "I don't have a log in my head of voices I like, I have a log of voices I don't," he rumbles, "like ... Michael Winner. When I hear his voice, I reach for my Magnum, and I'm not talking champagne." His favourite voice of all, though, is someone less well known. "Michael Jayston. He has this wonderful warmth, so you want to believe in what he says. It's a very dangerous quality, it's the great quality of seduction, which is why he works all the time. I don't see much of him now, but he once bought me a suit when we were in Hollywood and I had no money - a jumbo cord suit, a most wonderful light gold colour." In the background, Baker's mobile rings. "Hello, who's that?" he roars. "Well, piss off! No, don't leave me a message because I can't retrieve it. I've got this incredibly complicated phone that I don't know how to use." Speaking for us all instead may prove less difficult. And, another, . . . Tom Baker on a phone near you Last Modified: 31 Jan 2006 Source: ITN Little Britain narrator and former Dr Who star Tom Baker has been employed by BT to be the voice of text messages on UK landlines. Tom, 72, replaces the anonymous voice now used on BT Text, the service which allows mobile text messages to be sent and received on a home phone. He was chosen for the role because of his instantly recognisable voice. In a recent poll of celebrity voices, his was voted the fourth most recognisable in the UK, behind the Queen, Tony Blair, and Margaret Thatcher. Tom, who played The Doctor in Doctor Who in the 1970s, is now most famous for his idiosyncratic voice-overs on the hit comedy Little Britain. It took British Telecom engineers five months to record and process his voice. The actor spent a total of 11 days recording 11,593 phrases covering every single sound in the English language. These were broken down into combinations of sounds that could be separated and reassembled by computer to make new words, following the rules of English pronunciation. BT says there is no limit to the words Baker's voice can say - even rude ones are included. The system can also recognise text-speak abbreviations, such as "gr8", and "cu l8r". Type "xx" into a text message, and Tom's voice will be heard saying "kiss kiss". If there are four or more xs, the message becomes "lots of kisses". "It's a big responsibility to be Britain's voice of text," said Tom. "What appeals to me most is the thought that I will be bringing good news to people whether it is a cheeky message, a birthday greeting, or just a quick hello. Whatever it is, hopefully my voice will bring a smile to people's faces." Tom will lend his voice to BT Text for three months. Last year, 82 million texts were sent each day in the UK. The Mobile Data Association expects 100 million to be sent this year. And, a link with a video clip, . . . http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4665254.stm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
underscore Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 Just a mish mash of sound carnifex? Damn you sir! Thats what made it funny for me anyway :) You could definitely get baker to say some off key stuff though couldnt you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyran Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 just a noise for me lol gonna be some rude texts i'd say specially mine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenebrae Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 What will it translate XXX to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Clark Posted February 5, 2006 Share Posted February 5, 2006 Anyone listen to Dead Ringers? All the ideas for texts you could ever need! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paniq Posted February 6, 2006 Share Posted February 6, 2006 Anyone interested in watching TB's interview on either "Today with Des and Mel" or "Richard and Judy" may like to know that torrents of these are on the (registered) tracker UKnova.com 70M each. Details: The Richard and Judy Show, Channel 4, Tuesday 31st January 2006, 5:00 PM XviD, 820 kbps, 720 x 432, 16:9, 25 fps. 75,130,880 bytes : 12 minutes 7 seconds Today with Des and Mel, ITV 1, Wednesday 1st February 2006, 1:30 PM XviD, 820 kbps, 720 x 432, 16:9, 25 fps. 77,234,176 bytes : 12 minutes 49 seconds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StitchInTime Posted February 6, 2006 Share Posted February 6, 2006 Wow! I didn't notice that. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anonyman Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 "used to be?" As he has often said' date=' he never quit being the Doctor. :cyclops:[/quote'] Then why'd he refuse to do the Five Doctors episode? Because he quit. He was tired of the Doctor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StitchInTime Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 He was tired of the Doctor. I don't remember all the details about his reasons, but being tired of it was not one of them. One reason had to do with it being too painful to go back to it because it had been so difficult to leave, and he didn't want to be reminded of that. He also said afterwards that he regretted that he hadn't done The Five Doctors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antilles Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 BRITAIN, BRITAIN, BRITAIN....... I wish Microsoft would get his voice too for text to speech on PCs, would be much cooler than the voices we normally get, then we could have him say all his famous phrases over and over hahaha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amnot Borg Posted March 19, 2006 Share Posted March 19, 2006 Couldn't you just use sound wavs from the show? Like these? I'm not very familiar with all of them but they are Tom Baker's Dr. Who. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megalith Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 Now Microsoft Text to speech in the voice of Tom Baker i would go for coming from the UK idont like that this has an american accent as it is (no i'm not being anti american but words like colour dont sound right in an american accent) you can change the dictionary, the clock, the keyboard but not the voice... and hell Tom's voice has already been done just need to get the info from BT and make a few mods to the MS script and hey presto .... now thinking about it it could be done independantly of microsoft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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