Stephen Moore - more than just a paranoid android

Favourite TV stars come in all shapes and sizes. In Stephen Moore’s case, it was in the form of loosely connected metallic boxes belonging to a rudimentary robot. A very depressed robot. Like many teenage boys I first encountered Marvin the Paranoid Android in the original Radio 4 production of Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Its success bred a book, LP and stage show before reaching the small screen.

It was only when the ‘unfilmable’ series appeared on BBC2 in January 1981 that the credits identified Stephen Moore as the voice behind Marvin that the actor registered with me. The idea of an electronic machine with a personality wasn’t new but one with such a morose, moody demeanour was sheer genius, and Marvin became a cult hero. Catchphrases like “Life. Don’t talk to me about life” and “Brain the size of a planet” entered mainstream vocabulary and his reflections of his early existence:

"The first ten million years were the worst, and the second ten million years, they were the worst too. The third ten million I didn't enjoy at all. After that I went into a bit of a decline"

remain amongst my most cherished lines in comedy history.

But Moore was not to be typecast. After all, there can’t be many alternative roles as manic depressive robots on stage or screen. That said, he’d already been in ITV’s Rock Follies as someone with Marvin-esque tendencies, but I never watched it. 1985’s The Last Place on Earth also passed me by. I think I did take the temperature of the 1981 Felicity Kendal vehicle Solo, in which Moore played the star’s on-off boyfriend, but I found Carla Lane’s scripts too lacking in laughs. Not for the first time, nor for the last.

Stephen was quite prolific in theatre, too. Round about the same time as his Hitchhiker heyday, I remember Catherine seeing him in the National Theatre production of Brecht’s play The Life of Galileo. Amidst all the big names (Gambon, Callow, Dignam et al), Moore was not top of the bill but it was his name in the programme which sparked my jealousy!

There were other Eighties shows in which I did witness Moore’s soft voice, kindly face and ever reliable support. He seemed to corner the market in long-suffering fathers of teenage boys. If Hitchhiker was the student book/series of the early Eighties, it was supplanted by Sue Townsend’s hilarious Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 ¾, another bestseller borne out of Radio 4. When it came to the inevitable TV adaptation, who else but Moore could play Adrian’s dad?

When it comes to problematic teens, few could challenge Kevin, one of the most memorable members of Harry Enfield’s collection of comic characters. In Harry Enfield and Chums, Stephen was frequently to be found on the settee trying to remonstrate with his son and exchange pleasantries with his mate Perry. While he was usually just feeding the lines to the star, just occasionally he would deliver the sketch’s punchline.

While there were other TV appearances, including the Chief Constable in the first two series of BBC1’s Merseybeat, for me he will always be associated with Marvin. Should I ever give up the ghost and follow the hordes down the SatNav or Alexa route, it would undoubtedly be Stephen Moore’s aforementioned android I’d choose as the voice. Just imagine: “Brain the size of a planet and you ask me to tell the time…”