John Leeson K9 obituary: Doctor Who voice dies aged 83

John Leeson, who voiced K9 in Doctor Who from the character’s debut in 1977, died on 1 November 2026. He was 83 years old, having been born on 16 March 1943. His son, Guy Ducker, announced the death on Facebook and the family issued a subsequent confirmation. A statement from the family noted that Leeson had been unwell during the summer months leading up to his death.

K9 first appeared in the Doctor Who serial The Invisible Enemy, broadcast in 1977. The character was introduced as a robot dog companion in the science fiction series and became a recurring presence in the programme during the years that followed its debut. Leeson provided the voice from that first serial and maintained his association with the character across multiple decades of Doctor Who productions.

When Doctor Who was revived in the 2000s, Leeson reprised the role. He voiced K9 in School Reunion, a 2006 episode from the revived series, which brought back characters and elements associated with the earlier run of the programme. His involvement with the franchise extended beyond that single episode. He continued to voice K9 in The Sarah Jane Adventures, the spin-off series, and later in the dedicated K9 series that gave the character its own stand-alone production.

Russell T Davies, who produced the revival of Doctor Who and created The Sarah Jane Adventures, paid tribute on learning of Leeson’s death. Davies described him as a true gent and a great loss. The tribute came from a producer who had worked with Leeson during the period when K9 featured across both the revived Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Before his association with Doctor Who, Leeson had established himself in a different area of British children’s television as the original performer of Bungle, the bear character in the long-running ITV series Rainbow. He created and originated the role before it passed to Stanley Bates. Rainbow ran for many years and remained a familiar part of British children’s broadcasting across successive decades.

News of Leeson’s death drew responses from those within the Doctor Who community and from others in the television industry. His connection to K9 began with The Invisible Enemy in 1977 and continued through The Sarah Jane Adventures and the K9 series, spanning a period that covered several different eras of the programme and multiple production teams. His family confirmed the announcement his son had made and described the summer of illness that preceded his death. He was 83 years old.