Peter Thomas

Born: 1924-06-28

Peter Addenbrooke Thomas was an American announcer and narrator of television programs with a career spanning more than 70 years, most well known for narrating the long-running true-crime series Forensic Files. Thomas performed voice-overs for hundreds of television commercials including Coca-Cola, IBM, Valvoline, NBC, United Technologies, Burger King, Beaumont Health and ESPN Monday Night Football commercials, as well as spots for social organizations including the YWCA and The Episcopal Church. He was in high demand for political advertisements and did several films for the US Dept. of Veterans Affairs. He also narrated the orientation video for the National World War I Museum at The Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri. He narrated the Readers Digest video series The Crucial Turning Points of World War II. He also narrated the NCAA's official highlight film of the 1985 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. Thomas was heard in Paul Hardcastle's 1985 hit song "19," which Hardcastle composed after being inspired by a 1984 ABC documentary on the Vietnam War, titled Vietnam Requiem, which Thomas narrated. He narrated the Troll Associates series of audiobooks for children, including "Amazing World of Dinosaurs." He narrated the CD version of Tuck Everlasting, a novel by Natalie Babbitt. Thomas provided the digitized voice for Philips' HeartStart series of automated external defibrillator (AED) units used by emergency services nationwide. Thomas' voice prompts and instructs emergency personnel on when to perform tasks. Thomas was the announcer of the underwriting credits on the Nature TV series on PBS from the early 1980s through 2015. He also was the announcer of the underwriting credits for the NOVA TV series on PBS from 1988 through 1996. Thomas died on April 30, 2016, at the age of 91. He was memorialized at the end of the first episode of Forensic Files II which aired on February 23, 2020.


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Speedway Junky

as TV Narrator (voice)
Released: 1999-02-11

A naive drifter runs away from his army father in hopes of making it on the car racing circuit....

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Children of Darkness

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 1983-01-01

A significant number of American children and teenagers - from all social backgrounds - suffer...

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Doctor Who: The Savages

as Captain Edal (voice)
Released: 2025-03-24

The Doctor, Steven and Dodo land on an alien world in this animated reconstruction of a lost...

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SR-71 Blackbird: The Secret Vigil

as Self - Narrator (voice)
Released: 1990-01-01

Few aircraft have attracted more attention than the ominous black supersonic jet that for years...

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Phoenix Mars Mission: Onto the Ice

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 2009-10-13

A behind-the-scenes look at the Phoenix Mars Mission to land a space probe on the north polar...

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Vietnam Requiem

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 1982-07-15

This documentary film comprises of interviews with five Vietnam War veterans in 1982 in prison...

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The Case of the Flying Dinosaur

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 1997-12-04

The long running, often bitter scientific debate over the origin of birds and the evolution of...

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Fear Woman

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 1971-05-01

The women of Ghana have a reputation for independence. They, rather than the men, sit enthroned...

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Legends in Love

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 1989-01-01

Take your seat on the aisle for weddings the world will never forget: the stunningly beautiful...

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American Sexual Revolution

as Narrator (voice)
Released: 1971-06-11

A look at the sexual revolution then occurring in the U.S., focusing on the explosion in X-rated...

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NOVA

as Narrator
First aired: 1974-03-03

PBS' premier science series helps viewers of all ages explore the science behind the headlines....

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Forensic Files

as Self - Narrator (voice)
First aired: 1996-04-21

Real crimes, disease outbreaks and accidents around the world are solved by experts using...

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Changing Seas

as Narrator (voice)
First aired: 2009-01-27

Produced by South Florida PBS in Miami, Florida, Changing Seas gives viewers a fish-eye view of...

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The Story of Florida's State Parks

as Narrator
First aired: 2009-09-28

Florida has one of the most diverse landscapes in America, from white sand beaches and...

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How the West Was Lost

as Narrator (voice)
First aired: 1993-05-16

The history of 19th-century America is the story of struggles between settlers moving west and...

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