Other Work
After this James became a well-known television personality and Atkin became a radio producer. Their music catalog went out of print until all six original albums were re-released on CD in the 1990s.
In 1976 Atkin's recording contract with RCA Records expired and he concentrated on renovating his house and building furniture for other people. He also wrote columns on DIY for the UK environmentalist magazine Vole. Chris Parr of the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh commissioned Atkin to write a musical play for their Festival season in 1977. The result was A & R, which was substantially re-written for a 1978 production by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Donmar Warehouse in London where it ran for six months in repertory.
In 1981 Atkin succeeded Griff Rhys Jones as BBC Radio Light Entertainment Producer. He subsequently became a Script Editor in 1983 and Chief Producer, Radio 4 in 1986. His productions included Just a Minute, My Word!, My Music, Week Ending, Legal, Decent, Honest and Truthful (written by Guy Jenkin and Jon Canter, and starring Martin Jarvis), After Henry (by Simon Brett with Prunella Scales, Joan Sanderson, Ben Whitrow, and Gerry Cowper), Second Thoughts, Christopher Lee's The House, Flying The Flag, Peter Tinniswood's Uncle Mort's North Country, Jarvis's Frayn, My Grandfather, Martin Jarvis reading Richmal Crompton's Just William stories, and Yes Minister.
Atkin moved to Bristol in 1989 to be Head of BBC Network Radio there. After four years in post, he became a freelance producer in 1993. His most notable freelance production is This Sceptr'd Isle — a 216-part specially commissioned history of Britain, written by historian Christopher Lee and read by Anna Massey, Paul Eddington, Peter Jeffrey, and others (including Atkin himself under a pseudonym), recorded and broadcast over 14 months in 1995 and 1996. It was re-edited for release on ten BBC double cassettes and won the 1996 Talkie Award for best non-fiction, best design, and Talkie of the Year. Atkin also worked as script editor for Hat Trick Productions, as part of their sitcom and drama development team.
In 2005 Atkin provided the voice of Mr. Crock in the animated movie "Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit". He also received a "special consultant" credit for the movie "Chicken Run" (2000), which was created and produced by the same studios, Aardman Animations. Both Aardman and Pete Atkin are based in Bristol.
Atkin also worked as a voice director on the twelfth season/C.G.I. version of Thomas the Tank Engine and the C.G.I. version of Fireman Sam.
Read more about this topic: Pete Atkin
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