Origin of The Phrase
The phrase "mind the gap" was coined around 1968 for a planned automated announcement after it had become impractical for drivers and station attendants to warn passengers. The Underground chose digital recording using solid state equipment with no moving parts. As storage capacity was expensive, the phrase had to be short. A short warning was also easier to write on the platform.
The equipment was supplied by AEG Telefunken. According to the Independent on Sunday, sound engineer Peter Lodge, who owned Redan Recorders in Bayswater, working with a Scottish Telefunken engineer, recorded an actor reading "mind the gap" and "stand clear of the doors please", but the actor insisted on royalties and the phrases had to be re-recorded. Lodge read the phrases to line up the recording equipment for level and those were used.
While Lodge's recording is still in use, some lines use other recordings. One was recorded by Manchester voice artist Emma Clarke. Others, on the Piccadilly line, are by Tim Bentinck, who plays David Archer in The Archers.
At least ten stations were supplied with announcers manufactured by PA Communications Ltd., Milton Keynes. The recorded voice is that of Keith Wilson, their Industrial Sales Manager at the time (May 1990). It can still be heard, at Paddington for example.
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