Geoffrey Palmer ( actor ) - wikipedia Geoffrey Palmer ( actor ) Geoffrey Palmer OBE Palmer performing at A Breath of Fresh Air, June 2008 ( 1927 - 06 - 04 ) 4 June 1927 ( age 90 ) London, England Occupation Actor Years active 1958 -- present Spouse ( s ) Sally Green ( m. 1963 ) Children 2, including Charles Palmer Geoffrey Dyson Palmer, OBE ( born 4 June 1927 ) is an English actor known for his roles in British television sitcoms playing Jimmy Anderson in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin ( 1976 -- 79 ), Ben Parkinson in Butterflies ( 1978 -- 83 ) and Lionel Hardcastle in As Time Goes By ( 1992 -- 2005 ). His film appearances include A Fish Called Wanda ( 1988 ), The Madness of King George ( 1994 ), Mrs. Brown ( 1997 ), and Tomorrow Never Dies ( 1997 ). Contents 1 Career 2 Personal life 3 Awards and recognition 4 Appearances 4.1 Stage 4.2 Radio 4.3 Television 4.4 Film 4.5 Recordings ( spoken word ) 5 References 6 External links Career Palmer 's early television appearances included a variety of roles in Granada Television 's The Army Game, two episodes of The Baron and as a property agent in Cathy Come Home. Getting a major break in John Osborne 's West of Suez at the Royal Court with Ralph Richardson, he then acted in major productions at the Royal Court and for the National Theatre Company and was directed by Laurence Olivier in J.B. Priestley 's Eden End. Palmer found the play so boring, however, that it put him off a stage career for good. Two sitcom roles brought him attention in the 1970s : the hapless brother - in - law of Reggie Perrin in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin ( 1976 -- 79 ), and the phlegmatic Ben Parkinson in Carla Lane 's Butterflies ( 1978 -- 83 ). He has continued to appear in productions written by Perrin creator David Nobbs, the latest being the radio comedy The Maltby Collection. He starred opposite Judi Dench for over a decade in the BBC situation comedy As Time Goes By ( 1992 -- 2005 ). During this time he also appeared with Dench in other productions, including the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, in which he portrayed Admiral Roebuck, and Mrs. Brown, playing Sir Henry Ponsonby to Dench 's Queen Victoria. He played Doctor Price in the Fawlty Towers episode `` The Kipper and the Corpse '', determined to get breakfast amidst the confusion caused by the death of a guest and Basil 's inept way of handling the emergency. His distinctive voice has given him a career in advertising in such commercials as the ' Slam in the Lamb ' ads for the Meat & Livestock Commission ; television voiceovers such as the Audi commercials in which he popularised the phrase `` Vorsprung durch Technik '', and as the narrator for the BBC series Grumpy Old Men and Grumpy Old Holidays. He narrated the audiobook version of Dickens ' A Christmas Carol, released in 2005 as a podcast by Penguin Books. He narrates Little England. In the 2006 DVD series The Compleat Angler, Palmer partners Rae Borras in a series of episodes based on Izaak Walton 's 1653 The Compleat Angler. In 2007, he recorded The Diary of a Nobody by George Grossmith and Weedon Grossmith as an online audiobook. In December 2007, Palmer appeared in the role of the Captain in `` Voyage of the Damned '', the Christmas special episode of the BBC science - fiction series Doctor Who ; Palmer previously appeared in the classic era of the show as different characters in the Third Doctor serials Doctor Who and the Silurians and The Mutants. In March 2009, he joined in a sketch with the two double acts `` Armstrong and Miller '' and `` Mitchell and Webb '' for Comic Relief. In 2011, he played the reactionary father - in - law of the eponymous clergyman of Rev. in its Christmas episode. Personal life Palmer was born in London and attended Highgate School. He is the son of Norah Gwendolen ( née Robins ) and Frederick Charles Palmer, who was a chartered surveyor. He has a daughter, Harriet, and a son, Charles, a television director, who is married to actress Claire Skinner. Awards and recognition In the New Year 's Honours List published 31 December 2004 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire ( OBE ) for services to drama. Appearances Stage Kafka 's Dick by Alan Bennett at the Royal Court Theatre ( 1986 ) Eden End by J.B. Priestley at the Royal National Theatre ( 1974 ) Radio At Home With The Snails ( 2001 -- 2002 ) Les Miserables as Inspector Javert ( 2002 ) The Man Who Was Thursday ( 2005 ) High Table, Lower Orders ( 2005 -- 2006 ) The Maltby Collection ( 2007 -- 2009 ) A Murder of Quality ( 2009 ) North by Northamptonshire ( 2011 - 2012 ) Two Pipe Problems : The Case of the Missing Meerschaum as Mortimer Tregennis ( 2011 ) Television The Army Game ( 1958 -- 1960 ) as Various Characters The Avengers : `` Propellant 23 '' ( 1962 ) as Paul Manning `` Man with Two Shadows '' ( 1963 ) as Dr. Terence `` A Surfeit of H2O '' ( 1965 ) as Martin Smythe The Saint : `` The Rough Diamonds '' ( 1963 ) as Pete Ferguson Gideon 's Way ( TV Series ) `` The Alibi Man '' ( 1965 ) as Jeff Grant The Baron : `` Masquerade '' ( 1966 ) as Anstruther `` The Killing '' ( 1966 ) as Anstuther The Wednesday Play : Cathy Come Home ( 1966 ) as Property Agent Mrs Thursday ( 1966 ) as Henry Baxter Doctor Who : Doctor Who and the Silurians ( 1970 ) as Masters The Mutants ( 1972 ) as Administrator `` Voyage of the Damned '' ( 2007 ) as Captain Hardaker Colditz ( 1972 ) as Doc The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin ( 1976 -- 1979 ) as Jimmy Anderson Butterflies ( 1978 -- 1983 ) as Ben Parkinson The Professionals ( 1978 ) as Sinclair in `` Where The Jungle Ends '' Fawlty Towers : `` The Kipper and the Corpse '' ( 1979 ) as Dr. Price The Goodies ( 1980 ) as School Headmaster Whoops Apocalypse ( 1982 ) as Foreign Secretary Death of an Expert Witness ( 1983 ) as Dr. Edwin Lorrimer The Professionals ( 1983 ) as Avery in `` The Ojuka Situation '' Fairly Secret Army ( 1984 - 1986 ) as Major Harry Kitchener Wellington Truscott Executive Stress ( 1986 first series only ) as Donald Fairchild # 1 Season 's Greetings ( 1986 ) as Bernard Hot Metal ( 1986 ) as Harold Stringer Christabel ( 1988 ) as Mr. Burton Blackadder Goes Forth : Episode 6 `` Goodbyeee '' ( 1989 ) ; as Field Marshal Douglas Haig Inspector Morse : `` The Infernal Serpent '' ( 1990 ) as Matthew Copley - Barnes Bergerac ( 1990 ) `` Roots of Evil '' as Nigel Carter As Time Goes By ( 1992 -- 2005 ) as Lionel Hardcastle The Legacy of Reginald Perrin ( 1996 ) as Jimmy Anderson Alice Through the Looking Glass ( 1998 ) as White King The Savages ( 2001 ) as Donald The 1940s House ( 2001 ) as Narrator Absolute Power ( 2003 ) as Lord Harcourt Grumpy Old Men ( 2003 -- 2004, 2006 ) as Narrator He Knew He Was Right ( 2004 ) as Sir Marmaduke Rowley Grumpy Old Holidays ( 2006 ) as Narrator Ashes to Ashes : `` Episode 8 '' ( 2008 ) ; as Lord Scarman The Long Walk to Finchley ( 2008 ) ; as John Crowder Agatha Christie 's Poirot : `` The Clocks '' ( 2009 ) as Vice Admiral Hamling Grandpa in My Pocket `` Captain Dumbletwit 's Toughest Mission Yet ! '' ( 2010 ) as Grandad Gillbert Rev `` Christmas Special '' Series 2, episode 7 ( 2011 ) as Martin Henry IV, Part II ( 2012 ) ; as Lord Chief Justice Royal Variety Performance ( 2014 ) ; as the announcer ( voice - only ) Film A Prize of Arms ( 1962 ) as Cpl. Myers Incident at Midnight ( 1963 ) as Dr. Tanfield Ring of Spies ( 1964 ) as Police Officer ( uncredited ) Cast a Giant Shadow ( 1966 ) as David ( uncredited ) O Lucky Man ! ( 1973 ) as Examinator Doctor / Basil Keyes The Battle of Billy 's Pond ( 1976 ) - First Policeman The Outsider ( 1979 ) as Colonel Wyndham The Honorary Consul ( 1983 ) as Belfrage : British Ambassador A Zed & Two Noughts ( 1985 ) as Fallast Clockwise ( 1986 ) as Headmaster A Fish Called Wanda ( 1988 ) as Judge Hawks ( 1988 ) as SAAB Salesman The Madness of King George ( 1994 ) as Warren Mrs. Brown ( 1997 ) as Henry Ponsonby Tomorrow Never Dies ( 1997 ) as Admiral Roebuck Stiff Upper Lips ( 1998 ) as His Butler 's Voice Anna and the King ( 1999 ) as Lord John Bradley Rat ( 2000 ) as The Doctor Peter Pan ( 2003 ) as Sir Edward Quiller Couch Picadilly Jim ( 2005 ) - Bayliss The Pink Panther 2 ( 2009 ) as Joubert W.E. ( 2011 ) as Stanley Baldwin Lost Christmas ( 2011 ) as Dr. Clarence Run for Your Wife ( 2012 ) as Man on Bus Bert and Dickie ( 2012 ) as Charles Burnell The Last Sparks of Sundown ( 2014 ) as Sir Buster Sparks ( voice ) Paddington ( 2014 ) as Head Geographer Recordings ( spoken word ) Welcome to the Pleasuredome ( Fruitless Mix ) ( 1985 ) References Jump up ^ `` The Spectator ( 11 June 2011 ) ''. Exacteditions.com. 2011 - 06 - 11. Retrieved 2015 - 03 - 13. Jump up ^ `` The Penguin Podcast : A Christmas Carol - Episode 1 ''. 15 December 2005. Archived from the original on 17 December 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2015. Jump up ^ `` Kylie Boards Titanic ! ''. BBC. 11 July 2007. Archived from the original on 25 November 2007. Retrieved 11 July 2007. Jump up ^ `` Geoffrey Palmer Biography ( 1927 - ) ''. filmreference.com. Retrieved 2012 - 01 - 14. Jump up ^ Loose Women, 12 December 2011 Jump up ^ `` The London Gazette ''. 31 December 2004 : 12. Retrieved 2015 - 03 - 13. Jump up ^ `` BBC Radio 4 Extra - G.K. Chesterton - The Man Who Was Thursday ''. Bbc.co.uk. 2016 - 08 - 21. Retrieved 2016 - 08 - 21. Jump up ^ `` BBC Radio 4 - Afternoon Drama, Two Pipe Problems, The Case of the Missing Meerschaum ''. Bbc.co.uk. 2013 - 12 - 25. Retrieved 2015 - 03 - 13. External links Geoffrey Palmer on IMDb Selected performances in Theatre Archive University of Bristol VIAF : 7732233 ISNI : 0000 0000 7252 9609 GND : 173637132 SUDOC : 114267413 MusicBrainz : b2548661 - d5ba - 4f3c - a731 - 4aec89b0b5a9 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Geoffrey_Palmer_(actor)&oldid=825516396 '' Categories : 1927 births Living people Audiobook narrators English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors English male voice actors English male radio actors Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Highgate School Male actors from London 20th - century English male actors 20th - century Royal Marines personnel British male comedy actors Hidden categories : Use dmy dates from April 2012 Articles with hCards Pages using div col with deprecated parameters Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia تۆرکجه Deutsch Español فارسی עברית Simple English Suomi Svenska Edit links This page was last edited on 13 February 2018, at 21 : 12. 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Question: who played lionel in as time goes by
Answer: Geoffrey Dyson Palmer, OBE; Geoffrey Dyson Palmer; Geoffrey Dyson Palmer; Geoffrey Dyson Palmer, OBE; Geoffrey Dyson Palmer