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The woman known as "the voice of the Tube" on London's underground has been sacked after criticising the network and making spoof announcements including making fun of US tourists, officials said Monday.
Emma Clarke has for the last eight years been famous as the voice warning travellers to "Mind the Gap" between the train and the platform, and to"stand clear of the closing doors."
But the 36-year-old, a professional voice-over artist, annoyed her employers with a series of light-hearted spoof announcements posted on her own website, atwww.emmaclarke.com. In one she says: "We would like to remind our American tourist friends that you are almost certainly talking too loudly."
Inanother she announces that the passenger pretending to read a paper butactually staring at a woman's chest should stop, since he was "notfooling anyone, you filthy pervert". In addition Clarke, wholives in Highgate, north London, said she used to use the Tube herselfbut no longer does so because it is "dreadful."
A London Underground spokesman said the problem was the criticism rather than the spoofs. "Some of the spoof announcements are very funny. But Emma is a bit silly to go round slagging off her client's services," he said "London Underground is sorry to have to announce that further contracts for Ms Clarke are experiencing severe delays," he added, according to the London Evening Standard.
Clarke told the daily she was surprised by the decision. "I don't feel that I have been slagging them off --that was never my intention. It was just a bit of a laugh," she said.
But said a Tube spokesman: "We won't be providing her with any more work.It's not because of the spoof announcements. It's because she has criticised the Underground system." More here at The Times Online
She is the voice heard by millions of Tube travellers each day, warning themto “mind the gap”. But now a gap has opened in the career of Emma Clarkeafter she criticised the Underground system and spoofed her ownannouncements on the internet. Tube bosses have said that they will not provide the voiceover artist with anymore work. A Transport for London spokesman said: “London Underground issorry to have to announce that further contracts for Ms Clarke areexperiencing severe delays.” Ms Clarke, 36, from Altrincham, Cheshire, criticised the system in a newspaperinterview after she produced spoof announcements on her website. Sheapparently said that while living in Highgate, North London, she used totake the Tube every day, but had refused to use it any longer because it was“dreadful”. Speaking to The Times, she said that the comments had been taken out ofcontext. “I did not say that the Northern Line was dreadful. I did say it’sa challenging line. What I did say was dreadful was the thought of being ina Tube train listening to my own voice.”
Here are some of the spoofs from the Times Online Article:
Quote:
In one spoof announcement she said: “Here we are crammed again into a sweatyTube carriage . . . If you are female, smile at the bloke next to you andmake his day. He’s probably not had sex for months.” Peeping Toms were singled out in another message when she said: “Would thepassenger . . . pretending to read a paper but who is actually staring atthat woman’s chest please stop. You’re not fooling anyone, you filthypervert.” The joke was not quite lost on the Tube bosses, who have said that they willnot provide the voiceover artist with any more work. London Underground saidthat it was the criticism of the Tube system, rather than the spoofannouncements, that sealed Ms Clarke’s fate. The Transport for London spokesman said: “Some of the spoof announcements arevery funny. But Emma is a bit silly to go round slagging off her client’sservices. “Obviously, if we employ somebody to represent or promote the network, paidfor at the expense of the taxpayer, one of the things we do require is thatthey refrain from publicly attacking the services they are employed topromote. That’s a pretty clear line.” Ms Clarke, who had worked for London Underground since 1999, said that eventhough she had tried to contact TfL to clear up her comments, she had nothad a response. She found out that she had been dropped by the networkthrough the press. Commuters will continue to hear Ms Clarke telling them to“mind the gap”, though, as the recorded announcements were still “fit forpurpose”. But for future announcements, a replacement is being sought. A TfL spokemansaid: “London’s a big city, and we’re confident we’ll be able to find analternative ‘voice of the Tube’.” In one spoof, Ms Clarke attacked the mindset of some Londoners. She said:“Residents of London are reminded that there are other places in Britainoutside your stinking city and, if you remove your heads from your backsidesfor just a couple of minutes, you may realise the M25 is not the edge of theEarth.” In another she said: “Passengers should note that the bearded rucksackcontains the following items only: some sandwiches, a library card andpicture of a bare ankle, and is no cause for concern.” Ms Clarke, whose voice is now well known to the estimated billion passengerswho use the Tube network each year, put her joke messages on the website shecreated this month after asking friends what they would most like to hear. Ms Clarke said she was “very disappointed” and upset at the reaction of TfL,but still harboured hope that the row with the network could be resolved.“The first step is for us to have a conversation,” she said. “I hope theyhear my point of view, and take on board that I wasn’t criticising LondonUnderground or the Tube system.” Her voiceover work can be heard on radio stations such as Virgin, onadvertisements and in department stores.
Mind the gaffe: Ms Clarke’s spoofs “Passengers are asked not to drop litter on the train. Please use the trampsprovided” “Passengers are reminded a smile is a friendship signal, not a sign ofweakness” “We would like to remind our American tourist friends that you are almostcertainly talking too loudly” “Would passengers filling in their Su Dokus please accept that they are justcrosswords for the unimaginative and are not more impressive because theycontain numbers.”
“Would the passenger in the pinstripe suit and £1,000 glasses who obviouslyworks in the media please take one step forward on to the track”
Your thoughts??
A selection of comments on TimesOnline
Quote:
Alot of the comments are not funny. They are cruel and arrogant and depict Emma Clarke in a negative light. Alison Manzo, London, Itis wonderful to know all the foolish people aren't just here in the USin San Francisco. The UK has its share in London. What a sillyoverreaction to the poor woman's comments. Emma will go forward to muchbetter things. George H, San Diego, USA Toobad there won't be her utterly perfect voice for the new Tube stops.Really, where is the famous Brit humour? Mind the gap of Londonistan. alexa kim, Dallas, TX, USA
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