'More than a barman': Meet the Bafta-nominated pub landlord

BBC News

20-04-2025

The next time you hear someone shouting "last orders" at your local pub, listen carefully.For many people in Sneinton, Nottingham, John Blyth is the friendly face at The King Billy who has been pouring them pints for more than a decade.But it's his voice that got him a Bafta nomination.Thank Goodness You're Here!, which features his voice, also won the best British game at a ceremony in London earlier this month.
Mr Blyth provided the voice of Big Ron, a loud and loveable pie salesman in the adventure video game. His portrayal saw him nominated for the best performer in the supporting role award.The cartoon-esque title was released in August and created by Will Todd and James Carbutt, founders of developer Coal Supper.
Before taking over The King Billy in 2014, Mr Blyth had a background in gaming journalism and podcasting. But running a busy pub meant putting that world to one side until it came calling again in a very unexpected way.His voice on the Regular Features podcast caught the ears of games developers at Coal Supper Studios, who reached out for Mr Blyth's vocals."It was the most pleasant surprise, especially when I saw the games they were making," he recalls."As soon as I saw the demo for Thank Goodness You're Here!, I thought this was the most charming thing in the world and I want to be part of it."In the game, players control a tiny, silent character through the streets of Barnsworth and tackle a series of surreal odd-jobs given to them by local residents.Mr Blyth provides the deep tones of Big Ron - a loud, eccentric pie salesman who runs the fictional shop Big Ron's Big Pies."The conversation was basically them asking me and me snapping their hand off," the 51-year-old said. "I thought I'd left games behind me when I stopped with gaming journalism but to be part of this side of it was an absolute pleasure."
Mr Blyth is mainly used to talking about video games from a journalistic and critic standpoint and says it was surreal being part of the creative process for a game. "I sent them a few different reads of the lines they gave me. They chose the way they wanted it to sound and so I ran with that," he added."I'm not a trained voice actor and I kept veering off a lot, so I had a reactivation phrase to get me back on track, which was shouting 'Big Ron's Big Pies'."So I was just shouting that in-between takes."
'More than a barman'
Back at The King Billy, Mr Blyth says behind every beer poured and glass collected, there is a member of staff who has a whole spectrum of different talents."In any pub you go into, you scratch the surface of the staff and you'll find a lot of hidden talent with people who can do things you don't expect them to do". While Mr Blyth has no plans to pursue a full-time career in voice acting, he says he is open to other projects while keeping the drinks flowing at the pub."It's always nice to have more than one thing going on in your life," he added."A pub can inflate to fill every aspect of your life, and if you let it, it can become your everything."And to have that little thing on the side to keep the creativity ticking over is nice and makes you feel a bit more rounded as a person rather than just the jovial barman."While he did not bring the title for the best performer home, Mr Blyth says the experience is something he now casually drops in conversations."I'm glad I didn't win because it stops it going to my head," he added."[It was] great to get my hopes up and have them dashed to keep my feet on the ground, although I can't not tell people that I was nominated for a Bafta. That's all I was saying for a week."