A voice once synonymous with tungsten theatre and scoreboard symphonies has taken a delightfully surreal detour into cinematic eccentricity. The unmistakable cadence of Russ Bray – a man whose vocal cords have echoed through decades of darting drama – has now been repurposed for something altogether more whimsical, more peculiar, and frankly, more gloriously absurd.
At 68, when most might be contemplating quieter pursuits or perfecting the art of shouting at the telly, Bray – a former DartsWorld columnist, has instead wandered headfirst into fantasy filmmaking, emerging not as a narrator, nor a sage, nor even a mystical overlord – but as something far more delightfully unhinged. A door. Yes, you read that correctly – a door.
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The former Professional Darts Corporation referee turned ambassador graced the red carpet at Odeon Leicester Square, embracing the glitz and spectacle of a premiere that marked his transition from the oche to outright oddity. Speaking on the Double Tops Podcast, Bray laid bare the sheer peculiarity of his role with admirable nonchalance:
“We went to a premiere of it a couple of three weeks ago at the Odeon Leicester Square, which was good to do. I ended up becoming the voice of a door.
“The voice of a door where the two young kiddies go to the land of sometimes where you’ve got a pink sky and blue trees.
“It’s a lovely story actually as a brother and sister. And they go through this door, it takes them all to different chambers and I become the voice, ‘hello, what are you doing?’”
It is the sort of premise that feels like it was dreamt up after a particularly aggressive cheese board, yet Bray delivers it with the same grounded authority he once used to declare maximums under the brightest lights in darts.
The Background to ‘The Voice’ of Darts
Of course, this is a man whose legacy is not built on doors, however vocal they may be. Nearly three decades officiating at the highest echelon of the sport have cemented him as an auditory institution. Twenty-eight world finals called. A Hall of Fame induction in 2024. A voice so gravelly it could sand down oak.
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And yet, astonishingly, Russ confirms there is no ritual behind it:
“I don’t do anything. Honestly, seriously, I don’t drink water. My doctor turns around and says, no, you’ve got to drink lots of water, drink lots of water.
“You’ve got to, you know. It’s good for you. It is, because it flushes the system.
“I drink a lot of tea or something like that. But in the end, I really don’t do anything to warm my voice up. You know, like singers would do.”
No honey. No vocal exercises. Just tea and defiance.
When reflecting on his officiating magnum opus, Bray drifts back to a coliseum of chaos – the 2007 World Championship final between Raymond van Barneveld and Phil Taylor. His recollection is not just memory; it is reverence wrapped in theatre.
“I suppose it’s got to be the, you mentioned Raymond van Barneveld and Phil Taylor in the 2007 [World Championship] final. It was the very last one at the Circus Tavern, which made it somewhat special in itself – and it went to the sudden death leg, and it was Barney’s first year over.
“Barney, at that time, I think hit the record amount of 180s in the final. In that last leg, it was the last time that when they threw for the bullseye, you could leave the dart in. So, Taylor threw for the bullseye first and just landed under the bull on the 25.
“Well, these days you have to take the dart out. That’s what you have to do. Barney asked him to leave it in, which he had to. Barney put his dart on top of it and hit the bullseye. So, he threw first. He went up for a ton, I think.
“Taylor went up and hit a 180. As I’m stood there, I thought, I he’s got him now. Barney followed him with a 180. Taylor thought, oh, poof and you just see everything drain out of him. His next shot was something like 41 or whatever.
“Barney went on, pop-pop, left himself tops and won the 2007 final which was unbelievable. It was just the whole concept of everything into that made it probably one of the greatest finals.”
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From roaring crowds to enchanted doorways, Bray’s journey continues to defy expectation – a wonderfully bizarre encore to a career that has never once flirted with the ordinary.
—–ENDS—–
Images: PDC
