Here Marcus Bentley, narrator of Big Brother and probably the most famous disembodied voice in Britain, reveals his average working day on Big Brother

Doing an interview face-to-face is always preferable to over the phone, but in this case the phone seems more appropriate. He has a voice instantly recognisable to millions, yet would be able to walk unmolested through a gathering of even the most committed TV obsessives.

How did you land the job as the Big Brother narrator?
Going back to June 2000, the producers were putting the final touches to the show, and they'd got hundreds of voiceover samples from all the big voiceover agents, and they liked what I did on a demo they'd asked me to do. They asked me to say a few things off a script - stuff like 'So-and-so's in the bedroom, telling the boys something his mother wouldn't like to know', that type of thing. And fortunately they mentioned that they had chickens outside, and I was told later that they particularly liked the way I said the word 'chickens'. So it was very fortunate for me that they'd decided to have chickens in the first series. They asked me if I'd like to do it, and I thought 'Do I really want to be committed for 12 weeks?' And I'm very glad I said yes!

What's your working day like when Big Brother's going on?
I live in Canterbury, which is a pretty big trek. It's about 60 miles from London, but by the time we get over to the Elstree Studios, it's taken about three hours each way. I arrive at the Elstree Studios at about 1pm, in case they're ready early. They're normally ready for me at about 2 o'clock. In the early days I used to watch a rough copy of the show, to get an idea, but quite frankly after about 600 episodes, I pretty much know what I'm doing now. It takes me about five minutes to do - let's face it, I'm reading out loud, so it's pretty easy. I record it, and then I hang around with the producers and the editors putting the show together, and I'm around to do pick ups if they decide the voiceover didn't work or another bit of script is needed. Sometimes I'm also doing Diary Room Uncut at the same time.

When did you realise you'd become famous?
When people wanted to interview me. I don't think anyone has ever become famous for what I do. You get people who have been actors and become famous for their voices, like Tom Baker. He's now famous for his voice, but he was a very successful actor, and a popular Dr Who. I don't think anybody's ever done it this way round. I'm hoping to be Dr Who one day! I had to have media training, and was doing all these interviews. The Guardian's section two did a massive piece and I was on the front of it with one of their eminent writers, saying 'He's a legend' and 'His voice oozes caramel' - I'm just thinking 'Oh my God, this is the bloody Guardian!' It's been an absolute treat. But I'm not kidding myself: I read out loud, I know that.

Do people get you to say the same stuff to them all the time?
Yeah, it's always 'Day 22 in the Big Brother house' or 'You decide'. People always want me to do their answer machines as well. It's great. I must be on tonnes of phones.

You're clearly a fan of the show. What have been your favourite moments?
Nasty Nick getting his comeuppance. He once described my voice as like listening to somebody doing a documentary on sewage farming. And maybe Jade getting her 'kebab' out. Kate Lawler trying to put her trousers on when she was drunk. Just silly little things. Ahmed smashing the plates, all that arguing did my head in, but was great fun.