Mind boggling but oh so very English

Sat Nav either a bane or a blessing to motorists, though personally I've never used it myself, even during the times I was a mobile service engineer, preferring road atlases and A to Z's (based oddly enough in Kent in a small town called Borough Green, near Sevenoaks)

Still you hear occasional horror stories of lorries being taken under low bridges and cars down private roads, but over all, mostly positive. One of the big brands is Tom Tom and they have looked very carefully for the new voice, a truly English voice, for their product and naturally selected...

Brian Blessed.

The actor, who for many will be forever remembered as Vultan, the energetic and voluble leader of the Hawkmen in the 1980 film Flash Gordon, has signed a deal with the sat nav company Tom Tom.

The famous catchphrase from the film, "Dive, my Hawkmen, dive!", can now be heard by fans trundling along in their Ford Fiestas, re-recorded as "Drive, Hawkmen, drive".
And when they reach their destination, instead of the "Gordon's alive!" line from the film, Blessed booms out of the car speakers: "Gordon's arrived!".
Blessed recorded the 57 basic commands needed, along with six special catchphrases, at a London studio last week.
The actor has, over his career, attracted a cult following, not just because of his Flash Gordon role but his other larger-than-life parts, including Augustus in I, Claudius and Long John Silver in Treasure Island.
His deal with Tom-Tom came about after a fan, Richard Gardner, started a Facebook page, "Campaign to get Brian Blessed to do a voice over for my sat nav". After attracting a few hundred members Mr Gardner approached Tom-Tom. The sat nav company said that if he could attract more than 25,000 members, they would chat to Blessed's agent. The group now has 25,772 members and Blessed will enjoy a cut of any sales from the sat nav.

Almost tempts me into buying one, after all "Who wants to live forever?"