How Matt Berry not so quietly became everyone's favourite comedy actor

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Armed with a voice somewhere between Brigadier General, operatic tenor and London jazz club owner from the 1940s, actor Matt Berry probably has the most distinctive vocal chords in the British comedy business.

Fittingly perhaps for a man whose timbre seems to hail from another era, it has just been announced that Berry will star in a new Channel 4 comedy called Year of the Rabbit, set in Victorian London.

It sounds like his kind of role too.

As Detective Inspector Rabbit, he's a "hardened booze-hound who's seen it all", teaming up with a "hapless" partner and the police chief's daughter to fight crime "while rubbing shoulders with street gangs, crooked politicians, Bulgarian princes, spiritualists, music hall stars and the Elephant Man".

Suitably understated then.

Entering the Darkplace

The BAFTA-winner's self-parodying charisma and distinctive diction have seen him become a familiar face in some of the most acclaimed and original sitcomsÂ of the last 15 years.

Many will have first encountered Berry as unflappable action sidekick Dr Lucien Sanchez in beloved cult spoof series Garth Marenghi's Darkplace.

He was absolutely perfect for the role.

Those rich, over-the-top tones perfectly matched the cheesy, awkwardly-edited low budget horror feel they were going for.

It was startling the first time you realised it wasn't a dubbed actor: that really is Berry's own vocal performance. He's like a ventriloquist who's learned to project the voice of a very suave God.

And then, of course, there was that 80s music video.

Ever since, Berry has become something of a trump card for comedy series in need of an eccentric, outrageous presence.

Replacing Chris Morris on The IT Crowd was always going to be tricky. But what better way to do it than with Berry crashing into a church booming "speak priest!" - and bellowing "fatheeerrrrrr!" at the top of his lungs?

The surreal cad specialist

Douglas ReynholmÂ in Graham Linehan's off-the-wall sitcom is almost a template for the kind of brash, larger-than-life roles Berry has become renowned for. An arrogant cad, vain, egotistical and utterly (over)confident, who is as sexually immature as he is sexually forward (even having to use electric shocks to curtail his 'urges').