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He gave up the post of Chief Announcer and Head of Continuity in 2003 and retired in July 2005. However he returned to the station on 28 August 2005 on a freelance basis. He invariably read the news on Radio 4 over the Christmas period, often working long shifts.
Over the years he was involved in many disagreements with management. When the then [[Director-General of the BBC|Director-General]] [[Greg Dyke]] announced a plan to "cut the crap" from the BBC and sent plentiful publicity material to all members of staff, Donaldson threw his in the bin before writing to Dyke informing him that he had "..taken your [Dyke's] advice - and cut the crap". One morning in the 1970s he criticised the short-lived Radio 4 programme ''[[Up to the Hour]]'' on air, naming himself "Donald Peterson" and was very nearly sacked for doing so.<ref>[[Jenni Murray|Murray, Jenni]] (2 November 2007). [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/books/article-490917/Fab-Four-simply-best.html "Fab Four is simply the best"]. ''[[Daily Mail]]'' (London).</ref><ref>[[Libby Purves|Purves, Libby]] (23 October 2007). [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article2718237.ece "Today turns 50"]. ''[[The Times]]'' (London).</ref> He stressed in interviews the importance in his view of "understanding and being interested in the material in front of you in order to involve the listener". He commented that there were some newsreaders (unspecified; but not within Radio 4) who "clearly have no understanding of what they are reading" and that thereby the quality of the broadcast suffered. Donaldson had a distinctive form of [[Received Pronunciation]] "BBC accent" - one of the few left on British radio in the 21st century - and his delivery incorporated idiosyncratic pauses in the middle of sentences. In the 1980s his voice was used on the [[Four minute warning|pre-recorded warning]] that a nuclear attack had been launched on the British Isles during the [[Cold War]], which would have been transmitted on television and radio from a studio in [[Broadcasting House]] in such an eventuality.
In 2000 he played the resentful and sarcastic butler Theremin, homicidal manservant to the celebrated occult investigator Lord Zimbabwe, in the BBC Radio 4 comedy ''[[Ectoplasm (radio show)|Ectoplasm]]'', and he also featured in a series of short Radio 4 programmes on the end of [[World War II]] reading news reports of the time. He appeared to remain at loggerheads with BBC management, and in 2006 it was reported that he would no longer read the news on ''[[Today (BBC Radio 4)|Today]]'', in opposition to the changes made by management to start that shift earlier and include an extra ''News Briefing'' programme. He retired on 31 December 2012, his last broadcast being the midnight news on New Year's Eve.
==Retirement==
In retirement Donaldson lived in [[Pulborough]], [[West Sussex]], where his interests included gardening, current affairs, drama, walking, swimming and attendance at The Rising Sun pub in Nutbourne. Donaldson died in November 2015, aged 70.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/nov/03/peter-donaldson-the-voice-of-radio-4-dies-aged-70?CMP=twt_gu |title=Peter Donaldson, the voice of Radio 4, dies aged 70 |work=[[The Guardian]] |publisher= |first=Nancy |last=Groves |date=3 November 2015 |accessdate=3 November 2015}}</ref>
==See also==
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| DATE OF BIRTH = 23 August 1945
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| DATE OF DEATH =3 November 2015
| PLACE OF DEATH =
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