Skip to content

ElevenLabs voices (British English)

Notes from 13 October 2026. These picks come from ElevenLabs' descriptions and labels and from third-party reviews. No one has listened to them for this studio yet, so A/B them on a real paragraph before committing an episode to one.

Using a voice

In the episode's script.md front matter:

tts: elevenlabs
voice: onwK4e9ZLuTAKqWW03F9   # Daniel

The key is read from ELEVENLABS_API_KEY (environment or .env). See AGENTS.md for tts_model, voice_settings and speed. The same key also drives studio music, which needs the music_generation permission enabled on it.

Built-in British voices (IDs confirmed via GET /v1/voices)

Voice ID ElevenLabs' description Fit for these videos
Daniel (male) onwK4e9ZLuTAKqWW03F9 "Steady broadcaster", "professional broadcast or news story" First choice. Measured news-reader delivery suits editorial and news-style explainers.
Lily (female) pFZP5JQG7iQjIQuC4Bku "Velvety… news and narrations with warmth and clarity" Best female option. Serious but warm.
George (male) JBFqnCBsd6RMkjVDRZzb "Warm, captivating storyteller" Good for history pieces; may be too gentle for polemic.
Alice (female) Xb7hH8MSUJpSbSDYk0k2 "Clear, engaging educator", for e-learning Clear but brighter and friendlier, more like a tutorial.

Voice library candidates (unverified)

The IDs below come from third-party listings, which mix up names and IDs. Check each one on the ElevenLabs voice library page before using it.

  • Frederick Surrey: calm, well-spoken British narrator, listed for history and science documentaries. The strongest documentary match. ID not found.
  • Alex – Calm and Professional: polished London accent, man in his 40s. Listed ID: f8zQcd23TbdYnsgvJ3ER.

episodes/demo-elevenlabs/ uses NFG5qt843uXKj4pFvR7C, a library voice that wasn't identified.

Caveats

  • The API key in .env lacks the voices_read permission, so the full voice library couldn't be searched by accent or use case. With that permission, GET /v1/shared-voices?language=en&accent=british&use_cases=informative_educational lists library voices (add sort=cloned_by_count to sort by popularity).
  • ElevenLabs is removing its older "Default" voices (Rachel, Adam, Josh and others) on 31 December 2026, and only accounts created before March 2026 can use them now. The four built-in voices above are not on that list. Don't build an episode around a Default voice.

Sources