Richard Briers: TV Shows Starring Richard Briers G Options B Comments & Embed 1 Alias the Jester Richard Briers, Jimmy Hibbert, Brian Wilde Alias the Jester was a British animated series created by Cosgrove Hall Films, airing in 13 episodes on ITV starting on 13 November 1985. The show also aired during the Australian Broadcasting ; 2 All in Good Faith Richard Briers, Barbara Ferris, John Woodvine All in Good Faith is a British sitcom that aired on ITV from 1985 to 1988. Starring Richard Briers, it was written by John Kane. All in Good Faith was made for the ITV network by Thames Television. ; Bird Bath Richard Briers 4 Bob the Builder Chris Evans, Richard Briers, Greg Proops Bob the Builder is a British children's animated television show created by Keith Chapman. In the original series Bob appears as a building contractor specializing in masonry in a stop motion animated ; 5 Brothers In Law Richard Briers, Richard Waring Brothers in Law is a British television series inspired by the 1955 comedy novel Brothers in Law by Henry Cecil Leon.

It first aired on the BBC in thirteen half-hour episodes between 17 April and 10 ; Dad (2005) Richard Briers 7 Down to Earth Kyle Richards, Dick Sargent, Rip Taylor Down to Earth is an American fantasy situation comedy series that ran on Superstation TBS from 1984 to 1987. The series was originally produced by The Arthur Company, and later, by Procter & ; 8 Ever Decreasing Circles Richard Briers^! Penelope Wilton^! Peter Egan Ever Decreasing Circles is a British situation comedy which ran on BBC1 for four series from 1984 to 1989. It was written by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey, and it reunited them with Richard Briers, the ; Goodbye Mr Kent Richard Briers, Hannah Gordon 10 If You See God, Tell Him Richard Briers, Adrian Edmondson, Imelda Staunton If You See God, Tell Him is a black comedy television series starring Richard Briers, Adrian Edmondson, and Imelda Staunton.

Written by Andrew Marshall and David Renwick, it was first broadcast on ; 11 Marriage Lines Richard Briers, Prunella Scales, Edward de Souza Marriage Lines is a British television sitcom first broadcast between 1961 and 1966. The series gave Richard Briers and Prunella Scales, its lead stars, a significant boost in their careers. At first ; 12 Monarch of the Glen Richard Briers, Susan Hampshire, Dawn Steele Monarch of the Glen is a British drama television series produced by Ecosse Films for BBC Scotland and broadcast on BBC One for seven series between 2000 and 2005. The Monarch of the Glen television ; My Appalling School Report Richard Briers 14 Noah and Nelly in the SkylArk Richard Briers, Peter Hawkins Noah and Nelly in... SkylArk is a children's cartoon series produced by Bob Godfrey's Movie Emporium. ; One-Upmanship Richard Briers, Frederick Jaeger, Peter Jones One-Upmanship is a TV program. 16 Roobarb Richard Briers Roobarb is a British animated children's television programme, originally shown on BBC1 just before the evening news.

Each cartoon, written by Grange Calveley and animated by Bob Godfrey, was about ; Tall Stories Richard Briers, Michael Hordern 18 The Good Life Richard Briers, Felicity Kendal, Penelope Keith The Good Life is a British sitcom, produced by BBC television. It ran from 1975 to 1978 and was written by Bob Larbey and John Esmonde. Opening with the midlife crisis faced by Tom Good, a 40-year-old ; The Other One Michael Gambon, Richard Briers 20 Watership Down John Hurt, Stephen Fry, Dawn French Watership Down is a British-Canadian animated television series, adapted from the novel of the same name by Richard Adams.

It was a co-production of Alltime Entertainment of the United Kingdom and ; Richard Briers, The Good Life star, dies aged 79 - BBC News BBC News Richard Briers, The Good Life star, dies aged 79 18 February 2013 From the section Entertainment & Arts comments Close share panel Media captionA look back at the actor's career Actor Richard Briers, best known for his role in TV's The Good Life, has died at the age of 79, his agent has said. The star, who was also an accomplished stage actor, had been battling a serious lung condition for several years. Briers died "peacefully" at his London home on Sunday, his agent added. Briers recently blamed years of smoking for his emphysema. "It's totally my fault," he said. "So, I get very breathless, which is a pain in the backside. Trying to get upstairs... oh God, it's ridiculous. Of course, when you're bloody nearly 80 it's depressing, because you've had it anyway." His agent, Christopher Farrar, said: "Richard was a wonderful man, a consummate professional and an absolute joy to work alongside.

Image caption Briers had a long and successful TV and theatre career "Following his recent discussion of his battle with emphysema, I know he was incredibly touched by the strength of support expressed by friends and the public. "He has a unique and special place in the hearts of so many. He will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and deepest sympathy go to his family at this sad time." In 1970s BBC sitcom The Good Life, Briers and Felicity Kendal played a married suburban couple who try a self-sufficient lifestyle. Briers also starred in shows including Marriage Lines, Ever Decreasing Circles, Monarch Of The Glen plus a role in Doctor Who and Torchwood. He appeared in many films, most recently in British comedy film Cockneys versus Zombies, plus a cameo role in Run For Your Wife, based on Ray Cooney's 1980s stage farce. Briers narrated the 1970s children's cartoon series Roobarb And Custard and also provided the voice for the character of Fiver in the animated feature Watership Down (1978).

"The nation has lost one of its most favourite actors of all time," said Michael Grade, who ran BBC One when Ever Decreasing Circles was on the air. "He was up there with Ronnie Barker and Alan Bennett. He was just a treasure. He was so warm and so gently funny, and such a truthful actor." Speaking to 5 live, Lord Grade added: "If you treated him like a star, I think he got embarrassed. He was one of those wonderful, genuine, professional actors with real star quality but humility to go along with it. "There was nothing he couldn't do, and he always had a twinkle. You were always pleased to see him. It's just a shock and really, really sad." Image caption The Good Life: Briers and Felicity Kendal won millions of TV fans with the hit series "He is a centre-piece of our humorous culture and a magnificently talented man. I'm so deeply sad today that he has left us. He was a great person." Actress Penelope Keith, who played the snobbish neighbour Margo to Briers' character Tom in The Good Life, said the actor's death was "an enormous loss". "I look back with enormous affection and love for Dickie.

He was the most talented of actors, always self-deprecating. I learnt an awful lot from him during our time on The Good Life," said Keith. "He was a wonderful mentor, tutor and teacher although that would suggest he imposed himself on you, which he didn't. "He was always courteous and he would speak to the crew - which was not always that common. And he was always nervous. It was the most enjoyable time - when I think of The Good Life, I smile." Media captionRichard Briers speaks to Sue Lawley on Desert Island Discs in December 2000 Briers's godson, the actor and director Samuel West, whose mother Prunella Scales was in Marriage Lines, tweeted: "What a lot of joy he spread." Scales described Briers as "very skilful, very professional, and off screen a dear friend and a very considerate colleague". Comedian and writer Barry Cryer told 5 live Briers had been an "enormously popular, well-liked man", adding he was a "formidable actor and the most modest, you know, arrogant in his humility!".

After a long career in popular television, Briers joined Kenneth Branagh's Renaissance Theatre Company in 1987, and his career moved on to major classical roles. He said at the time: "Ken offered me Malvolio in his production of Twelfth Night at the very time I had decided to expand my career when I realised I had gone as far as I could doing sitcoms. As soon as I worked with him, I thought he was truly exceptional." After playing Malvolio, Briers took on the acting challenge of King Lear, followed by the title role in Uncle Vanya and Menenius in Coriolanus. Media captionPenelope Keith: "He was what it said on the tin; a thoroughly nice chap" Peter Egan, his co-star in Ever Decreasing Circles, told the BBC: "I spent nearly 10 years just laughing. He was just the most magical comedian, a huge talent, has been a part of the nation's lives for over 50 years.

On film Branagh cast him as Bardolph in Henry V (1989), as Stephen Fry's father in the comedy Peter's Friends (1992), Don Leonato in Much Ado About Nothing (1993), the blind grandfather - playing opposite Robert De Niro's Creature - in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994). Sir Kenneth said on Monday: "He was a national treasure, a great actor and a wonderful man. He was greatly loved and he will be deeply missed." Stephen Fry tweeted: "How sad. He was the most adorable and funny man imaginable." Briers was born in London on 14 January, 1934 and was inspired to be an actor by his mother, a music and drama teacher. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and won a scholarship to Liverpool Playhouse in 1956. Two years later he made his first West End appearance in Gilt And Gingerbread.

His big screen career began with the British features Bottoms Up (1960), Murder She Said (1961), The Girl On The Boat and A Matter of Who (both 1962) and the multi-national The VIPs (1963), followed by Raquel Welch's spy spoof Fathom (1967). 'Really sad' Other film credits included Michael Winner's A Chorus Of Disapproval (1989) and the big-screen version of the hit TV series Minder. Image caption Briers narrated the children's cartoon TV series Roobarb and Custard Briers returned to the stage many times in his career, and was particularly associated with the works of Alan Ayckbourn, including Relatively Speaking, Absurd Person Singular and Absent Friends. He was formerly president of Parkinson's UK and later its honorary vice president. "We're really sad to hear that Richard Briers has passed away. Richard was our honorary vice president and a great supporter of Parkinson's UK," the charity tweeted on Monday. Briers was awarded the OBE in 1989 and a CBE in 2003.

He married the actress Anne Davies in 1956 and had two daughters with her. Marriage Lines - British Classic Comedy Marriage Lines 1960's , 1960's BBC Comedy , TV Comedy Marriage Lines – 1961 Early Richard Briers, Marriage lines was the BBC sitcom that ran for five series through forty six episodes between 1961 and 1966. Originally entitled The Marriage Lines, the show was later adapted for radio. The show made it’s debut with a Pilot episode in 1961, but it would be another two years before we would see a full series (1963). Of the forty six episodes two were specially commissioned shorts, including Christmas Night With The Stars. Summary George and Kate Starling are a newly-married couple, and tlike many sitcoms that followed, the comedy came from ordinary domestic situations. George was a junior clerk in an office and wanted the pub camaraderie of the single men in his office, while Kate gets increasingly frustrated by her domestic duties. In the third series, Kate gives birth to a daughter Helen.

The last episode of the fourth series, Goodbye George – Goodbye Kate, showed the couple going to live in Lagos, Nigeria because of George’s jobs. This was meant to be the last episode. However a fifth series was commissioned, that saw The Starlings returning to England as Kate was pregnant again, she gave birth in the final episode. Clips Six of the best Richard Briers TV roles - video | Radio Times Twitter Six of the best Richard Briers TV roles - video From the Good Life to If You See God, Tell Him, Briers' best work proves that while making everyone else laugh, he never took himself too seriously... Comments 7:24 PM, 18 February 2013 Marriage Lines (1961-1966) Briers' breakthrough was as the lead in BBC comedy Marriage Lines, opposite Prunella Scales. The show followed newlyweds George and Kate Starling as they attempted to get to grips with married life and start a family. Marriage Lines ran for five series and was later adapted into a radio play.

The Good Life (1975-1978) Briers' turn as boyish rogue Tom Good in classic BBC sitcom The Good Life is the one he'll remain best known for. His chemistry with onscreen wife Felicity Kendal was matched by a playful frisson with Penelope Keith’s high-maintenance next door neighbour Margo Leadbetter. Set in Surbiton, The Good Life followed Tom and Barbara Good as they quit the rat race to turn their suburban house and garden into a self-sufficient smallholding. The series starts on Tom's 40th birthday when he decides to pack in his job. Watch a clip from the first ever episode... Roobarb/Roobarb and Custard too (1974, 2005) Briers narrated cult 70s cartoon Roobarb, about the eponymous green dog and his pink feline rival, Custard. Roughly drawn with marker pens in Bob Godfrey's inimitable style, it was the first fully animated British series and proved hugely popular during the 1970s, returning for a new series in 2005.

Ever Decreasing Circles (1984-1989) Briers played Martin Bryce, an obsessive middle-aged man at the centre of his community – until his new neighbour, Paul (Peter Egan), arrived to make waves in his small suburban pond. Penelope Wilton was Martin's long-suffering but patient wife, Ann, who put up with him for four series. If You See God, Tell Him (1993) This brilliantly black BBC1 comedy passed many people by but it's a bizarre little gem. Briers is Godfrey Spry, whose life is transformed after he is hit on the head by falling rubble. Now with just a 30-second attention span, Godfrey finds himself believing in and repeating everything he's told by TV ads – and is all the happier for it. Even the horrible demise of his wife ("stoned to death by a mob of drunken soccer fans" we're told) is not enough to quash his newfound upbeat outlook on life. Adrian Edmonson and Imelda Staunton starred as Godfrey's nephew and niece.

Monarch of the Glen (2000-2005) Briers played Scottish eccentric Hector in Sunday teatime treat Monarch of the Glen. The drama – which also starred Downton Abbey writer-to-be Julian Fellowes, as well as Alastair Mackenzie, Dawn Steele and Susan Hampshire – followed Archie, Hector's son, who was forced return to his childhood home to look after his inherited estate, Glenbogle. Hector appeared in the first three series – before accidentally blowing himself up in a fishing accident... Like this? Share it.

Prunella Scales | Biography and Filmography | 1932 Toured England as Ranevskaya in "The Cherry Orchard" 1999 Appeared with husband Timothy West in London revival of Harold Pinter's "The Birthday Party" 1997 Co-starred with son Samuel West in "Stiff Upper Lips" 1995 Had featured role in Mike Newell's "An Awfully Big Adventure" 1992 Played Queen Elizabeth II in the TV version of "A Question of Attribution", scripted by Alan Bennett and directed by John Schlesinger 1992 Appeared in "Howards End"; son Samuel West had major supporting role in the film 1987 Had supporting role in "The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne" 1979 Reprised role of Sybil Fawlty in the second series of "Fawlty Towers" 1978 Co-starred with Patricia Routledge in "Doris and Doreen", directed by Stephen Frears and written by Alan Bennett 1975 First played Sybil Fawlty in the British comedy "Fawlty Towers" 1963 Co-starred with Richard B

riers in the BBC sitcom "The Marriage Lines" 1962 Co-starred with Peter Sellars in "The Waltz of the Torreadors" 1955 Broadway debut as Ermengarde in Thornton Wilder's "The Matchmaker" 1954 London stage debut, "The Impresario From Smyrna" 1954 Richard Briers, The Good Life star, dies aged 79 Follow DL on Richard Briers, The Good Life star, dies aged 79 Actor Richard Briers, best known for his role in TV's The Good Life, has died at the age of 79, his agent has said.

The star, who was also an accomplished stage actor, had been battling a serious lung condition for several years. Briers died "peacefully" at his London home on Sunday, his agent added. Briers recently blamed years of smoking for his emphysema. "It's totally my fault," he said. "So, I get very breathless, which is a pain in the backside. Trying to get upstairs... oh God, it's ridiculous. Of course, when you're bloody nearly 80 it's depressing, because you've had it anyway." His agent, Christopher Farrar, said: "Richard was a wonderful man, a consummate professional and an absolute joy to work alongside. "Following his recent discussion of his battle with emphysema, I know he was incredibly touched by the strength of support expressed by friends and the public. "He has a unique and special place in the hearts of so many. He will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and deepest sympathy go to his family at this sad time." In 1970s BBC sitcom The Good Life, Briers and Felicity Kendal played a married suburban couple who try a self-sufficient lifestyle.

Briers also starred in shows including Marriage Lines, Ever Decreasing Circles, Monarch Of The Glen plus a role in Doctor Who and Torchwood. He appeared in many films, most recently in British comedy film Cockneys versus Zombies, plus a cameo role in Run For Your Wife, based on Ray Cooney's 1980s stage farce. Briers narrated the 1970s children's cartoon series Roobarb And Custard and also provided the voice for the character of Fiver in the animated feature Watership Down (1978). "The nation has lost one of its most favourite actors of all time," said Michael Grade, who ran BBC One when Ever Decreasing Circles was on the air. "He was up there with Ronnie Barker and Alan Bennett. He was just a treasure. He was so warm and so gently funny, and such a truthful actor." Speaking to 5 live, Lord Grade added: "If you treated him like a star, I think he got embarrassed. He was one of those wonderful, genuine, professional actors with real star quality but humility to go along with it. "There was nothing he couldn't do, and he always had a twinkle. You were always pleased to see him.

It's just a shock and really, really sad." "He is a centre-piece of our humorous culture and a magnificently talented man. I'm so deeply sad today that he has left us. He was a great person." Actress Penelope Keith, who played the snobbish neighbour Margo to Briers' character Tom in The Good Life, said the actor's death was "an enormous loss". "I look back with enormous affection and love for Dickie. He was the most talented of actors, always self-deprecating. I learnt an awful lot from him during our time on The Good Life," said Keith. "He was a wonderful mentor, tutor and teacher although that would suggest he imposed himself on you, which he didn't. "He was always courteous and he would speak to the crew - which was not always that common. And he was always nervous.

It was the most enjoyable time - when I think of The Good Life, I smile." Briers's godson, the actor and director Samuel West, whose mother Prunella Scales was in Marriage Lines, tweeted: "What a lot of joy he spread." Scales described Briers as "very skilful, very professional, and off screen a dear friend and a very considerate colleague". Comedian and writer Barry Cryer told 5 live Briers had been an "enormously popular, well-liked man", adding he was a "formidable actor and the most modest, you know, arrogant in his humility!". After a long career in popular television, Briers joined Kenneth Branagh's Renaissance Theatre Company in 1987, and his career moved on to major classical roles. He said at the time: "Ken offered me Malvolio in his production of Twelfth Night at the very time I had decided to expand my career when I realised I had gone as far as I could doing sitcoms.

As soon as I worked with him, I thought he was truly exceptional." by Anonymous Richard Briers death: Good Life actor dies 'peacefully' at 79 after long battle with lung disease | Daily Mail Online comments Richard Briers, known to millions for his enduring role in TV sitcom The Good Life, has died aged 79. The star, who was also well-known for his Shakespearean roles, had been battling a serious lung condition for years and died ‘peacefully’ at his London home yesterday, his agent said. Briers, who also starred in shows such as Ever Decreasing Circles and Monarch Of The Glen, told the Daily Mail just three weeks ago that years of smoking had been to blame for his emphysema. Scroll down for video Treasured: His role as Tom in The Good Life was beloved by millions in Britain and many more across the world Old friends: The actor with his Marriage Lines co-star and lifelong friend Prunella Scales during an interview for the Daily Mail In an interview with the It's Friday section of the Daily Mail last month, which was his last, he spoke of his struggles with lung disease. 'I’ve got emphysema, you see, so I’m b*****d.

Five hundred thousand cigarettes, that’s the trouble,’ he said. RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share ‘I haven’t even got the strength to garden any more,’ he said, a love of his linked to his famous role as the ebullient Tom Good in the BBC comedy classic The Good Life. ‘It’s totally my fault. So, I get very breathless, which is a pain in the backside. Trying to get upstairs, oh God, it’s ridiculous. Of course, when you’re bloody nearly 80 it’s depressing because you’ve had it anyway.’ Much-loved: Richard Briers, who died aged 79, is pictured in this 1973 grab from Between The Wars on ITV Celebrated: Mr Briers was most famous for his sitcoms but was also an outstanding classical actor and voice over artist His varied career saw him narrating the 1970s children's cartoon series Roobarb And Custard, as well as adding his voice to the animated version of Watership Down.

Although best known for his comedy roles in film and TV, a new strand to his career unfolded when he joined Sir Kenneth Branagh's Renaissance Theatre Company in 1987, and went on to work on a number of classical roles. Sir Kenneth spoke fondly as he paid tribute to Briers today. saying: 'He was a national treasure, a great actor and a wonderful man. He was greatly loved and he will be deeply missed.' They worked together on Henry V, Peter's Friends, Much Ado About Nothing and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein during their lengthy association. His agent, Christopher Farrar, of Hamilton Hodell, said: 'Richard was a wonderful man, a consummate professional and an absolute joy to work alongside. Happy times: Briers (second left) in a 1975 episode of the Good Life with Felicity Kendal (left), Penelope Keith (centre right) and Paul Eddington (right) 'Following his recent discussion of his battle with emphysema, I know he was incredibly touched by the strength of support expressed by friends and the public. 'He has a unique and special place in the hearts of so many. He will be greatly missed.

Our thoughts and deepest sympathy go to his family at this sad time.' His most recent performances have included roles in last year's Cockneys Versus Zombies, plus a small role in a newly released movie version of stage farce Run For Your Wife. Briers's former co-star Scales said today: 'He was just a wonderful colleague and a dear friend.' She told BBC Radio 5 Live she would always be 'so grateful to him' for encouraging her to read for the part of his wife in Marriage Lines. Scales and her husband Timothy West were newly married at the time. 'To have an income like that was absolutely magical, it was very hard work of course, one episode a week,' she added.

And former BBC chairman Michael Grade told the radio station: 'I think the nation has lost one of its most favourite, favourite, favourite actors of all time - he's sort of up there with Ronnie Barker and Alan Bennett, you know, the people you're always pleased to see doing anything on television or in the theatre.' Household names: Richard Briers as Tom Good with Felicity Kendal as Barbara on BBCs The Good Life which ran from 1975-1978 Shane Allen, the BBC's controller for comedy commissioning, said: 'Richard Briers holds a very special place in British sitcom history having starred in several monumentally successful and well-loved shows. He was an incredibly accomplished actor who enjoyed a long, varied and distinguished career and will be greatly missed.' Peter Egan, his co-star in Ever Decreasing Circles, said: 'I spent nearly 10 years just laughing. He was just the most magical comedian, a huge talent, has been a part of the nation's lives for over 50 years.' Speaking to Radio Berkshire, Egan went on: 'He is a centre-piece of our humorous culture and a magnificently talented man. I'm so deeply sad today that he has left us.

He was a great person.' His godson, the actor and director Samuel West - whose mother Prunella Scales appeared alongside Briers in Marriage Lines - said on Twitter: "What a lot of joy he spread.' Legend: Richard Briers and his wife, Anne, at a film opening in 2003 and Mr Briers collecting his CBE at Buckingham Palace the same year Rada-trained Briers made his West End debut in the late 1950s in Gilt And Gingerbread, and went on to work on a number of British films - Bottoms Up, Murder She Said, The Girl On The Boat and Fathom, alongside Raquel Welch. He struck gold as an actor with his many sitcoms in the 1970s and 1980s, although none more so than The Good life in which he starred with Penelope Keith, Felicity Kendal and the late Paul Eddington, who died in 1995. Briers also returned to the stage many times in his career, with numerous roles in the works of Alan Ayckbourn, including Relatively Speaking, Absurd Person Singular and Absent Friends.

Briers will be best remembered for his performance as Tom Good, alongside Felicity Kendal, in the 1970s BBC1 sitcom The Good Life about a couple who drop out of the rat race in Surbiton, south west London, to enjoy a life of simply self-sufficiency. Mr Briers was one of the most popular television sitcom actors of his generation. He was the lynchpin of three of the most notable sitcoms ever made in Britain - Marriage Lines, The Good Life and Ever Decreasing Circles. The success of these shows means he will be best remembered as a bumbling, fussy and occasionally downtrodden figure in some of the most successful TV comedies of his era. But he was no less acclaimed as a distinguished Shakespearean actor, a major development in his career, at a point when he said 'I realised I had gone as far as I could doing sitcoms'.

On-screen love: Richard and Prunella Scales were close since they played newlyweds George and Kate Starling in Sixties comedy Marriage Lines But after a long career in popular television, Briers joined Kenneth Branagh's Renaissance Theatre Company in 1987, and his already very successful professional life took a new turn as he moved on to major classical roles. Briers was born on January 14 1934 and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he won the silver medal and a scholarship to Liverpool Playhouse in 1956. Two years later he made his first West End appearance in Gilt And Gingerbread. He barely stopped working from that day onwards. He was awarded the OBE in 1989 for services to the arts and a CBE in 2003. Briers married the actress Anne Davies in 1956. They had two daughters. VIDEO: Richard Briers's classic moments as TV actor and protester Richard Briers, a bumbling and fussy figure in some of Britain's most legendary sitcoms By CHRIS MONCRIEFF, PRESS ASSOCIATION Richard Briers was one of the most popular television sitcom actors of his generation.

But he was no less acclaimed as a distinguished Shakespearean actor, a major development in his career, at a point when he said 'I realised I had gone as far as I could doing sitcoms'. He will be best remembered as a bumbling, fussy and occasionally downtrodden figure in some of the most successful TV comedies of his era.

RICHARD BRIERS: LIFE ON SCREEN Bottoms Up (1960) The Girl On The Boat (1962) A Matter of Who (1962) Brothers In Law (1962) The Real Inspector Hound (1968) Bird On A Wing (1971) Butley (1972) Run For Your Wife (1983) Ever Decreasing Circles (1984-1989) A Chorus Of Disapproval (1989) Henry V (1989) A Midsummer Night's Dream (1990) Peter's Friends (1992) Much Ado About Nothing (1993) Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) Hamlet (1996) Heavy Weather (1996) He was the lynchpin of three of the most notable sitcoms ever made in Britain - Marriage Lines, The Good Life (shown in the United States as Good Neighbours) and Ever Decreasing Circles.

But after a long career in popular television, Briers joined Kenneth Branagh's Renaissance Theatre Company in 1987, and his already very successful professional life took a new turn as he moved on to major classical roles. Briers was born on January 14 1934 and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he won the silver medal and a scholarship to Liverpool Playhouse in 1956. Two years later he made his first West End appearance in Gilt And Gingerbread. He barely stopped working from that day onwards. His big screen career began with the British features Bottoms Up (1960), Murder She Said (1961), The Girl On The Boat and A Matter of Who (both 1962) and the multi-national The VIPs (1963), followed by Raquel Welch's spy spoof Fathom (1967).

Over the next 36 years, he alternated his TV and film work with such plays as Present Laughter (1965), The Real Inspector Hound (1968), Butley (1972), Run For Your Wife (1983), Twelfth Night (1987-88) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (as Bottom, 1990). Throughout these years, he was regularly and prominently on TV including such shows as Brothers In Law (1962), Bird On A Wing (1971), and starring with Michael Gambon in the series The Other One (1977). Briers also provided the voice for the character of Fiver in the animated feature Watership Down (1978). It was in 1987 that he joined Branagh's company, saying at the time: 'Ken offered me Malvolio in his production of Twelfth Night at the very time I had decided to expand my career when I realised I had gone as far as I could doing sitcoms.

As soon as I worked with him, I thought he was truly exceptional.' After his Malvolio, Briers took on King Lear at Branagh's insistence, followed by the title role in Uncle Vanya and Menenius in Coriolanus. However, Briers still considered himself a sitcom clown, and on film Branagh cast him as Bardolph in Henry V (1989), as Stephen Fry's father in the comedy Peter's Friends (1992), Don Leonato in Much Ado About Nothing (1993), the blind grandfather in the controversial Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) and as a cranky old trouper in A Midwinter's Tale (1996), the same year in which he filmed the role of Polonius in Hamlet. 'It's totally my fault. So, I get very breathless, which is a pain in the backside. Trying to get upstairs... oh God, it's ridiculous. Of course, when you're bloody nearly 80 it's depressing, because you've had it anyway' Richard Briers He also co-starred with Sir John Gielgud in Branagh's Academy Award-nominated short film Swan Song.

It was his film-making with Branagh's company which made his name in the United States. Other film credits included Michael Warner's A Chorus Of Disapproval (1989) and the big-screen version of the hit TV series Minder. He also appeared in the harrowing period drama Skallagrigg (1994) and the PG Wodehouse comedy Heavy Weather (1996), with Peter O'Toole and Judy Parfitt. Briers also often appeared in the works of the prolific playwright Alan Ayckbourn, playing leading roles in Relatively Speaking, Absurd Person Singular and Absent Friends on the stage and The Norman Conquests and Just Between Ourselves on television. In recent years the actor saw his health deteriorate after being diagnosed with emphysema five years ago. In an interview only a few weeks ago, he told how he blamed his years of smoking for the condition. 'It's totally my fault. So, I get very breathless, which is a pain in the backside. Trying to get upstairs... oh God, it's ridiculous.

Of course, when you're bloody nearly 80 it's depressing, because you've had it anyway.' He was awarded the OBE in 1989 for services to the arts. Briers married the actress Anne Davies in 1956. They had two daughters. 50 years of Steptoe and Son: its influence on 60s and 70s sitcoms | Den of Geek Search 50 years of Steptoe and Son: its influence on 60s and 70s sitcoms Alex looks back at the new wave of realism that swept sixties and seventies sitcom thanks to Steptoe and Son... tumblr Steptoe and Son had an immense influence on British television comedy, and specifically the writers who created some of the finest sitcoms of the last fifty years. The fact Steptoe and Son depicted a working-class father and son was truly groundbreaking. To put it into context, the BBC in the early sixties and for many years subsequently, tended to commission safe, middle-class family fare for its main situation comedy offerings. 1963’s The Marriage Lines, was a pleasant but frankly, rather dull, comedy about a newly-married couple by Richard Waring.

It starred talented young prospects, Richard Briers and Prunella Scales, the series is not widely remembered as both stars eclipsed these early roles with iconic parts in the seventies sitcoms The Good Life and Fawlty Towers respectively. There was a sea-change in screen drama at the start of the sixties. The British New Wave, which emphasised a raw, provincial realism in film and television, swept all before it. The BBC modernised and the rather stuffy edict that the BBC should invest in drama that was “good for the audience” was replaced by a more relevant, contemporary approach with the appointment of Sydney Newman, who developed the prestigious long-form drama strand The Wednesday Play. In comedy, the newly launched BBC2 saw the debut of a series which embodied the new wave realism. The Likely Lads (incidentally, the first comedy series to be set outside London), was created by a talented young writing team heavily influenced by Galton and Simpson: Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais.

DICK CLEMENT & IAN LA FRENAIS: The Likely Lads, Whatever happened to… the Likely Lads, Porridge Clement and La Frenais were keen to translate the nascent, northern realism of films like Saturday Night, Sunday Morning, A Taste of Honey, The Loneliness of a Long Distance Runner and Billy Liar (the latter two films featured Likely Lads stars James Bolam and Rodney Bewes respectively) The Likely Lads stemmed from a short sketch called “Double Date” which had impressed BBC2 controller Michael Peacock. It reflected the lives of a couple of young working class men, Terry Collier and Bob Ferris, in northern Britain in 1964, in short, it was exactly the sort of programming Peacock felt his new channel should embrace. Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais cite Steptoe and Son as a huge inspiration behind the creation of The Likely Lads and its even more impressive sequel, 1972’s Whatever Happened to… the Likely Lads?

Clement and La Frenais, like Galton and Simpson, wrote about men under pressure often in very confined conditions, never more so than in the superlative Ronnie Barker vehicle Porridge which ran from 1974 to 1977. There is a powerful monologue from Fletcher in a particularly fraught scene and Ronnie Barker pretty much plays it straight. Fletcher’s sour reflection of what his life amounts to and his disappointment with his own shortcomings lead him to berate the system. He kicks a chair in sheer frustration. Godber, not used to such behaviour from his usually upbeat cellmate, is concerned. Fletcher calms down and explains things just get to him now and again. He then warns Godber not to be like him, suggesting he bides his time and goes straight. The implication being “a man’s chances in life are significantly better if he’s never been inside”.

CARLA LANE: The Liver Birds, Butterflies Carla Lane’s Liverpudlian flatmate comedy The Liver Birds which began in 1969 was ground-breaking for the time, in turn influencing Man about the House, it originally starred Pauline Collins, who didn’t stay with the series too long and was replaced after the first series by Nerys Hughes as the nervous mummy’s girl Sandra, who balanced the relentlessly chirpy Beryl played by Polly James. When James left in 1975, Elizabeth Estenson was introduced as Carol Boswell, a rather gauche vision in vibrantly coloured tops, high heeled boots and felt ”Lennon” cap. Carol can be seen as an antecedent of wannabe model Aveline in Lane’s later success Bread which also featured the name “Boswell” Carla Lane simply thought the name lucky. Carla Lane’s writing, particularly after The Liver Birds, tends to replace poignancy with schmaltz and sentimentality. Here the comedy is balanced with wistful reflection in the excellent monologues delivered by the ever-engaging Michael Angelis as Lucien Boswell, arguably, a direct descendent of the misanthropic Harold Steptoe.

Butterflies, which first appeared in 1978, the same year The Liver Birds ended, starred Wendy Craig, a veteran of several sixties sitcoms and Geoffrey Palmer, at the time recently seen in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin and featured a young Nicholas Lyndhurst. Craig’s housewife Ria, was given to internal monologues, something Peep Show would develop but still quite a new concept in 1978. Ria’s frustrations manifest themselves in her lack of cooking skill which provided much of the comedy yet her feeling of being trapped in a loveless marriage gave rise to controversial scenes where she meets another man. Realism is somewhat lost on the children, however, their dialogue peppered with ”cool” and “groovy” seems about ten years out of date for the late seventies. Carla Lane was writing about a common truth that many housewives felt unsatisfied and longed for a more fulfilling lifestyle. ERIC CHAPPELL: Rising Damp, Only When I Laugh Eric Chappell was a playwright. His biggest success was a west end run of The Banana Box about a seedy unscrupulous landlord and his hapless, wayward tenants.

Rooksby was originally played on stage by Wilfrid Brambell then later by Leonard Rossiter. Eventually, the play was transferred to TV by Yorkshire Television in 1974 as Rising Damp. Rossiter made the part of the scruffy, rejected-at-the-altar, Rupert Rigsby (as the character had been renamed) his own. He had appeared in just two episodes of Steptoe and Son but it was his performance in the well-loved episode, The Desperate Hours, about two escaped convicts who discover prison preferable to the Steptoe’s skint lifestyle, that really showcased his comic ability. As Rigsby, Leonard Rossiter’s heightened performance bounced off the wonderfully understated performance of Richard Beckinsale as long-haired medical student Alan Moore. Don Warrington’s “son of a chief” Philip, often got the better of Rigsby’s racism and gullibility (a rare, relatively positive portrayal of race in seventies sitcom). Frances De La Tour as the sex- starved, highly strung Ruth Jones was the perfect foil for Rossiter. In real life the two had little in common and were said not to get on, yet their shared scenes are something approaching comedy gold.

Rising Damp ran from 1974 to 1978 on TV and became a feature film in 1980 made by Hammer films of all people! Only When I Laugh, which first appeared in 1979, was a very popular three hander-set in a men’s ward of a hospital. Peter Bowles played the slightly eccentric, effete middle class Archie, Christopher Strauli was the fresh faced Norman, who never grew out of taking a teddy bear to bed and best of all was James Bolam as the workshy waster Roy Figgis who, despite his workshy attitude was proudly working class, a TV critic once observed Figgis is simply Terry Collier on a bad day. The series is also notable for an early appearance of Richard Wilson as Figgis’ nemesis, the put-upon Dr Thorpe. JOHN SULLIVAN: Citizen Smith Perhaps Steptoe’s biggest influence was upon the writer John Sullivan. Working as a scene shifter at the BBC, Sullivan had managed to persuade legendary comedy producer Dennis Main Wilson to look at his script about a would-be revolutionary and his band of followers.

Citizen Smith starred a young Robert Lindsay as Wolfie Smith, the leader of “The Tooting Popular Front”. Members included Smith’s understanding girlfriend Shirley (Cheryl Hall) who ran a record shop; peace loving pacifist Ken, played by Mike Grady was Wolfie’s right hand man; nervous Tucker (Tony Millan) who ran a Mexican restaurant dressed as a cowboy and had umpteen kids and vicious jailbird Speed (George Sweeney) who trusted Smith to look after his girlfriend Desiree, a local stripper, when he spent time inside, which was often. Like Frankie Barrow in Steptoe and Son, Sullivan added a local villain, Harry Fenning (in the first two series) played by Stephen Grieff and then Ronnie Lynch played by David Garfield. The funniest characters were Shirley’s mum and dad. Charlie Johnson, the magnificent Peter Vaughan, was a security guard who hated the sight of Wolfie calling him “that yeti”, his wife Florence was a sweet but rather confused and naïve lady mistakenly calling Smith “Foxy”. Hilda Braid, who specialised in playing eccentric old ladies was perfect casting. She gets to deliver perhaps the best line in the whole series.

Having taken a phone call meant for Wolfie, she looks confused and announces:”Either that was someone called “Tucker” or it was one of those obscene phone calls!”… Next time: In the final part of the series we move into the eighties, nineties and noughties and examine the influence of Galton and Simpson’s masterpiece on Only Fools and Horses, Dear John, One Foot In the Grave, The Royle Family, Early Doors, The Office and Peep Show. See also: Richard Briers battling chronic lung disease... as lifelong friend Prunella Scales has shocking confession of her own | Daily Mail Online comments The wondrously self-effacing Richard Briers takes a full 30 minutes to catch his breath after climbing the short flight of steps to Prunella Scales’s terrace home to join her for this interview — and a further half-an-hour to lob his hand grenade of a confession into the conversation. ‘I’ve got emphysema, you see, so I’m b*****d.’ This is said with such cheeriness it takes a moment for the penny to drop: this is a very serious lung disease.

‘I haven’t even got the strength to garden any more,’ he says, with a wry grin that’s so familiar from his days as the ebullient Tom Good in the BBC comedy classic The Good Life you can’t help but feel for him. Scroll down for video Good friends: Richard Briers and Prunella Scales have remained close since Marriage Lines ‘Oh darling,’ Prunella reaches for his hand. ‘Five hundred thousand cigarettes, darling — that’s the trouble,’ he says. ‘It’s totally my fault. So, I get very breathless, which is a pain in the backside. Trying to get upstairs, oh God, it’s ridiculous. Of course, when you’re bloody nearly 80 it’s depressing because you’ve had it anyway.’ RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share Richard is, in fact, 79 and from a generation that prefers not to make a fuss. He’s been bringing laughter into our lives for more than half a century in a host of TV classic comedies. Has his Good Life co-star Felicity Kendal been supportive during his illness? ‘Not much,’ he says. ‘She seems to have disappeared in a strange way. She’s an extraordinary girl.

I don’t really know who she is. Never did. She was always an attractive girl and she’s still pretty young, but you know she’s very strange. Enchanting, but very strange. ‘She became enamoured with [playwright Tom] Stoppard. They were very much in love and I think she’d had enough of The Good Life. She quite liked the idea of very good acting — clever acting rather than just sitcom. Now she’s got this very nice American chap who’s been with her many years. On-screen love: Richard and Prunella Scales were close since they played newlyweds George and Kate Starling in Sixties comedy Marriage Lines ‘I got a very nice card from her, but we’ve never really…’ Been friends? ‘No, it’s ridiculous. Strange.’ Which it is given that they are one of the best-loved telly couples in British comedy. It turns out, though, that Richard never really had much time for his on-screen character Tom Good either. ‘I thought he was terribly selfish. It was about him all the time and he was terrible with the wife,’ he says. ‘There were no clothes for her, no babies — nothing at all.

He was just sort of: “This is my patch.” I never particularly liked him at all. There are very few people I liked that I played. Most of them were irritating people.’ We’re in Prunella’s much-loved family home in South-West London to talk about the Sixties sitcom Marriage Lines in which they starred as newlyweds George and Kate Starling. The hugely popular comedy, which propelled both of their careers, is being released on DVD and remains enduringly funny. It survives the test of time with a natural easiness that knocks many of today’s crass comedies into a cocked hat — an easiness that’s part of their friendship today. But Richard’s revelation about his horrible illness has diverted us. ‘Yes,’ he tuts. ‘The ciggies got me. I stopped ten years ago, but too late. If you do it in your 30s, you’re OK, but after 30 it gets you. I was diagnosed five years ago and didn’t think it would go quite as badly as it has. It’s a b****r, but there it is. I used to love smoking.’ Prunella pats his arm.

‘Oh, I never really liked the actual thing,’ she says. ‘I don’t think I inhaled when I smoked tobacco because if someone gives me a joint I have to work at it.’ Household names: Richard Briers as Tom Good with Felicity Kendal as Barbara on BBCs The Good Life which ran from 1975-1978 Hang on! Prunella Scales smoking pot? ‘I don’t smoke tobacco at all now. But if someone gives me a joint I really have to work at it.’ She repeats herself. Not for the first time. At 80, Prunella looks as fit as a flea in a pair of black trousers and smart green waistcoat, but sadly her short-term memory is fading. She goes to the kitchen twice to make herself a coffee, but forgets what she’s gone for. She can’t remember the year either of her two sons, actor Sam and Joseph, were born, nor when she married her brilliant husband, actor/director Tim West, 78. Instead, she fetches a copy of Who’s Who from the study to look up the dates. ‘My day-to-day memory is ludicrous,’ she says.

‘I can’t remember things about life, so you find ways of remembering by writing them down. What was I looking up?’ She opens Who’s Who. ‘I don’t know my alphabet, that’s my problem. West. Ah! Here we are. West. Timothy Lancaster. Tim was born in 1934. ‘What did we want to know? When we got married. Oh yes. “Married 1963 to Prunella Scales.” That long ago. Inside I feel about 48.’ She actually doesn’t look a day older than 60. ‘It’s having a round fat face,’ she says. ‘I must say living in a tall, thin house and running up and down stairs all day, that keeps you fit.’ No cosmetic surgery? ‘Oh, I had a tuck way back sometime,’ she says, lifting her hair to try to find the scars. ‘But not a huge job. What I do is I go to bed with my make-up on because I’m lazy and Tim doesn’t like me without make-up. ‘In the morning I take it all off and scrub my face and so on.

Whether that’s good for the skin instead of slapping stuff on at night I don’t know. But just go to bed with your make-up on, that’s my advice.’ You can see it’s impossible not to be enchanted by Prunella — who wanted to act ‘because it gave me the chance to play people infinitely more interesting than I am and to say things infinitely cleverer and more entertaining than anything I could ever think of myself,’ she says. ‘The thing is I’m utterly terrified of absolutely everything, but because I’ve played bossy parts everyone thinks I’m going to be like that.’ ‘Oh, I never really liked the actual thing. I don’t think I inhaled when I smoked tobacco because if someone gives me a joint I have to work at it.’ - Prunella Scales Most famously, of course, she starred as ghastly Sybil in Fawlty Towers with John Cleese. Do they remain close? ‘Oh no, he’s slightly out of our league really,’ she says. ‘He’s big-time and lives in . . . what’s the state there?’ California? ‘Yes, he lives in California. We see him when he’s over here, but it’s not a . .

.’ Richard chips in: ‘Quite a grand fellow, isn’t he? Strange man.’ Strange, it seems, isn’t much of a compliment in Richard’s book. Prunella considers this: ‘Well, he’s got an awful lot of wives and ex-wives and has a very harassed life.’ Whereas Prunella has remained blissfully married to Tim for 50 years. He is, she says, a tower of strength. He’s also a gentle man and as affected as the rest of us by Richard’s ill health. They have been dear friends for more than half a century and Richard is godfather to their eldest son, Sam. ‘I got pregnant during the second series [of Marriage Lines] and they had to write in Sam,’ says Prunella. ‘Poor Richard had to work with him in utero. We lived quite near each other at one point, didn’t we?’ She turns to Richard. ‘You were right across the road from Queen Charlotte’s Hospital where I had Sam. I was in labour for 31 hours. ‘Tim was there for the birth, which was very unusual in those days, but went to get a cup of tea just before I went into hard labour.

‘I said: “Where’s my husband?” I rang home and he wasn’t there. Then, in between spasms, I said: “Try Richard Briers.” ‘And there was Tim, knocking back whatever. I said: “Get over here.” Tim got over and when Sam popped out he said: “Very good, no retakes.” I laughed so much I had to have stitches.’ ‘Did you see your children born?’ she asks Richard. ‘Oh I was hopeless, hopeless. I was always in a show,’ he says. ‘I was quite relieved. I’m not terribly fond of that business.’ Prunella giggles: ‘Tim was good at it. He loves nurses. He’s got a thing about them. I think it was a bit of a turn on really being in hospital.’ ‘How splendid,’ says Richard. Which it is really, to see a woman of 80 quite so besotted with her husband. ‘Tim’s a wonderful letter writer and he also loves touring, so I think that’s kept our relationship at fever pitch,’ she says. ‘We had a lot of separation. We met on a ghastly telly show called She Died Young, subtitled by the cast None Too Soon.

It was one of these terrible costume dramas. ‘He was married to someone. I knew he was the son of Harry Lockwood West, the actor, which surprised me very much because I’d always thought Harry was gay. Tim was playing a Regency buck and I was playing the Bishop of Lichfield’s daughter — debauched by Boswell in a pub. No fawlts: Prunella in one of her most famous roles, as Sybil Fawlty opposite John Cleese, Connie Booth and Andrew Sachs in Fawlty Towers ‘We had a mild crossword flirtation and then there was an electrician’s strike. He said: “Oh, come to the pictures.” So we went and returned home our separate ways. ‘Then the ghastly telly was revived, but Tim was on tour by that time, so I wrote him a postcard saying: “You’re very much missed.” ‘He wrote back and we started writing letters to each other. That’s how it really started.

‘I shared a flat with three other girls and he turned up on my doorstep with a tray of morning tea service and said: “Jackie [Tim’s first wife] has turned me out — she’s having an affair with the lodger.” ‘I sort of, well, I adored him. I thought he was a lovely person, but I shared a flat with three other girls and we put him up in the sitting room. Then Jackie asked for a divorce. I can’t remember when that was . . . now, you’ve got coffee, you’ve got coffee — can I get myself a coffee?’ Which is when Richard drops his bombshell — to deflect, I suspect, from Prunella’s confusion. Today, he says, he spends much of his time at home supported by his wife of 55 years, Ann, with whom he has two grown-up daughters Lucy, also an actress, and mother-of-two Katie. They met at the Liverpool Playhouse and married within six months. ‘We met at a party and sort of clicked and I suppose three months later we were in the same old digs,’ he says, with a sort of nudge-nudge-wink-wink spark of his younger self.

‘My marriage has been extraordinary because it got better and then much better than that. She keeps me going. She was always bloody good, but she’s extraordinary now. I rely on her terribly. She’s a colossus. ‘But it was really tough work early on because we were both hard-working actors. It’s very tricky to do play after play after play. ‘Annie was marvellous really. I was stuck there doing voiceovers, then straight into matinees. ‘I was a really narrow person. I get more fun as a real person than constantly doing performances of the same thing. ‘I don’t particularly enjoy it as much — the acting. I’ve had enough of it. I just like being at home, actually — talking to Ann a bit and reading.’ Prunella, who’s returned without a coffee, nods in agreement. ‘I’m a bit like that. I don’t like opening the front door to put the milk bottles out. Oh look,’ she says picking up a DVD of Marriage Lines. ‘They’ve brought out this.’ ‘But long ago, isn’t it?’ says Richard.

‘Long ago.’ Which it is, many years, but years crammed full of friendship, laughter and, yes, the vagaries of long lives well lived. Marriage Lines is available to buy from Monday, February 4 on DVD courtesy of Acorn Media (acornmediauk.com).

Question: Which TV comedy series starred Richard Briers and Prunella Scales and ran from 1963 to 1966?
Answer: 'MARRIAGE LINES'