0:00:00 > 0:00:04- Sit fast.- 'Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Richard Briers.'
0:00:04 > 0:00:07APPLAUSE
0:00:10 > 0:00:13'Is he havin' a laugh?'
0:00:14 > 0:00:16Hup!
0:00:24 > 0:00:26I will be point device!
0:00:29 > 0:00:30This business is well ended.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33Three cream cakes!
0:00:33 > 0:00:36My case is proved!
0:00:36 > 0:00:38No.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40They're decent sociable fellows, so why upset them?
0:00:40 > 0:00:42Nice bit of thigh!
0:00:42 > 0:00:45LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:00:58 > 0:01:02Now listen, this should be interesting.
0:01:02 > 0:01:07Richard David Briers was born on the 14th of January, 1934,
0:01:07 > 0:01:10in the South London suburb of Raynes Park.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14I completely struck on theatre from an early age.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17At school, I was totally hopeless.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20I was a show-off and used to mimic the teachers,
0:01:20 > 0:01:23the usual thing young, budding actors do.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26So I ended up without a single O-level and became
0:01:26 > 0:01:30a clerk at 16 years old, making the tea, the lowest of the low.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34And boredom, boredom, boredom. Terribly bored.
0:01:34 > 0:01:40I met Richard doing National Service. He was a clerk personnel.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43I was supposed to be clerk organisation.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46We were both pretty terrible.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48But he was more terrible than me.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51I discovered that he was interested in acting.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54We went back to his house every weekend and we would go
0:01:54 > 0:01:59through all the plays of Shakespeare playing all the principal roles.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02And he has always sworn that it was my fault,
0:02:02 > 0:02:06I encouraged him to become a professional actor.
0:02:07 > 0:02:09After completing National Service
0:02:09 > 0:02:12and determined not to return to the world of filing,
0:02:12 > 0:02:16Richard sought advice from a distant cousin, the actor Terry Thomas,
0:02:16 > 0:02:20who suggested he pursue his passion at drama school.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24In 1954, he was accepted at RADA where his contemporaries
0:02:24 > 0:02:27included Albert Finney and Peter O'Toole.
0:02:27 > 0:02:31I realised people like O'Toole and Finney were far away going to
0:02:31 > 0:02:34lead, and I didn't know quite how I'd manage at all.
0:02:34 > 0:02:38Kitchen sink had arrived and I thought I was already almost old-fashioned because I was
0:02:38 > 0:02:43still tennis racket in hand, coming in through the French windows.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47Dickie used to send himself up about literally the times when he started his career
0:02:47 > 0:02:50by walking through the double doors and going, "Anyone for tennis?"
0:02:50 > 0:02:54Being bright and innocent. But there was always something there, even if
0:02:54 > 0:02:57it was a kind of nerviness, he always had that energy,
0:02:57 > 0:03:00that kind of high revving engine.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04He did a Hamlet. I saw it.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08He was all right in tights, not the finest legs.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12Not many actors have, they usually have to get padded.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15He loved the words. He loved them so much, he went at a speed of knots.
0:03:15 > 0:03:20He used to talk about his Hamlet as being the fastest ever Hamlet,
0:03:20 > 0:03:24which I can well believe. Very, very fast.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28Cos he does speak... You know, he doesn't hang about.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33After leaving RADA, Richard began honing his acting skills
0:03:33 > 0:03:37at repertory theatres around the country.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39I used to go to the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry
0:03:39 > 0:03:43and I remember two actors very distinctly.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45One was Frank Finlay, of course still with us,
0:03:45 > 0:03:47and the other was Richard Briers.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51I just remember Richard Briers having this sort of light darting,
0:03:51 > 0:03:54quicksilver sort of feathery presence on stage
0:03:54 > 0:03:57and sort of making a mental note, I thought, here is
0:03:57 > 0:04:01someone who is very precise and very distinctive.
0:04:01 > 0:04:06It was while treading the boards in rep that he met actress Ann Davies.
0:04:06 > 0:04:12He went off to RADA and came back a fully-fledged actor with a wife.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14He moved like the speed of lightning.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17As well as getting the words out fast,
0:04:17 > 0:04:19he busted through life, as well.
0:04:19 > 0:04:26I met him on a film called Girl In A Boat in the '60s, early '60s.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29Thankfully, it sunk without trace
0:04:29 > 0:04:33because it probably was one of the worst films ever made.
0:04:33 > 0:04:35I say, steady on!
0:04:35 > 0:04:38The man on the subway!
0:04:38 > 0:04:41- The girl with the elephant gun. - You remember me!
0:04:41 > 0:04:44'I can't even remember about the film.'
0:04:44 > 0:04:47I can only remember meeting Richard was a joy for the rest of my life.
0:04:47 > 0:04:52And at the time, he hadn't long been married to Annie and I remember being fascinated.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55I hadn't met Annie at that stage and every night,
0:04:55 > 0:04:59he couldn't wait to get home. He was so loving domesticity.
0:05:03 > 0:05:09We saw him in a very forgettable play called Guilt And Gingerbread.
0:05:09 > 0:05:10And at the time,
0:05:10 > 0:05:15we were writing a series called The Seven Faces Of Jim,
0:05:15 > 0:05:22starring Jimmy Edwards, and we asked Richard if he would do one.
0:05:22 > 0:05:27And he was so spot on. But he ended up in four of those episodes.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30How long is it before my relief arrives?
0:05:30 > 0:05:32Eight months.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36Time crawls, doesn't it?
0:05:36 > 0:05:38- Aye.- When was it I got here?
0:05:38 > 0:05:40Half past six.
0:05:40 > 0:05:45'He had the timing'
0:05:45 > 0:05:49and the imaginative use of the character that you'd booked him
0:05:49 > 0:05:51to portray.
0:05:51 > 0:05:56And all his suggestions were worth listening to.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59This, from a youngster, really a youngster.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03So impressed were Muir and Norden,
0:06:03 > 0:06:06they cast Richard in their next project, a series about a newly
0:06:06 > 0:06:10qualified barrister struggling with the complexities of the courtroom.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13It was Richard's first leading role on television.
0:06:13 > 0:06:19One of the reasons Richard was so good in that role was believability.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21You believed him.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25It was that conviction that shored up his performance.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29Your honour, I ask for judgement for the agreed damages of £100 and costs!
0:06:29 > 0:06:34He was a real television comic actor.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40And his next TV role was to prove just that.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44I quite like the bedroom!
0:06:44 > 0:06:47- Those curtains?- I don't think we can touch those, darling.- Can't we?
0:06:47 > 0:06:49No, they're sort of a fixture, you see.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53He had a special gift and timing, of course, is very important
0:06:53 > 0:06:56and he could work at enormous speed.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59There are plenty to be had at very reasonable prices and if you want
0:06:59 > 0:07:02us to go on paying your price, you will have to do something about it!
0:07:02 > 0:07:06Of course I'll do something about it, Mr Starling.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09What? Oh. Well, good, because quite frankly...
0:07:09 > 0:07:10I'll give you a fortnight's notice.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15In Marriage Lines, he was this sweet young man,
0:07:15 > 0:07:20sort of trying to do his best and constantly getting it wrong.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24And you never thought, "Oh, for God's sake!"
0:07:24 > 0:07:29You always had this kind of aching desire for him to pull through
0:07:29 > 0:07:32and I think that was rather an extraordinary
0:07:32 > 0:07:34quality at the centre of his work.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37George, what's the matter?
0:07:37 > 0:07:40Cartwright put an extra guinea on the rent.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42He's... He's what you call a pusher.
0:07:45 > 0:07:47Eight guineas a week?
0:07:47 > 0:07:49'I was just married by then'
0:07:49 > 0:07:55and then I got pregnant, expecting our first son.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58- How did you sleep?- Like a log. - Oh, did you? Splendid!
0:07:58 > 0:08:01Darling, babies keep you awake after they're born.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03It's not too bad before.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06'So, our son Sam's first appearance on TV'
0:08:06 > 0:08:10was in utero! And we had to write him in.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13I was just thinking. This time next year,
0:08:13 > 0:08:15I'll be putting on a red dressing gown with a cotton wool beard.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18'My father no doubt would have told you'
0:08:18 > 0:08:19about when I was being born
0:08:19 > 0:08:23and him taking a whisky off Richard just across the road, saying,
0:08:23 > 0:08:26"Isn't it dreadful what these women have to go through?
0:08:26 > 0:08:29"Yes, I will have another, if you don't mind."
0:08:29 > 0:08:32And getting quite pissed with Richard and nearly missing my birth.
0:08:32 > 0:08:36And Richard is his godfather because he looked after us
0:08:36 > 0:08:38so nicely when I was expecting.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44By the late 1960s, Richard and Ann had two daughters of their own.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48Family life was combined with a thriving career on stage and TV.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52In 1967, he was cast in the debut West End
0:08:52 > 0:08:54production of an emerging young playwright.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59My first impressions of Dickie was the first day of rehearsals
0:08:59 > 0:09:02for Relatively Speaking, which was the first of my plays he was in.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05So I turned up a bit late, a very young author,
0:09:05 > 0:09:06and I was very nervous.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10It was a very high-powered cast and Dickie was among them.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14Michael Hordern, Celia Johnson and Jennifer Hilary were the others.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16And he was so welcoming
0:09:16 > 0:09:22and he realised that that character was based, quite a lot of it, on me.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24And he kept staring at me
0:09:24 > 0:09:28and I could catch him staring at me across the room!
0:09:28 > 0:09:31"That's how he stands!"
0:09:31 > 0:09:34And I said, "He's not all me, Dickie.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37"There's quite a lot of fiction in there."
0:09:37 > 0:09:39He'd go, "Yes, but it's a good start."
0:09:41 > 0:09:45Relatively Speaking marked the start of an Ayckbourn-Briers
0:09:45 > 0:09:50collaboration that flourished throughout the 1960s and '70s.
0:09:50 > 0:09:55One of the pieces of work I did with him was Absurd Person Singular
0:09:55 > 0:09:59and the part that he played was this little ordinary man
0:09:59 > 0:10:03who suddenly becomes very powerful and eventually rules over them.
0:10:03 > 0:10:09And he was malevolent and terrifying. Hugely funny.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13I used to have to play back to back because I couldn't look at him, he made me laugh so much.
0:10:13 > 0:10:18He turned into this little weasel of a man, hating everybody
0:10:18 > 0:10:20and getting aggressive.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23And that was what was so incredibly funny.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27He was utterly truthful and there was a dark side in him that he
0:10:27 > 0:10:29could use.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32He recognised what I wrote very quickly.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34His instincts were always right.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37When to speed up and when to slow down.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41When to leave that moment and when to really darken.
0:10:41 > 0:10:48The choices of the darker tempos he used, he was a true interpreter.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52These polished performances portraying the middle classes
0:10:52 > 0:10:56were to stand Richard in good stead when in 1975,
0:10:56 > 0:10:59he was offered the lead in a brand new BBC sitcom.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03Richard was very apologetic early on, saying,
0:11:03 > 0:11:09"Look, darlings, this probably won't run like my other series that
0:11:09 > 0:11:14"go on for ever because the subject is quite frankly a bit odd."
0:11:14 > 0:11:16And it was, for the 1970s.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20The novel concept of one couple's attempts at self-sufficiency
0:11:20 > 0:11:24in the unlikely setting of Surbiton.
0:11:24 > 0:11:28And those were the days that vegetarians were weird
0:11:28 > 0:11:31and brown bread was a bit suspect.
0:11:31 > 0:11:37And certainly, you know, organic?! Are you insane?
0:11:37 > 0:11:42But we did it because we all really fell in love with the script.
0:11:42 > 0:11:47The "Ooh Aah Bird" is so called because it lays square eggs.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51LAUGHTER
0:11:55 > 0:11:58I don't understand.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00Good.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02We never felt, oh, this is it.
0:12:02 > 0:12:04Any of us.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11And there wasn't the same sort of pressure to be a success.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15We didn't think, "Oh, this will make us," or this, that and the other.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18And I remember talking to John Howard Davies about it,
0:12:18 > 0:12:21our lovely director, and he said apparently the notices,
0:12:21 > 0:12:24when they did come out, were pretty awful.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26Morning, Tom.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32You had to have someone who could reasonably make you believe
0:12:32 > 0:12:35that somebody would be that fanatical enough
0:12:35 > 0:12:39and able to persuade his wife that he would be able to
0:12:39 > 0:12:41enable them to survive by digging up their garden
0:12:41 > 0:12:44and planting carrots, or whatever.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47It'll be just us. Doing it for us.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49What do you think?
0:12:49 > 0:12:51Eh?
0:12:51 > 0:12:54'That's not an easy thing to convey,'
0:12:54 > 0:12:58but Richard managed to convey the enthusiasm and the knowledge
0:12:58 > 0:13:01and the fun aspects of that person into one character, which is
0:13:01 > 0:13:03very compulsive, I think.
0:13:03 > 0:13:07- Get this on there and we'll be there.- Tom?- Yeah.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10Do I look nice?
0:13:10 > 0:13:12Well, you always look nice, love.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16- Yes, I know. Particularly at this moment?- Why?
0:13:16 > 0:13:20Richard always said he thought he was a kind of selfish, stuck-up
0:13:20 > 0:13:24guy, but I think in someone else's hands, that would have happened.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28- Well?- Yeah, very nice. I'd get changed if I were you.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30You don't want to get it dirty down the cellar.
0:13:30 > 0:13:37But Richard had this great unused and unknown word now - charm.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40- Margot?- Yes.- Thanks, sexy.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42Don't be silly!
0:13:42 > 0:13:47He had this quality, as Tom in The Good Life, of just coming in
0:13:47 > 0:13:50and having that little...naughty thing with his eyes.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54And he'd look away, the infinitesimal look away,
0:13:54 > 0:13:57that was just fantastically funny.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00And I'll tell you something else. You've got a very sexy neck.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03Don't be silly.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06You've never seen my neck.
0:14:06 > 0:14:08I'm looking at it now, Margot.
0:14:08 > 0:14:09Are you?
0:14:09 > 0:14:11Yes, and it's very sexy.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16APPROACHING LAUGHTER
0:14:19 > 0:14:24He was an absolute...perfectionist when it came to timing.
0:14:24 > 0:14:29A lot of it was craft, learnt, and also a lot of it was instinct.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31He had this beautiful voice.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34But he could get a laugh reading a telephone directory.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38OK, sweethearts, nobody moves.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43His delivery was magnificent.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46He had such vocal energy like almost nobody
0:14:46 > 0:14:49I can think of that worked a treat.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53- I haven't got a sense of humour. - Don't you worry!
0:14:53 > 0:14:56I'll go and get you one!
0:14:56 > 0:15:01And a quartet of actors who were second to none.
0:15:01 > 0:15:07They played together, properly played. They're players in that.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11And they all interact with one another brilliantly.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14Well, that's that sorted out. Good evening, Jerry.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16Good evening, Margot.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20- Good evening, Barbara. Good evening, Tom.- Good evening, Margot.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23- Good evening, Margot. Good evening, Jerry.- Good evening, Barbara.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25Good evening, Jerry.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28We couldn't wait to get in there for the next
0:15:28 > 0:15:32rehearsal on the Tuesday, we'd usually have the Monday off.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36And we would stick together, we would eat together, talk together.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39There was very little that was going on in our personal
0:15:39 > 0:15:42lives that we all didn't know.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46'For some reason or other, this became a little family unit.'
0:15:46 > 0:15:48Ah!
0:15:48 > 0:15:51Well, I expect you'd like us to stay to dinner.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57- You've certainly got a cheek. Margot?- Why not?
0:15:57 > 0:16:00I think I can stretch my pasta.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03- Are you going to make a joke, Tom?- No.
0:16:03 > 0:16:08He got on incredibly well with Paul. These two were a double act.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11It was Morecambe and Wise, you know.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15Penny and I would be having our make-up done and these two would be at it next-door.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18You're supposed to mow round those.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22And the lipstick would be going here and the eyelashes were stuck here, cos you couldn't keep still.
0:16:22 > 0:16:27This was 7am. And Dickie would be complaining cos he'd "had too many ports last night, darling.
0:16:27 > 0:16:32"I can't. My head doesn't work. I can't remember anything. Don't come near me with the mascara.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34"No, no!" And all this was going on,
0:16:34 > 0:16:38but in itself, the way he did it was hysterical.
0:16:38 > 0:16:40Despite The Good Life's huge success,
0:16:40 > 0:16:44and the cast's chemistry, the role of Tom didn't always
0:16:44 > 0:16:48come as effortlessly to Richard as it appeared on screen.
0:16:48 > 0:16:53Terrified. Every day, "Oh, dear! Oh, dear! I wish we'd stop!"
0:16:55 > 0:16:58I'm just going to pop back there and have a quick shake and... LAUGHTER
0:16:58 > 0:17:02I think it was probably the pressure.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05For someone like Richard, who's been more and more successful,
0:17:05 > 0:17:09and if you heard people say, "I'm looking forward to it," that puts
0:17:09 > 0:17:13a pressure on you as an actor and he was quite a nervous performer, quite a nervous actor.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16There are so many things to go wrong.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18Would you come over here and talk through this properly?
0:17:18 > 0:17:22Let's get it sorted out once and for all. Go over there and sit!
0:17:22 > 0:17:24Will you sit?
0:17:25 > 0:17:28He did make an awful fuss.
0:17:30 > 0:17:31No, Lenin! No!
0:17:31 > 0:17:34No, Lenin!
0:17:34 > 0:17:37'He had to hold a chicken once. "No, no, no!'
0:17:37 > 0:17:39"I can't!" Then he would do the scene
0:17:39 > 0:17:44as if he knew everything about chickens, from top to bottom.
0:17:44 > 0:17:45Fares, please.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49One and a cockerel to the next stop, please.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55And then as soon as it was over, he was, "Oh, my God!
0:17:55 > 0:17:58"Oh, darling, that was terrible! Take it away!"
0:17:58 > 0:18:01I don't quite know whether some of that wasn't him
0:18:01 > 0:18:04just being silly, being sort of larky.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07Now, look here, you...
0:18:07 > 0:18:10We very often were planting things in the freezing cold
0:18:10 > 0:18:13and though he had a garden and loved it, with the mud, "Oh! Look!
0:18:13 > 0:18:18"I'm all muddy, darling! It's so terrible and it's cold!"
0:18:18 > 0:18:22And that's what he was like.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26The idea of him having a smallholding, the mind boggles!
0:18:32 > 0:18:37We all watched it, everyone watched it. What they now call the water-cooler moment
0:18:37 > 0:18:39when you talk about the last episode.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42I've only ever really known that for about three shows in my life.
0:18:42 > 0:18:43One of them was The Good Life.
0:18:43 > 0:18:50- Oh, Margot!- It's true! - No, it's not true! It's not true!
0:18:50 > 0:18:55Margot, whatever anyone says, you are funny.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00If you look at The Good Life, it is still terribly funny.
0:19:00 > 0:19:06And for me, that tells you how modern his acting was.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10- You haven't been fishing for ages. - I haven't got time for all that.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13You're not as much fun as you used to be, Tom.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15Shouldn't have married me then, should you?
0:19:15 > 0:19:20He understood this thing that comedy was only funny if it was real.
0:19:20 > 0:19:24And if you didn't believe in the predicament of the people, it wouldn't be funny.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27Just as it wouldn't be tragic, it wouldn't be anything.
0:19:29 > 0:19:34- Oh, my God! Drive on.- But they don't know the way to the pub.- I know!
0:19:34 > 0:19:36Drive on!
0:19:38 > 0:19:43'We were all really sad when it ended.'
0:19:43 > 0:19:48Up until when Paul died, we really were in very close touch
0:19:48 > 0:19:52and we would go on and on... You know...
0:19:52 > 0:19:56On into the night, having far too much to drink.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58And...socialising with each other.
0:20:03 > 0:20:05We knew it was good. We knew we worked well together
0:20:05 > 0:20:08and that's not something you feel often as an actor, to be honest.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10THEY SCREAM
0:20:14 > 0:20:18'You can act lots and lots of things. You can act murder, happiness, sadness,'
0:20:18 > 0:20:23God knows what, but you can't act your enjoyment, your inner enjoyment of it.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27And that's certainly what we had on that show. And that came an awful lot from Richard.
0:20:33 > 0:20:34He would talk about the fact that
0:20:34 > 0:20:37with The Good Life that he felt it had trapped him.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39That was all he ever said to me about it, that he
0:20:39 > 0:20:42felt it had trapped people's perception of him
0:20:42 > 0:20:46and that he didn't want to be thought of only as a light comedian.
0:20:47 > 0:20:51I remember when I first met Richard very well.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53He was sitting at a table.
0:20:53 > 0:20:58In front of him was a copy of Time Out and he was swearing at it.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01And saying, "Up yours, Time Out! I've got money in the bank,
0:21:01 > 0:21:03"so I don't care what you say!"
0:21:03 > 0:21:08That was my first meeting with Richard Briers. I think I was expecting the avuncular
0:21:08 > 0:21:11figure of The Marriage Lines and Tom Good and what I got was this
0:21:11 > 0:21:16rather comical curmudgeon, which wasn't what I was expecting at all.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19He didn't know how to be not generous.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22He didn't know how to be completely open.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25That's just his nature, that's how he was.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28I don't want to make him out to be a saint
0:21:28 > 0:21:30because he could be irascible.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34Kindness...naughtiness.
0:21:34 > 0:21:40And although I don't want to break the illusions of the Great British public,
0:21:40 > 0:21:43inappropriate and behind the scenes moments, swearing,
0:21:43 > 0:21:49which Dickie was capable of in a fantastically inventive
0:21:49 > 0:21:51and delicious way.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55The one big thing about Richard was he was incredibly funny,
0:21:55 > 0:21:58even when he was in a terrible rage.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01I'm a bit left-leaning in my politics.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04We used to have discussions and Richard used to get more and more
0:22:04 > 0:22:08right of Genghis Khan by the time he'd finished!
0:22:08 > 0:22:13He would be shouting with rage at my idiocy, you know,
0:22:13 > 0:22:15but we were both laughing at the same time.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18I was certainly laughing at him!
0:22:18 > 0:22:23So far from this image of the light comic, beautiful, lovely,
0:22:23 > 0:22:25kindly guy.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28He was those things, he was kindly, certainly,
0:22:28 > 0:22:31but he was also ferocious.
0:22:31 > 0:22:37He was so brilliant as Tom that one
0:22:37 > 0:22:41could mistake it for being him.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44And though he was loving and sweet and funny
0:22:44 > 0:22:48and outrageous to all of us when we were filming,
0:22:48 > 0:22:52if it wasn't right and he had absolutely no time for people who
0:22:52 > 0:22:56weren't either on time or learned their lines or weren't professional,
0:22:56 > 0:23:00he absolutely... he was stern, strict.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03I mean, not Tom Good at all.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08Eager to shrug off the shadow of Tom Good, Richard returned to
0:23:08 > 0:23:12the stage, stretching his dramatic range with darker roles.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15- Were there lots of people there, Dad?- Who were they all, that lot?
0:23:15 > 0:23:19Oh, all sorts. Mr Flor, a kind of high official, Mr Kaspersen,
0:23:19 > 0:23:22a gentleman of distinction, Mr...whatsisname.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24I really can't remember.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27First time I ever saw Ibsen as funny.
0:23:27 > 0:23:32He just made the King of Gloom... We thought, "Ibsen, oh, God, no!
0:23:32 > 0:23:35"A real bad evening." I only went because of Dickie.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38I don't know why it's always me who's supposed to provide entertainment
0:23:38 > 0:23:41when I get asked out once in a while. Let someone else make the effort.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44Their sort goes from one party to the other. They even drink all day long.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48Well, let them dash well make themselves useful in return for all the good food they get.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50We had dinner afterwards and I said, "Gosh, you've just
0:23:50 > 0:23:55"opened my eyes to Ibsen." He said, "It's really hard work, old love.
0:23:55 > 0:24:00"I mean, they're all waiting for me to pull on Wellington boots!"
0:24:01 > 0:24:05In 1984, Richard returned to sitcom.
0:24:06 > 0:24:10- Are you untangling the phone again, Martin?- Won't take a tick.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13- Could you leave it? Our new neighbour's here.- Oh, right.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18'Richard loved playing Martin'
0:24:18 > 0:24:22because he wasn't such a sort of gung-ho good old chap
0:24:22 > 0:24:24as he's always played.
0:24:24 > 0:24:28In Ever Decreasing Circles, Martin was the self-appointed
0:24:28 > 0:24:31leader of his local community.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33We're all downstairs, Martin.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36Two out of ten on arithmetic cos I'm still up here!
0:24:36 > 0:24:40Tollerated by his long-suffering wife...
0:24:40 > 0:24:44- 35 all right for lunch, love?- Yes, I'm roasting an ostrich.- Lovely.
0:24:44 > 0:24:48..admired by his sartorially coordinated neighbours...
0:24:48 > 0:24:53Cheer up, Martin. Sunday tomorrow. You said you were going to clean out all your gutters.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57..and whose role was diminished by the arrival in the close of a suave bachelor...
0:24:57 > 0:25:01- Hello, Martin.- ..who could outshine him in every way.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05We have got a problem about finding a new band.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08Unless Andre Previn is a mate of yours!
0:25:08 > 0:25:13I've never met him. I do know Johnny Dankworth, though.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17He found his terribleness terribly funny.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22My father spoke to Caruso once!
0:25:23 > 0:25:26He was the complete opposite as a person.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29Martin had this terrible thing of keeping everything in its place
0:25:29 > 0:25:32and having the telephone round the right way
0:25:32 > 0:25:34and things that drove everyone else mad.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38This is another remarkable thing about Dickie, I think,
0:25:38 > 0:25:41as an actor and as a performer.
0:25:41 > 0:25:47A part that on paper seemed to be...sort of insufferable.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50I've taken the liberty of getting Keith and Renata to send me
0:25:50 > 0:25:54a sample menu, copies of which you will find as Appendix B.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56Would you all turn to Appendix B, please?
0:25:56 > 0:26:01'You think, "God, this is a really unattractive character.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04'"And it's not even very funny when you read it."'
0:26:04 > 0:26:06But then in Dickie's hands,
0:26:06 > 0:26:10it started to develop into a magical character.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13You see that woman there?
0:26:13 > 0:26:14Do you see her?
0:26:14 > 0:26:17That is my wife.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19Do you know who I am, dear?
0:26:19 > 0:26:22I say that because she sees so little of me.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24Do you think that's the way I want life to be?
0:26:24 > 0:26:28When does Atlas get the chance to take the world off his shoulders?
0:26:28 > 0:26:32When do I become a normal man? Never, it seems, with the members I've got!
0:26:32 > 0:26:35I used to get letters from people saying,
0:26:35 > 0:26:37"You poor thing, having to put up with that man.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39"Why did you ever marry him?
0:26:39 > 0:26:42"If he turns that telephone round again, I'll hit him!
0:26:42 > 0:26:45"Why don't you hit him?"
0:26:45 > 0:26:49- What are you all doing at this table? - I don't know, really.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52Paul said, "Is this all right?" There didn't seem any logical reason to say no.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56That table over there is our table. It's always been our table.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00For goodness' sake, it's a piece of furniture, not a personal friend.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02I think I prefer it over here.
0:27:02 > 0:27:04It's a wonder to me,
0:27:04 > 0:27:08Hilda, that you didn't desert when you were in the Wrens.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12He liked characters who were in a sense
0:27:12 > 0:27:15the prisoner of their environment.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19And there was a lot of comedy to be derived from the obligations
0:27:19 > 0:27:21of their environment
0:27:21 > 0:27:24and the fact that they were trapped in a particular circumstance.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28And you find that actually at the core of a lot of his comedy.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31- He's next year's secret weapon. - Cambridge Blue, you know.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34- Actually played at Lord's once. - Really?
0:27:34 > 0:27:37Well, that is good news. Mind you,
0:27:37 > 0:27:40Paul might not be very interested in playing for a little local team.
0:27:40 > 0:27:45- No, I'd like to.- That's great. - Oh, fine. That's lovely, yes.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48That's really very...fine.
0:27:48 > 0:27:53Working with him...defined my part, once we got on our feet
0:27:53 > 0:27:58and started rehearsing it because, me, Peter, I found him
0:27:58 > 0:28:01so funny that sometimes during recordings,
0:28:01 > 0:28:04we had to stop because I couldn't stop laughing as Peter.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07- I made you a cup of coffee. - Not there, love.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11- Would you like one?- No, he wouldn't. He's supposed to be on patrol.
0:28:17 > 0:28:21So, I thought the only way that I'm going to make this work is
0:28:21 > 0:28:26if I make Paul find it very funny, as well.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32Half the time it was Peter corpsing and making Paul laugh.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36That was from what Dickie was doing, so I introduced that as part of the character.
0:28:36 > 0:28:40# We've been together now
0:28:40 > 0:28:42# For 40 years... #
0:28:42 > 0:28:46We used to rehearse every day and record on a Sunday.
0:28:46 > 0:28:50He used to say, "There you are, we have a very nice week
0:28:50 > 0:28:54"and then on Sunday evening we have a car crash." Because that's what it felt like.
0:28:54 > 0:28:56Oh.
0:28:56 > 0:28:58Love.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01'Even while things went wrong, we all had to go,
0:29:01 > 0:29:03'"Isn't it marvellous?" And then carry on.
0:29:03 > 0:29:08'We lost pounds on a Sunday night.'
0:29:08 > 0:29:11And then had a lot of white wine afterwards.
0:29:14 > 0:29:16He did great double-takes
0:29:16 > 0:29:22and he had a strange way of sort of panting at certain given moments,
0:29:22 > 0:29:24and I said to him,
0:29:24 > 0:29:27"It's very interesting, that kind of energy you use.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30"Your double-takes are fantastic, really funny."
0:29:30 > 0:29:33And he said, "That's down to Fred."
0:29:33 > 0:29:36I said, "What?" "It's all down to Fred." "Who's Fred?"
0:29:36 > 0:29:38He said, "My dog, Fred."
0:29:38 > 0:29:41"Your dog?" "Yeah, he does the greatest double-takes.
0:29:41 > 0:29:45"If ever something happens, he pauses for a second and goes...
0:29:45 > 0:29:49"Cos dogs are so honest and truthful,
0:29:49 > 0:29:53"they never think about how they look, they just do the take.
0:29:53 > 0:29:57"So I used to watch Fred a lot and so I base my double-takes on his timing, it's perfect."
0:29:57 > 0:30:00PHONE RINGS Argh!
0:30:03 > 0:30:05Yes!
0:30:05 > 0:30:07Two things, Lawrence, don't call me "old son"
0:30:07 > 0:30:12and don't suggest I've forgotten about the Darby and Joan Club. I've got them on the duplicator.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15Panicking?! I don't know the meaning of the word!
0:30:15 > 0:30:16GET OFF THE LINE!
0:30:16 > 0:30:21I think Martin in Ever Decreasing Circles is probably the greatest creation.
0:30:21 > 0:30:22This desire for order
0:30:22 > 0:30:26as a bulwark against the great forces of chaos
0:30:26 > 0:30:28that are just poised to take over your life
0:30:28 > 0:30:31and possibly even, in Martin's case, your brain.
0:30:31 > 0:30:35Shut up! Shut up!
0:30:35 > 0:30:38I think that was a rather sort of deep and possibly on the edge
0:30:38 > 0:30:45of tragic feeling that this man was just guarding against a big fall.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48The pilot light on that iron's got a mind of its own.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51The phone hasn't stopped ringing. I haven't had anything to eat all day.
0:30:51 > 0:30:56And to top it all, I've snagged my fingernail and I've just about had enough of it!
0:30:56 > 0:31:00But when he failed, you really felt his pain.
0:31:00 > 0:31:02And he didn't shy away from it.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05- That was my dinner.- Fancy putting plastic into a hot oven.
0:31:05 > 0:31:10- I didn't know.- What's all this down your sink?- More rice!
0:31:10 > 0:31:13To be a really great comedian, which he was,
0:31:13 > 0:31:16you have to be able to also plum those depths of heartbreak
0:31:16 > 0:31:19and swing people in different directions.
0:31:19 > 0:31:23- All right.- When we've finished, we'll go next-door for some supper.
0:31:23 > 0:31:26I've got a casserole in the oven.
0:31:26 > 0:31:28I'd like that. I'm ever so hungry.
0:31:30 > 0:31:32Of course you are, Martin.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35He is in fact very vulnerable and rather sweet underneath.
0:31:35 > 0:31:40Richard is very good at just pointing those small qualities out to you
0:31:40 > 0:31:44and making a character which could be unsympathetic very sympathetic.
0:31:44 > 0:31:46'Action, Richard.'
0:31:46 > 0:31:49I'm doing it for you, Ann.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52Ever Decreasing Circles was watched by up to 12 million
0:31:52 > 0:31:54viewers at its peak.
0:31:54 > 0:31:59It ran for five years before coming to an end in 1989.
0:31:59 > 0:32:03- Well, Paul...- Well, Martin...
0:32:05 > 0:32:07Cheerio, then.
0:32:07 > 0:32:11I'll be seeing you cos I've got a couple of mates up in Oswestry.
0:32:11 > 0:32:13Have you?
0:32:13 > 0:32:15Yes.
0:32:15 > 0:32:17You two!
0:32:17 > 0:32:19Oh.
0:32:19 > 0:32:22Whenever Dickie and I used to talk on the phone, he'd ring me up
0:32:22 > 0:32:25and he'd go, "Hello, Pete."
0:32:25 > 0:32:28I'd say, "Hello, Dick."
0:32:28 > 0:32:32We used to speak on the phone quite a lot and whenever he rang, after
0:32:32 > 0:32:35I put the phone down, my wife would always say,
0:32:35 > 0:32:38"That was Dickie, wasn't it?"
0:32:38 > 0:32:42And I would say, "How did you know that?" "You never stopped laughing!"
0:32:46 > 0:32:50In his mid 50s, with a string of successful sitcoms to his name,
0:32:50 > 0:32:54Richard's reputation as an accomplished comic actor was assured.
0:32:56 > 0:32:58He always used to call himself...
0:32:58 > 0:33:04"Oh, I'm Mr Anorak, or Mr Suburbia." The gifts he had, of course,
0:33:04 > 0:33:07were anything but suburban.
0:33:07 > 0:33:11But in 1986, Richard met a young actor-director who would
0:33:11 > 0:33:14dramatically alter the course of his career.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17A challenge that Dickie had at the time I met him,
0:33:17 > 0:33:21he felt, was that people saw him as one particular thing.
0:33:21 > 0:33:22And although he loved doing it,
0:33:22 > 0:33:26he definitely had ambitions for other things.
0:33:26 > 0:33:31A year later, Branagh cast him as Malvolio in Twelfth Night.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34It was Richard's first Shakespearean role for nearly 40 years.
0:33:36 > 0:33:40Something I think people didn't quite understand with Dickie
0:33:40 > 0:33:43because of the nature of some of the roles he played is that he
0:33:43 > 0:33:46was a risk-taker, he was a creative risk-taker.
0:33:46 > 0:33:50I was 26 when he said he would come and be in our production.
0:33:50 > 0:33:53I had five years of a career to show him
0:33:53 > 0:33:57it was worth getting involved with our company, but he did.
0:33:57 > 0:34:02This was a significant risk. He didn't need to do it. No money.
0:34:02 > 0:34:07And sort of, potentially, both unglamorous, unprofitable
0:34:07 > 0:34:11and risky in terms of his reputation.
0:34:11 > 0:34:15I have limed her.
0:34:15 > 0:34:19But this is Jove's doing. And Jove make me thankful.
0:34:19 > 0:34:22And when she went away now, "Let this fellow be looked to."
0:34:22 > 0:34:26Fellow, not Malvolio. nor after my degree. But fellow.
0:34:26 > 0:34:29Why every thing adheres together.
0:34:29 > 0:34:33He wasn't sure, A, if he could do it and, B, even if
0:34:33 > 0:34:37he could do it, if the critics would accept it, if they wouldn't
0:34:37 > 0:34:42just object to the fact he wasn't in cardigan and Wellingtons.
0:34:42 > 0:34:46I will smile.
0:34:48 > 0:34:53I will do everything that thou wilt have me.
0:34:54 > 0:34:57Unforgettable. Unforgettable performance.
0:34:57 > 0:35:01And I remember Richard Briers doing this extraordinary smile.
0:35:01 > 0:35:04It was like the unveiling of some grotesque monument,
0:35:04 > 0:35:09as this face opened up and this huge set of teeth manifested themselves.
0:35:17 > 0:35:21But that was one of the really classic comic
0:35:21 > 0:35:23performances of my lifetime.
0:35:23 > 0:35:26I sent for thee upon a sad occasion.
0:35:26 > 0:35:30Sad, lady? I could be sad.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33It does make some obstruction in the blood, this cross-gartering,
0:35:33 > 0:35:36but what of that?
0:35:36 > 0:35:40If it please the eye of one...
0:35:40 > 0:35:46It is with me as the very true sonnet is, "Please one...
0:35:46 > 0:35:48"and please all."
0:35:48 > 0:35:53His Malvolio was sensational and it had comedy and it had tragedy
0:35:53 > 0:35:56and it was quite heartbreaking at the end.
0:35:56 > 0:36:03And tell me in the modesty of honour why you have given me
0:36:03 > 0:36:05such clear lights of favour.
0:36:05 > 0:36:09Bade me come smiling and cross-gartered to you.
0:36:09 > 0:36:14To put on yellow stockings and to frown upon Sir Toby
0:36:14 > 0:36:15and the lighter people.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18His humanity and his comic brilliance came
0:36:18 > 0:36:24together as Malvolio and just... It was an illuminating
0:36:24 > 0:36:29performance of a great role in a great play by a great actor.
0:36:31 > 0:36:35The success of Twelfth Night led to another collaboration.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39This time, Branagh offered him the chance to perform on a world tour
0:36:39 > 0:36:44in the most challenging Shakespearean role a senior actor can undertake.
0:36:44 > 0:36:46I think it was brave.
0:36:46 > 0:36:51He was not a natural traveller, but I think he also realised that
0:36:51 > 0:36:54if he didn't do this now, he'd never do it.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57No-one else, he didn't think, was going to offer him
0:36:57 > 0:36:59a world tour playing King Lear.
0:36:59 > 0:37:03When we were rehearsing it, he broke his ankle during rehearsal.
0:37:03 > 0:37:08If he'd have decided he wanted to duck out of it, it would have been perfectly acceptable.
0:37:08 > 0:37:13It was in Los Angeles where we opened, I saw Dickie waiting for his first entrance.
0:37:13 > 0:37:17He had a sort of loose boot over his big plaster cast. That's...
0:37:17 > 0:37:22It's not very nice when that happens to anybody, if you're to go on and play King Lear for the evening,
0:37:22 > 0:37:25dragging the weight of that and the pain of that and everything.
0:37:25 > 0:37:29Apart from myself, the only other actor I've seen more nervous...
0:37:29 > 0:37:33In the wings I saw him, his whole body was shaking. He was holding a stick.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36And then he went on and it was as if that never existed.
0:37:36 > 0:37:38He went on and he was a lion, an absolute lion.
0:37:42 > 0:37:46When I heard that Richard Briers was playing King Lear, I'll admit
0:37:46 > 0:37:49I raised an eyebrow, but it came straight down again when I saw it.
0:37:49 > 0:37:51It was the most astonishing performance,
0:37:51 > 0:37:55done with extraordinary emotional truthfulness,
0:37:55 > 0:38:00direct to the heart of the most difficult part in repertoire.
0:38:00 > 0:38:04Kenneth Branagh definitely changed Richard Briers' life
0:38:04 > 0:38:08by offering these fantastic Shakespearean parts.
0:38:08 > 0:38:11Come, I will bestow a breakfast to make you friends
0:38:11 > 0:38:15and we'll be all three sworn brothers to France.
0:38:15 > 0:38:19It's easy to overlook the skill of an actor in a sitcom.
0:38:19 > 0:38:21Wrong to, but it's easy to do it, because they make it look easy.
0:38:21 > 0:38:24They're just there to be silly and funny a lot of the time.
0:38:24 > 0:38:27But that takes a massive amount of acting.
0:38:27 > 0:38:32Do not, when thou art king, hang a thief.
0:38:35 > 0:38:37No.
0:38:37 > 0:38:39'He said to me once, "It's like having a coach.'
0:38:39 > 0:38:41"Brannagh is like having a sort of football coach.
0:38:41 > 0:38:44"He sort of sits on the sidelines, and sort of, you know,
0:38:44 > 0:38:47"tells you the important things that you need to do in order
0:38:47 > 0:38:50"to kind of get you through the next 90 minutes."
0:38:50 > 0:38:52Thou hast spoke the right.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55'He always talked about acting as if, you know,
0:38:55 > 0:38:58'sort of any fool could do it, you know.
0:38:58 > 0:39:00'He wore his greatness lightly...'
0:39:02 > 0:39:06..like a kind of loose coat around his shoulders.
0:39:06 > 0:39:08Um, I admired that.
0:39:08 > 0:39:13Playing opposite him was a sort of delicious agony.
0:39:13 > 0:39:17I had mouth ulcers because I had to bite the inside of my mouth
0:39:17 > 0:39:21so much trying to keep a straight face working with Richard Briers,
0:39:21 > 0:39:25who was meantime stealing the scene.
0:39:25 > 0:39:27Back in his pocket, thank you very much.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30Dickie was Bardolph in Henry V.
0:39:30 > 0:39:32He was Leonato in Much Ado.
0:39:33 > 0:39:37And then, of course, came the great meeting of the 20th century,
0:39:37 > 0:39:42that between Richard Briers and Robert De Niro.
0:39:42 > 0:39:46There was this small scene where the old man says, "Come in, come in, I know you're there," the famous
0:39:46 > 0:39:50scene in Frankenstein, and he's lurking outside, so Ken said,
0:39:50 > 0:39:53"Look, when you say 'Come in, I know you're there, don't be frightened,'
0:39:53 > 0:39:57"you may have to say quite a lot more." So I said, "What do you mean? I don't want to, you know,
0:39:57 > 0:40:01"suddenly ad-lib. I'm not very good at ad-libbing. I have to painstakingly learn things."
0:40:01 > 0:40:03He said, "Well, he has to be MADE to come in."
0:40:03 > 0:40:08But I could see Dickie's back go like this. "What do I have to do?" "Make stuff up".
0:40:08 > 0:40:12"I don't know if you've noticed, Mr Director, but I'm blind in this.
0:40:12 > 0:40:15"I've got contact lenses in. I can't even see if he's there.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18"What am I going to say? Does he want me to swear?" "No! You don't need to."
0:40:18 > 0:40:22"Because he swears in his films." "I know, but that's... You don't have to do it."
0:40:22 > 0:40:24"Cos I'm blind." "I know you're blind!"
0:40:24 > 0:40:27And then we started the scene. "Hello? Who's there?"
0:40:27 > 0:40:32So I'm saying, "Oh, come in, my dear. I know you're there, dear fellow.
0:40:32 > 0:40:34"You mustn't be frightened." Nothing happened.
0:40:34 > 0:40:36Won't you come and sit by the fire?
0:40:37 > 0:40:39Please, don't be afraid.
0:40:42 > 0:40:44Come. Come in.
0:40:47 > 0:40:52"Come in. Come on, matey." Cut! You can't say "matey"!
0:40:52 > 0:40:57You can't say "matey", Dick. It's Robert De Niro!
0:40:57 > 0:40:59Anyway, it went on for some time.
0:40:59 > 0:41:02In the end, I think, Robert came over to me and said, "I'll just come in.
0:41:02 > 0:41:05"You know, I'll just come in. Dick, it's fine. I'm coming in.
0:41:05 > 0:41:09"Don't say anything. OK. Keep the eyes closed."
0:41:09 > 0:41:10"That seems very reasonable."
0:41:13 > 0:41:16Ah, that's better.
0:41:16 > 0:41:18I'm glad you finally came in.
0:41:20 > 0:41:22A man shouldn't have to hide in the shadows.
0:41:26 > 0:41:30He enjoyed it. I mean, he was never...er, he would be comic, but pretending that he was.
0:41:30 > 0:41:32But he was never awed by it.
0:41:32 > 0:41:36They had a conversation one day about where they lived.
0:41:36 > 0:41:41"So where do you live, Robert?" "I live in New York."
0:41:43 > 0:41:49"OK, where do you live?" "I live in Chiswick."
0:41:49 > 0:41:53"Chiswick. Where's Chiswick?"
0:41:53 > 0:41:57"It's West London, Robert." "West London."
0:41:57 > 0:41:59"Mmm."
0:41:59 > 0:42:02Not the most sprightly conversation, I don't think.
0:42:02 > 0:42:05And Dickie would say things like, "He's mad, love.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08"I wouldn't want all that money, being mad."
0:42:08 > 0:42:11"I mean, you've got all that money, and you're mad. What's the point?"
0:42:17 > 0:42:21"What's happened to the water?" asked Rhubarb, in a thirsty sort of way.
0:42:21 > 0:42:23"The sun drank it," squeaked the birds.
0:42:23 > 0:42:28"But I was so thirsty," said the sun, looking sheepish.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31"Greedy," growled Rhubarb.
0:42:31 > 0:42:32He had an amazing voice,
0:42:32 > 0:42:36which meant that his performances continue to tickle our ears,
0:42:36 > 0:42:38particularly his voiceovers.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41I think Rhubarb may be the greatest thing he's ever done.
0:42:41 > 0:42:43It's just perfect.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46"May I... May..." said Rhubarb.
0:42:46 > 0:42:49"You've eaten the feast!" squeaked the birds.
0:42:49 > 0:42:53I remember him saying that he could never understand why it caught on.
0:42:53 > 0:42:57Because it was so mad, and so crazy, and so wobbly.
0:42:57 > 0:43:00But that's what its appeal was to kids, particularly.
0:43:00 > 0:43:02It was completely anarchic.
0:43:02 > 0:43:07"I have a message from General Custard, sir," said Betty.
0:43:07 > 0:43:09"General Custard needs help right now.
0:43:09 > 0:43:13"Crow Indians flocking together at Rookery knock."
0:43:13 > 0:43:16But he was anarchic like that, vocally.
0:43:17 > 0:43:21He was never frightened of sort of doing, you know, extraordinary voices.
0:43:21 > 0:43:24"We will have sport with um pink cat called General Custard,
0:43:24 > 0:43:28"And um green dog called General Rhubarb Little Big Hat.
0:43:28 > 0:43:30"We'll harum-scarum," said Crow's Feet.
0:43:30 > 0:43:32"Let the war party commence."
0:43:32 > 0:43:35I remember being amazed at how he could switch from voice to voice,
0:43:35 > 0:43:37and he'd never have to think about it.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40He never had to have the voices played back in to him.
0:43:40 > 0:43:42He could just run with them.
0:43:42 > 0:43:46And I remember thinking that is an incredible gift.
0:43:46 > 0:43:49This man so absolutely gifted.
0:43:49 > 0:43:53"He who laughs last laughs longest," Custard catcalled.
0:43:53 > 0:43:56And that cat was just so horrible,
0:43:56 > 0:44:01and he gave him that "ree", you know, that quite a nasal sort of droning.
0:44:01 > 0:44:04"What's that?" screeched Custard.
0:44:04 > 0:44:07"A hot air balloon," announced Rhubarb.
0:44:07 > 0:44:09"Well, with you driving it, you won't run out of fuel!
0:44:09 > 0:44:11"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"
0:44:11 > 0:44:15He could encompass just about everything that the theatre or television or cinema could offer.
0:44:15 > 0:44:17I can't think of anything he couldn't play,
0:44:17 > 0:44:20no role you wouldn't cast him in.
0:44:20 > 0:44:25Richard Briers, I think, was probably the most versatile actor of his generation.
0:44:25 > 0:44:28In 1996, he proved his versatility once again...
0:44:28 > 0:44:30How does my good Lord Hamlet?
0:44:32 > 0:44:34..reuniting with Brannah.
0:44:34 > 0:44:36Well, God-a-mercy.
0:44:42 > 0:44:43Do you know me, my Lord?
0:44:43 > 0:44:46Excellent well. You are a fishmonger.
0:44:46 > 0:44:49- Not I, my lord.- Then I would you were so honest a man!
0:44:49 > 0:44:51Your task, I believe, was to take on the role of Polonius
0:44:51 > 0:44:53and give it a new slant.
0:44:53 > 0:44:56Er, now, many people, I know, have played him as a kind of bumbling fool,
0:44:56 > 0:44:59- playing him for laughs.- Yeah. - You didn't go the same way.
0:44:59 > 0:45:01No, I play him very sexy.
0:45:02 > 0:45:05You shall do marvellous wisely, good Reynaldo.
0:45:05 > 0:45:08Before you visit him, to make inquire of his behaviour.
0:45:08 > 0:45:11You've got this lovely scene, which is normally cut,
0:45:11 > 0:45:15of Polonius and his servant. A tiny part called Reynaldo.
0:45:15 > 0:45:17And Polonius does all the talking.
0:45:17 > 0:45:20Inquire me first what Danskers are in Paris,
0:45:20 > 0:45:24And how, and who, what means, and where they keep,
0:45:24 > 0:45:26what company, at what expense.
0:45:26 > 0:45:30I said, "I know he's a tiny part, but the reactions on his face from what I say,
0:45:30 > 0:45:31"his reactions are very important.
0:45:31 > 0:45:33"You will get somebody really good, won't you?
0:45:33 > 0:45:35"Although it's a tiny, weeny part."
0:45:35 > 0:45:36He said, "I've got Gerard Depardieu."
0:45:36 > 0:45:39- Do you mark this, Reynaldo? - Ay, very well, my Lord.
0:45:39 > 0:45:41And I had all the responsibility for the lines,
0:45:41 > 0:45:43and I was saying, so and so and so and so,
0:45:43 > 0:45:47"You understand, Reynaldo?" He said, "I do, my Lord," in this wonderful French accent.
0:45:47 > 0:45:48Very good, my Lord.
0:45:49 > 0:45:53So that was at...I had several glasses of Chardonnay after he'd gone back to his vineyard.
0:45:53 > 0:45:57He didn't ask me back with him. But that was again an honour, and who would know that I'd be
0:45:57 > 0:46:01playing that with the greatest French actor in the world, you know. Unbelievable. Dead cheeky.
0:46:01 > 0:46:05I went round to work, and my young mistress thus I did bespeak -
0:46:05 > 0:46:08"Lord Hamlet is a prince out of thy star. This must not be."
0:46:08 > 0:46:10And then I prescripts gave her,
0:46:10 > 0:46:13that she should lock herself from his resort, admit no messengers,
0:46:13 > 0:46:16receive no tokens. Which done, she took the fruits of my advice.
0:46:16 > 0:46:18And I thought Briars, again,
0:46:18 > 0:46:22had this ability to bring out the ugly side of characters.
0:46:22 > 0:46:25We all think of him as immensely likeable from his television work,
0:46:25 > 0:46:29obviously, and he was, but he could bring out the ugly,
0:46:29 > 0:46:31repellent side of human beings.
0:46:31 > 0:46:36There was a seamy, sweaty side to him, which he enjoyed playing. He loved playing those characters.
0:46:36 > 0:46:39He did a couple of very sinister types on the television
0:46:39 > 0:46:43and he loved doing that, playing the nasty major or the, you know,
0:46:43 > 0:46:46people with a little bit of bile or attack in them.
0:46:46 > 0:46:48I can't think.
0:46:48 > 0:46:51I mean, I've never done anything so far as remember.
0:46:51 > 0:46:54I'm sure it would be something that you'd remember.
0:46:54 > 0:46:56What else was in this file?
0:46:56 > 0:46:59Nothing. That's what's so odd.
0:47:00 > 0:47:03There was a wonderful thing he did with John, which they
0:47:03 > 0:47:05had great larks in,
0:47:05 > 0:47:09where he played a villain in an Inspector Morse with black -
0:47:09 > 0:47:12dyed black hair, and they behaved outrageously, I think,
0:47:12 > 0:47:18the two of them on the set, but he was marvellously malevolent in that.
0:47:18 > 0:47:22He's let them know how much he wants it. A fatal error.
0:47:22 > 0:47:24They'll vote for Julian, in spite of his wife,
0:47:24 > 0:47:27because he doesn't seem so ambitious.
0:47:27 > 0:47:29Though of course he is - probably more.
0:47:29 > 0:47:30And I was startled by it.
0:47:30 > 0:47:34I mean, this terrible black hair and everything. He really went for it.
0:47:34 > 0:47:36I really do control the future, Shelley.
0:47:38 > 0:47:44Dennis can be master, but only if you do what I want.
0:47:44 > 0:47:46In character, he had a huge energy and enthusiasm
0:47:46 > 0:47:50and a very mischievous
0:47:50 > 0:47:52sense of humour, which was very infectious.
0:47:52 > 0:47:55It was quite a one-man party. It was always good fun,
0:47:55 > 0:47:57lots of laughs when he was around.
0:47:57 > 0:47:59And he was always looking for the next glass of wine,
0:47:59 > 0:48:04so it was, yeah, quite a party atmosphere.
0:48:05 > 0:48:09- Have you any...- One of the great lacks in my life, Chief Inspector,
0:48:09 > 0:48:11is a regular concubine.
0:48:11 > 0:48:15- Look, this is really...- Sorry, sir, but if you wouldn't mind...
0:48:15 > 0:48:18I was so grateful to Richard, cause John didn't make friends easily
0:48:18 > 0:48:21and Richard and he were very close,
0:48:21 > 0:48:23and our children were very close.
0:48:25 > 0:48:26One image that I have of him...
0:48:26 > 0:48:31My husband and he loved doing barbecues, but they were hopeless at it.
0:48:31 > 0:48:35And they would take about five hours to heat up.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38I remember one, and we, the family, were quivering
0:48:38 > 0:48:41because they would get very angry with their barbecues,
0:48:41 > 0:48:46so we were sort of hiding inside, and it was rainy, and the two of them were having a few bevvies,
0:48:46 > 0:48:49and they were trying to get this damn thing to light.
0:48:49 > 0:48:52They put paraffin on it, they put gin on it,
0:48:52 > 0:48:57and eventually they got some very burnt sausages which tasted of paraffin and gin!
0:48:59 > 0:49:03He adored his family, and they adored him.
0:49:03 > 0:49:07And he was very supportive to Lucy and Katie, his children,
0:49:07 > 0:49:10he adored his grandchildren.
0:49:10 > 0:49:12He was a very family man.
0:49:12 > 0:49:17He was blessed with Ann, who put up with all his tantrums
0:49:17 > 0:49:20and things, and was the perfect wife for him, and adored him,
0:49:20 > 0:49:22as did everybody, I think.
0:49:26 > 0:49:31In 2000, Richard swapped home life in London for a TV location in the Highlands
0:49:31 > 0:49:34when he accepted the lead in a Sunday night comedy drama...
0:49:34 > 0:49:37What's my foolish husband up to now?
0:49:37 > 0:49:41..playing Lord of the Manor, Hector MacDonald, in Monarch Of The Glen.
0:49:44 > 0:49:48- Where are my Marmite soldiers?- I had them court-martialed and shot.
0:49:48 > 0:49:51I always have Marmite soldiers with my boiled egg.
0:49:51 > 0:49:52Bairns will be bairns.
0:49:52 > 0:49:56I am Hector Naismith MacDonald, 14th chief of an ancient line.
0:49:56 > 0:49:58Laird of Glenbogle, Ochintumble and Blairweary,
0:49:58 > 0:50:00or to you, girl, just plain "sir"!
0:50:00 > 0:50:02Ach, away and play with your lineage!
0:50:02 > 0:50:05He immediately knew which bits were the funny bits
0:50:05 > 0:50:07and which bits were the build-up,
0:50:07 > 0:50:11and which bit was too long and which bit we should cut, and all of that.
0:50:11 > 0:50:14He was secure in his acting.
0:50:14 > 0:50:20He knew what he was doing, and he knew how to make the material work.
0:50:20 > 0:50:26And, you know, that's lovely to be with when you're less secure, as I certainly was.
0:50:26 > 0:50:28Drop it. Drop it!
0:50:31 > 0:50:33Turn round slowly.
0:50:33 > 0:50:35Hande hoch!
0:50:37 > 0:50:40Sorry, Kilwillie, but for you the war is over.
0:50:41 > 0:50:43When people say to me, what is Richard like?
0:50:43 > 0:50:47I would say say he's exactly as you imagine him to be,
0:50:47 > 0:50:51but with expletives thrown in every sentence.
0:50:51 > 0:50:54And man goes to see quack, says, "Doctor, I've a cricket ball stuck up my whatsit!"
0:50:54 > 0:50:57There's something we need to talk about.
0:50:57 > 0:51:02Doctor says, "Howzat?" Man says, "Don't you start!" Don't you start!
0:51:02 > 0:51:06They had a little sort of house they all shared, he and Susan, and Al,
0:51:06 > 0:51:11and I used to up there in the evening, so there would be Richard, as a sort of Buddha, you know,
0:51:11 > 0:51:14sitting with all these kind of young actors and
0:51:14 > 0:51:18actresses around his feet, but, you know, they loved him - I loved him.
0:51:21 > 0:51:22Mother, father.
0:51:22 > 0:51:25I remember thinking, "Tonight, "I'm just going to go upstairs
0:51:25 > 0:51:27and learn my lines for the next day, prepare myself,"
0:51:27 > 0:51:30and then inevitably my phone would ring in the room,
0:51:30 > 0:51:35and I'd go, "Hello?" And he'd go, and it would be Richard on the other end, going, "You coming down, love?"
0:51:35 > 0:51:37"You coming down?" "All right, I'll be there."
0:51:37 > 0:51:38"Hurry up, will you?"
0:51:38 > 0:51:41So I'd, so I'd, I'd sort of go back to my lines,
0:51:41 > 0:51:46and I'd just...couldn't do much more because it was so irresistible.
0:51:46 > 0:51:49I did enjoy our little chat.
0:51:53 > 0:51:55Turn that wretched hurdy-gurdy off!
0:51:55 > 0:51:59We had a kitchen in the house that we lived in, and I used to cook for myself quite a lot,
0:51:59 > 0:52:01and of course, Dickie never did. And he one night, he said,
0:52:01 > 0:52:04"Could you teach me how to make an omelette?"
0:52:04 > 0:52:08I showed him the kind of rudimentary basics of making an omelette,
0:52:08 > 0:52:10and I remember putting parsley in
0:52:10 > 0:52:12and he went, "Parsley? Brilliant idea!"
0:52:12 > 0:52:15Er, you know - so basic, but he loved it.
0:52:15 > 0:52:18HMS Glenbogle, do your worst!
0:52:19 > 0:52:22After three series playing the irascible yet lovable
0:52:22 > 0:52:27Hector MacDonald, Richard made a dramatic exit from Monarch Of The Glen, in 2002.
0:52:31 > 0:52:33And I read the script, and I said, "God, you know, you're going to be
0:52:33 > 0:52:36blown up, and everything!" He said, "I know, darling.
0:52:36 > 0:52:40"It seems rather odd in this show, doesn't it, but the thing is,
0:52:40 > 0:52:42"I don't want to be tempted to come back!"
0:52:42 > 0:52:44'He said, "I know what I'm like."
0:52:44 > 0:52:47'"And I'll just have to be out of work for a week or two,
0:52:47 > 0:52:50'"and then I'll immediately think, well, I'd better go back.
0:52:50 > 0:52:52'"So if I'm dead, I can't go back."'
0:52:58 > 0:53:00He never stopped.
0:53:00 > 0:53:02I mean, he was a workaholic, I think. He really couldn't...
0:53:02 > 0:53:06When we were doing things, he'd say, "I've got to go, I've got a voiceover."
0:53:06 > 0:53:08Dickie just never, never stopped.
0:53:08 > 0:53:10He did some absolutely wonderful,
0:53:10 > 0:53:13heart-breaking things on television.
0:53:18 > 0:53:20Dad was commissioned for Comic Relief,
0:53:20 > 0:53:22although there weren't many laughs in it.
0:53:22 > 0:53:26It was really focusing on elder abuse in all its forms.
0:53:26 > 0:53:28And my mum, Jean Heywood,
0:53:28 > 0:53:31started to develop Alzheimer's and was taken into care.
0:53:31 > 0:53:34And, er...Dickie played the dad.
0:53:34 > 0:53:36That's never your slip.
0:53:36 > 0:53:39I'd be ashamed to put you in an old rag like that!
0:53:44 > 0:53:45(Oh, God!)
0:53:45 > 0:53:48Dad was as good a performance as he ever gave
0:53:48 > 0:53:52because of the huge amount of stuff he had to cover as that character.
0:53:52 > 0:53:55So it was probably one of his finest performances.
0:53:55 > 0:53:59Your mother is just a column of figures on a balance sheet.
0:53:59 > 0:54:01The less she consumes, the better.
0:54:01 > 0:54:03That woman would have given her life for you
0:54:03 > 0:54:05and you can't even raise your voice to help her!
0:54:05 > 0:54:09I don't want to see her undressed.
0:54:09 > 0:54:13I think often, the bleaker the circumstances that you're filming,
0:54:13 > 0:54:16the more hysterical the actors get.
0:54:16 > 0:54:19And, er...certainly, Dickie wouldn't have let it get grim.
0:54:19 > 0:54:23We laughed and laughed throughout in the most inappropriate places.
0:54:26 > 0:54:31In 2010, Richard appeared in London Assurance at the National Theatre.
0:54:31 > 0:54:33It would be his last stage role.
0:54:33 > 0:54:35APPLAUSE
0:54:37 > 0:54:40He wasn't terribly well then. He had the emphysema then.
0:54:40 > 0:54:44But he did, um...so little
0:54:44 > 0:54:47and it showed so much.
0:54:49 > 0:54:53He played a very doddery old ex-soldier called Spanker.
0:54:53 > 0:54:55And he just walked very, very, very slowly.
0:54:55 > 0:54:58I remember thinking, that's the simplest thing in the world,
0:54:58 > 0:55:01but it is absolutely done with the knowledge of the comic effect.
0:55:01 > 0:55:03He knew exactly what he was doing.
0:55:03 > 0:55:06Permit me to introduce you to Sir Harcourt Courtly.
0:55:06 > 0:55:08- Oh, how do you do?- Enchante!
0:55:10 > 0:55:12'He was absolutely not what you'd expect.'
0:55:12 > 0:55:14HE LAUGHS
0:55:14 > 0:55:17He was famous, and I'm sure other people have mentioned it,
0:55:17 > 0:55:19he was famous for absolutely foul language.
0:55:21 > 0:55:22Heaven!
0:55:22 > 0:55:25There was one moment where, I can't even remember why,
0:55:25 > 0:55:28backstage, three or four actors
0:55:28 > 0:55:31had to crowd into a tiny cupboard-type space
0:55:31 > 0:55:35while the set revolved around them before they could re-enter.
0:55:35 > 0:55:38During the dress rehearsal, four characters exploded onto the stage
0:55:38 > 0:55:41helpless with laughter because Richard was going,
0:55:41 > 0:55:45"This is the biggest effing stage in the whole of effing Europe
0:55:45 > 0:55:48"and all they can do with us between effing scenes
0:55:48 > 0:55:50"is crowd us into this effing cupboard!"
0:55:50 > 0:55:53And they were helpless for the rest of the scene.
0:55:53 > 0:55:55Where have you been, darling?
0:55:55 > 0:55:57Er...I was outside.
0:55:57 > 0:55:59Why did you not come in earlier?
0:55:59 > 0:56:01I didn't think I did.
0:56:01 > 0:56:02LAUGHTER
0:56:02 > 0:56:08He just had to stand there and the audience were so pleased to see him.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11They were so pleased he was there.
0:56:11 > 0:56:15And, indeed, um...it was wonderful to see him.
0:56:16 > 0:56:18And he was brilliant.
0:56:18 > 0:56:23I think he knew...well, I hope he knew, just how skilful he was.
0:56:23 > 0:56:26Au revoir, monsieur.
0:56:26 > 0:56:28The fellow is a frog!
0:56:28 > 0:56:29LAUGHTER
0:56:33 > 0:56:36His final illness was awful.
0:56:36 > 0:56:37Awful.
0:56:37 > 0:56:40But still, with all the breathlessness
0:56:40 > 0:56:44and all the...nasty things he had to go through,
0:56:44 > 0:56:45he would make light of it
0:56:45 > 0:56:50and have you laughing at something that you were hating.
0:56:50 > 0:56:52You know?
0:56:54 > 0:56:59He wouldn't give in until it...went too far.
0:57:01 > 0:57:03Wish it could have held off a bit.
0:57:06 > 0:57:08"I have played," so he says,
0:57:08 > 0:57:10"every possible part.
0:57:10 > 0:57:13"And I used to know 70 speeches by heart.
0:57:13 > 0:57:16"I'd extemporise backchat, I knew how to gag
0:57:16 > 0:57:19"and I knew how to let the cat out of the bag.
0:57:19 > 0:57:23"I had a voice that would soften the hardest of hearts,
0:57:23 > 0:57:26"whether I took the lead, or in character parts."
0:57:27 > 0:57:32Richard Briers died on 17th February 2013.
0:57:32 > 0:57:34He was 79.
0:57:36 > 0:57:39He was a firecracker of a performer.
0:57:39 > 0:57:41He was like a humourous hand grenade
0:57:41 > 0:57:44that exploded, and his humour went in all directions.
0:57:48 > 0:57:53He was a selfless actor, which is, you know, remarkable.
0:57:53 > 0:57:54Careful!
0:57:54 > 0:57:56Got this, too.
0:57:56 > 0:57:59He did love making The Good Life. He really, really loved it.
0:57:59 > 0:58:01There was something magical about that time.
0:58:03 > 0:58:05HE LAUGHS
0:58:06 > 0:58:10I'll remember him on a boat on Lake Toronto at midnight,
0:58:10 > 0:58:14a bit drunk, singing live Louis Armstrong songs.
0:58:17 > 0:58:20Very funny, right down to the bones.
0:58:20 > 0:58:24Even tragedy could be funny with Richard.
0:58:24 > 0:58:27Goodbye, you magnificent animal!
0:58:29 > 0:58:32I loved him very much, and he was my friend.
0:58:37 > 0:58:40# Grab your coat and grab your hat, baby
0:58:42 > 0:58:46# Leave your worries on the doorstep
0:58:46 > 0:58:52# Just direct your feet on the sunny side of the street
0:58:53 > 0:58:57# Can't you hear that pitter-pat there?
0:58:57 > 0:59:01# That happy tune is yours now
0:59:01 > 0:59:03# Life can be so sweet... #
0:59:03 > 0:59:06Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd