Baldrick praises Nursie's 'comic skills'

The actor and broadcaster Sir Tony Robinson has led tributes to Kent actress Patsy Byrne who starred alongside him in the BBC comedy Blackadder. In a radio interview, Sir Tony, who played Baldrick, said she had been like a mother to "her boys" on the set of the show.

He said: "She had unerring skill to make the daftest, silliest thing sound absolutely real and absolutely plausible. I remember seeing her in As You Like It and it was one of those parts wherethe actress usually goes 'de dum de dum de dum de dum de dum'.

"But the way she said it was so that each word was a revelation to her and I think that was oneof her great comic skills."