Brigit Forsyth: Still Open All Hours actress dies aged 83

Brigit Forsyth pictured in 2012

Actress Brigit Forsyth, best known for appearing in TV sitcoms Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads and Still Open All Hours, has died aged 83.

Edinburgh-born Forsyth's early roles included 1971 film The Night Digger, a thriller written by Roald Dahl.

Later that decade, she played Thelma in comedy Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? and a Likely Lads film.

Her other credits included TV dramas Playing the Field and Boon.

Forsyth's character Thelma was married to Bob, played by Rodney Bewes, in Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?

The actress died peacefully in her sleep on Friday, surrounded by family, her agent Mark Pemberton said.

In a statement, Pemberton noted that she "had a varied and notable career in stage, screen and radio", including roles in theatres "from the West End to the National Theatres of England & Scotland".

On screen, she appeared in 1980s sitcoms Tom, Dick and Harriet, and Sharon and Elsie, and played a doctor in short-lived ITV soap opera The Practice.

And in later life, she played Madge in Still Open All Hours, appearing in the BBC comedy from 2013 to 2019.

Forsyth pictured as Madge in the corner shop in Still Open All Hours

Pemberton added: "She was in many radio plays on the BBC over the years and also featured in the Radio 4 sitcom Ed Reardon's Week. A talented musician, Brigit played the cello, sang and composed, and in later years played with several bands including The Fircones."

She "loved collaboration and helping to develop new works with actors, writers and directors", and set up theatre company Word Mills Productions in 2016, he said.

Forsyth also had guest TV appearances in The Bill, Doctor Who, Agatha Christie's Poirot and Coronation Street, and was the subject of the biographical show This Is Your Life in 2002.