Trevor Peacock was 89

Vicar Of Dibley actor Trevor Peacock has died at the age of 89.

The actor, who played Jim Trott in the BBC sticom, died of a dementia-related illness, his family said.

He was diagnosed with dementia in 2009 and it was reported in 2017 that he had retired from acting.

His Dibley character, known for repeatedly saying 'no'... even before answering 'yes', was just one in a line of screen and stage credits, including  the title role in the BBC adaptation of Shakespeare's  Titus Andronicus, Feste, the Gravedigger in Franco Zeffirelli's 1990 film version of Hamlet,  and roles in Last of The Summer Wine, Jonathan Creek, The Thin Blue Line and My Family.

He was also a noted songwriter, penning tracks recorded by Herman's Hermits, Adam Faith, and Joe Brown in the 1960s and the lyrics for a 1982 musical based on the newspaper cartoon strip, Andy Capp.

In the Gold documentary The Vicar Of Dibley: Inside Out, which aired on Saturday, series creator Richard Curtis said: ‘He reminds me of Miranda Richardson in Blackadder 2. You never had any idea how she was going to say a line and that was true of Trevor.  Literally the feelings which came out of his strange lines were so unexpected.'

The family's statement this morning said:  ‘Trevor Peacock, actor, writer and song-writer, died aged 89 on the morning of March 8 from a dementia-related illness.'

Published: 9 Mar 2021