Lovely Bits of Old England: John Betjeman at The Telegraph

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Overall, the three-day search for a missing village 700 metres to the east of the current community proved to be very much inconclusive. Friday Night Dinner brought the actor recognition, along with bigger roles. He played an eccentric forensics expert in Paul Abbott’s No Offence, rarely driving the plot, but considerably brightening things up whenever he was on screen. He did the same in Hang Ups, Stephen Mangan’s adaptation of the US show Web Therapy, quietly carving out MVP status alongside big hitters including Charles Dance, Richard E Grant and Celia Imrie. And in the Cold Feet revival he played a lifeless, weaselly number cruncher with such panache that you could at times be forgiven for thinking that it was actually secretly a show about him. Another theory is that one historical owner of the aforementioned "imposing stately home" may well have had his beautiful view obscured by peasant hovels, and removed them when it was appropriate to do so. Landowners behaving in this way was not uncommon, but there's absolutely no evidence this happened in Bitterley. A photo of Bitterley Court.

This verb perfectly describes the clumsy and invariably futile attempt to mend a broken item. For example, if the tape has come off the handlebars on your bike, don’t go to a professional bike repair shop and pay through the nose for the application of expensive “bike tape” by a man who knows what he’s doing — perish the thought! Instead, grab some cheap sellotape from the newsagent’s and affix it to your handlebars yourself! Who cares if the end bits continue to flap in the wind? You’ve just perfected the British art of “bodging it,” and that’s far more important right now. The Fox. Or the bag up a tree. Or the conversation spindle. Or pineapples and the government. I dunno this is what IMDB is for. Tom: I think I had like five auditions, the last of which was a chemistry read with Simon, which I left thinking was a disaster on account of us having terrible chemistry. I was very fortunate to be an incredibly annoying person with a face very similar to Tamsin Greig. With the help of villagers and a local archaeology group, the Time Team crew dug multiple test pits and trenches and found lots of Medieval pottery, but the land surveys "identified no traces of an abandoned Medieval settlement."One, more jokey theory made during the Time Team episode at the end of day one, when the crew fancied a pint, was that the old village was abandoned because Bitterley doesn't have a pub. My abiding memory is having no idea how to interact with people who I knew from the television. So I researched Tamsin on Wikipedia and so after saying hello I immediately asked her about her experiences at the University of Birmingham. My first experience of Tamsin was totally in thrall, and her first experience of me was as a cyber-stalker. Much of the land would have been used for agricultural purposes and over time the way the locals used the land may have changed. Things like technological advancement or a change of agricultural direction could easily prompt the moving of a village. Sadly, there's not much evidence that this happened either.

As well as being wonderful poems in themselves, these are immortal snapshots of our land. A Maltese friend of mine came here more than 30 years ago and was having difficulty coming to grips with Britain and its strange ways. “Read Betjeman,” said his employer. “Then you’ll understand us.” Sir John Betjeman, Poet Laureate from 1972, died aged 77 on May 19, 1984. He was a hero and prophet. His matchless lyricism and love of the past went to the heart of what it means to be English, says AN Wilson. This article was originally published in 2014. And their main theory, born out of tradition and word-of-mouth storytelling, isn't particularly outlandish either. Simon: It was everything I hoped it would be. It had all the best elements of a traditional family sitcom - warmth and big, relatable jokes - but all filtered through Robert's unique, surreal, anarchic worldview. I thought we had the opportunity to make something that could be both popular but also weird and inventive.

But at the same time, Ritter also carved out a decent niche as a character actor in prestigious period pieces. In 2012’s The Hollow Crown, he was a swaggering, overcompensatory Ancient Pistol. In Toby Whithouse’s The Game, he added huge depth to a quietly regret-filled cold war spy. He played Jimmy Perry and Eric Sykes. He played Christine Keeler’s barrister and Brigadier-General Sir Ormonde de l’Épée Winter. Simon: It's an embarrassment of riches obviously, but I particularly like the episodes where Dad takes centre stage and Paul is let off the leash. The Fox, The Tin of Meat, The Plastic Bag all spring to mind. He had a depressive temperament, ill health and no money; while being, as one of his close friends said to me once, a man of “blinding charm” and hilarity. The charm communicated itself to millions of television viewers who watched enthralled as he mused on decaying seaside towns or laughed at the music hall, or drew our eye towards the wonders of Gothic. He raised telly to the level of an art form. I can’t do that, but I have tried to give the great man his just homage in a programme for BBC4, coming out later this summer, called Betjemanland. Simon: Robert [writer Robert Popper] asked me to read the script, and I was just embarrassingly enthusiastic. Robert had created one of my favourite comedy shows of all time, Look Around You, and I was, and still am, a flustered red-faced fanboy around him.