If all he had ever done was play self-sufficient Tom in The Good Life, a sitcom that ran for 30 episodes in the 1970s, his legacy would still be an estimable one.

As it is, Richard Briers, who died last month aged 79, chalked up other sitcom hits in Marriage Lines and Ever Decreasing Circles, the light-drama smash Monarch of the Glen, and an impressive CV of stage work.

But it was Tom Good that seared him into the public consciousness. Briers himself found the character selfish and obsessive. He could be both, of course, but Briers, a superb technician, also made him endearing and hilarious. That's why we loved him, and here, friends and colleagues describe why they did.

Friends and colleagues, including Kenneth Branagh and Penelope Keith, remember the much-loved actor. Briers passed away last month aged 79 after a 50-year career spanning Shakespeare, Chekhov, voices for children's TV and two classic TV sitcoms in The Good Life and Ever Decreasing Circles.