Tributes were paid today to much-loved soap star Ysanne Churchman as her death at the age of 99 was revealed by the BBC following a career that spanned five decades in radio, TV and film.The actress is best known for having playing Grace Archer in Radio 4 soap opera The Archers, with her exit - which drew 20million listeners - proving so controversial that listeners bombarded the BBC and filled newspaper letters pages with complaints for days. It saw Grace running into a burning stable to rescue her best friend’s horses, but was trapped by a falling beam and said her final words on the way to hospital, telling her husband of six months Phil Archer that she loved him before she died.The dramatic death was initially rumoured to be a spoiler tactic to draw audiences away from the launch of the BBC's new commercial rival ITV, which took place on the same day in 1955.The Archers’ current editor Jeremy Howe led tributes to the star, saying: “We are saddened by the death of Ysanne Churchman, whose role as the inimitable Grace Archer captured the nation.
