The Archers star Ian Pepperell dies aged 53 following long illness

ok.co.uk:

Actor Ian Pepperell has sadly died at the age of 53 following a long illness, the BBC have confirmed. Ian was best known for playing Roy Tucker in The Archers.

The actor, who played the hotelier in the long-running BBC Radio 4 drama for 22 years, died on Friday following a long illness.

Jeremy Howe, editor of The Archers, who worked with Ian during his career released a statement expressing his sadness over Ian's passing, as well as applauding his career.

He said: “Ian was the perfect Archers actor – he loved being part of an ensemble, relished the camaraderie and gossip of the Green Room, and had a seemingly effortlessly fine tuned vocal technique. “Like all the very best radio actors he could think on his feet and change the way he played a scene in the blink of an eye.Thanks to Ian’s brilliance, he created in Roy a character who managed to face in two directions simultaneously in almost every scene he played. “He captured Roy as both genial and anxious, funny and sad, easy-going and permanently stressed – a man who could hold down with ease a top job, yet who always carried with him Hamlet’s sense of failure.