Comedian and writer Barry Cryer dies at 86

The roll call of stars that Barry Cryer worked with reads like a who’s who of comedy spanning six decades.

The funny man, who has died aged 86, wrote jokes for the Two Ronnies, Morecambe and Wise and Kenny Everett.

But he didn’t see their prime as a golden age, and worked with so-called alternative comedians who came of age in the 1980s and 1990s.

He was still writing and performing until a few weeks ago, and never lost an ounce of his magical gift to make people laugh.