Geoffrey Perkins

Geoffrey Perkins, died aged just 55, was a comedy writer, producer and performer and, as head of comedy at BBC Television from 1995 until 2001, presided over such popular series as The Royle Family and Jonathan Creek; in a broadcasting career spanning more than 30 years he worked with stars including Harry Enfield, Angus Deayton and Catherine Tate. He first made his mark as a radio producer with the cult classic The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and, also on Radio 4, the mystifyingly daft Mornington Crescent segment on I'm Sorry, I Haven't A Clue, the show billed as "the antidote to panel games". A relaxed, calm figure with a wry sense of humour, Perkins not only delivered a string of modern hit series during his six years in charge of the BBC television comedy output - including The Royle Family and The Fast Show - but also persuaded David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst to star in a fresh series of the 1980s classic Only Fools and Horses, the first of which was screened at Christm