I worry my Barbara will lunches says ailing star’s

asked Biggins that’, and then she’ll say, ‘Of course, sorry’. ”

Biggins, 69, worries that one day soon his beloved “Ba”, as he calls her, will not be able to recall their boozy nights out and her glittering 60-year career.

He said: “We have had some riotous times at The Ivy, which is right up our street because it’s such an extraordinarily theatrical place.

“Ba and I feel right at home there. We have annihilated so many people in that place over dinner and drinks because she likes a good gossip does Ba, she always wants to know who has split up with their partner and who is having an affair with who.”

He added: “I worry, of course I do, and it’s such a shame.

“None of us wants to lose memories. People say if you could lose a sense what would it be? Sight, speech, smell? It’s a very difficult question, but the thing you cling onto in old age are memories.”

Biggins is at home playing to packed theatres and some of the happiest times of his life have been on the road with Barbara.

Over the years he has become a confidant and sounding board but has always been amazed at how well she has handled “her baggage”, as he describes it.

“Ba is the most extraordinary life force and someone who has lived every single moment of her life to the full,” he said.

“She’s had her ups and downs, problems with men and her career, but has always pulled through.

“I first met her when her career was in the doldrums and she couldn’t really get any work, so we did old time musicals around the country.

“It was amazing because she had this incredible career beforehand but she never felt she was going through a bad patch, she always had this positivity.

“Then along came EastEnders which was perfect for her.

“People were a bit wary of giving her that part because of all the baggage that came from her East End roots but she always wanted to do the show and boy she did play Peggy Mitchell with aplomb.

“She was absolutely fantastic right up until her final scenes.”

East End born Dame Barbara’s Cockney charms have entertained Britain for decades. Her stellar thea-