Co-star pays tribute and reveals they recently filmed TV show

HEARTBEAT actor Tricia Penrose, who played opposite Bill Maynard in the hit TV series, has paid a heartfelt tribute to her former co-star.

Tricia played Gina, the long-suffering barmaid in the Aidensfield Arms, alongside Bill’s loveable rogue, Claude Greengrass.

Actor and comedian Bill died aged 89, shortly after breaking his hip in a fall off his mobility scooter, his family confirmed on Friday.

Tricia, who spoke to Burbage resident Bill every day on the phone, said: “Bill was an absolute legend, he was such a great actor, such a great character. We were together for 18 years on Heartbeat.

“I just can’t take it in. He was one of my best friends. He used to ring me every day.

“He was such a good actor, he was such a good friend.”

The 47-year-old revealed that Bill’s pursuit of perfection in his character could ruffle the feathers of other actors in the long-running show.

“He’d come in on the morning, he’d say, ‘Greengrass wouldn’t say that,’ so he’d change all the lines,” said Tricia.

“All the other actors would panic because we were all in make-up and we’d say, ‘Oh my god, we’ve all got to learn new lines’.

“I think everybody was scared of him because he just knew his character so well.”

She added: “To be fair, he wasn’t liked by everybody, partly because of the changes he insisted on making in the script. We used to call them the pink pages.

“But he was a true pro and he knew exactly what he wanted. The directors used to be bloody scared of him.”

Tricia and Bill recently worked together on an episode of Pointless Celebrities, a popular tea-time quiz show hosted by Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman. The episode was due to be broadcast later this month.

Tricia said: “The Pointless Celebrities episode is due to be going out on April 14, but I don’t know if it will now. It was his last ever TV appearance.

“I feel honoured to have been with him on his last performance. He was upset at being called a celebrity though. He told them, ‘I’m not a celebrity, I’m a superstar’.

“It was a funny old day, it was crazy. When we got voted off, he said, ‘Oh, darling, at least we can go and have some supper together’.”

“I miss him,” added Tricia. “He was going to come and stay with me after Easter.

In an episode of Heartbeat, lovable rogue Greengrass (Bill Maynard), having procured a quantity of jellied eels from Nick’s Grandfather, sets up a fish stall behind the marquee at the wedding reception. Greengrass is pictured with Gina (Tricia Penrose)...