never more so than as nana speakman. liz smith at her scatty and brilliant best.inction. the zoological society of london says cheetah numbers in the world are falling because of human encroachment onto their habitat. they say it's "crunch time" for the cats, with only an estimated 7,000 left in africa and just 50 in iran. now the weather. we are in for a very frosty night indeed. the fog will become a big issue particularly across england and wales. by morning some disruption i think is possible. check out bbc radio local radio stations for updates. no fog at the moment. the frost will start to develop from midnight onwards. there will be some exceptions. some western fringes willof escape and much of northern ireland and scotland, where it will be milderment across the heart of england and wales, fog and a hard

never more so than as nana speakman. liz smith at her scatty and brilliant best.'s charity work, as tributes continue to pour in after his sudden death. he was found dead at home on christmas day. it's been revealed he'd worked undercover at a homeless shelter, and spent years donating money to organisations. 0ur correspondent has been outside his home in north london, where many fa ns his home in north london, where many fans have been attending to pay their last respects and to lay flowers in memory of the staff. steady stream of people have been arriving here in highgate in north london throughout the day. they are coming to george michael's london home to lay flowers, light candles and leave messages of love to the singer they remember as part of their teenage years. these are people who remember singing and dancing to george michael when they we re dancing to george michael when they were very, very young people. you canjust were very, very young people. you can just see there is a small crowd here. pretty much static now. people wa nt to ta ke here. pretty m

never more so than as nana speakman. liz smith at her scatty and brilliant best.ty cold. temperatures are already below freezing in a few spots. a frosty night to night for england and wales and fork will become an issue, especially tomorrow morning. for the disruption, check out bbc local weather stations. frost developing, especially in england and wales. some pockets of frost in eastern scotland. but the fog is the main story further south. widely, temperatures close to freezing, even in larger towns and cities, and in raw spots well below. freezing fog, some sunshine in the far south—west, pembrokeshire, not quite so bad for northern ireland. in scotland, some patchy rain in the north—west highlands. that fog will be slow to play in some spots will stick around all day. while some of us get into mid single figures, where the fog hangs around, we will struggle to get above freezing all day. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines. the daughter of author richard adams — who wrote watership down — says he has died peacefully at his home. a family statement quotes

from dotty nana norma speakman in the royle family to eccentric baker letitia cropley in the vicar of a niche playing scatty but hilarious older ladies. it's chocolate spread! chocolate? yeah, yeah. you promise? yeah, yeah, yeah. yeah. all right, i will. very...unusual taste. well, i put in a little something extra as well. she had been through a tough childhood, and an even tougher early career as a single mother of two with a series of part—time jobs. it was only when she was nearly 50 that she got her breakthrough after being offered a theatre role by mike leigh. it was like a wonderful realisation that at last i was being given a chance. it had come, it had come at last. she may have started late, but she made up for lost time with award—winning roles in tv and film, resulting in her being awarded the mbe in 2009. but it will be as nana, the queen of sheba, for which she will be most remembered. earlier, my colleaguejoanna gosling spoke to the director mike leigh, who gave liz smith her breakthrough role in 1971 in his independent film bleak moments. the actors‘ directory, spotlig

from dotty nana norma speakman in the royle family to the eccentric baker letitia cropley in the vicar carved out a niche playing scatty but hilarious older ladies. it's chocolate spread! chocolate? yeah, yeah. you promise? yeah, yeah, yeah. yeah. all right, i will. very...unusual taste. well, i put in a little something extra as well. she had been through a tough childhood, and an even tougher early career as a single mother of two with a series of part—time jobs. it was only when she was nearly 50 that she got her breakthrough after being offered a theatre role by mike leigh. it was like a wonderful realisation that at last i was being given a chance. it had come, it had come at last. she may have started late, but she made up for lost time with award—winning roles in tv and film, resulting in her being awarded the mbe in 2009. but it will be as nana, the queen of sheba, for which she will be most remembered. the actor liz smith, who has died at the age of 95. only about half of the families in britain own their homes, according to new analysis by the resolution foundation. 0fficial