Sadly, here we have another case of celebrating a TV great on the news that they have passed away. Bob Spiers, one of Britain’s greatest TV producers, has has died of cancer aged 63. Spiers CV reads more than impressive, with Fawlty Towers, Press Gang, Absolutely Fabulous and Dad’s Army to his name. Perhaps it’s not surprising that he twice bagged a Bafta. In TV and later, on the silver screen, Spiers’ business was making people laugh. For a producer, that’s no easy feat. However, he somehow managed to do it, working with some of entertainment’s greatest names.

Spiers, born in Glasgow, was a national junior tennis champion before moving to London in his teens where he discovered his love of treading the boards. He went on to tour the country with nation with various drama groups, before joining the ranks of the BBC in 1967.

Spiers’ talent was soon picked up on and he was fast-tracked through vision-mixing, floor management and production assistant until he had learned all the skills required to be a director. This saw a stint on Dad’s Army, before he was chosen to direct the second series of Fawlty Towers.

He continued to produce, and worked on Are You Being Served? and The Goodies, before going freelance in 1982. This saw more freedom in his working life, which saw his pal, Peter Richardson, the actor, writer and director, hiring him to direct The Comic Strip Presents … for Channel 4. He went on to direct the entire run of Press Gang before being lured back to the BBC.

There, he got the job of directing episodes of French and Saunders, as well as Murder Most Horrid, Bottom and A Bit of Fry and Laurie and every single episode of the Absolutely Fabulous series.

He is survived by Sophie, his stepdaughter, Coral, and his daughter, Sienna.