Dame Patricia Routledge opened up about her iconic role as Hyacinth Bucket in the beloved sitcom, Keeping Up Appearances. The programme, which also starred Clive Swift, Geoffrey Hughes, and Judy Cornwell, ended in 1995 but has had a lasting impact on fans.

The actress, 96, detailed how the comedy "made a great difference" to viewers, particularly if they were going through difficult times. She said in the documentary, Keeping Up Appearances: 30 Years of Laughs: "There are people who can't really get beyond Keeping Up Appearances if they think about me, but it did make a great difference, and I do get the most wonderful letters. I'm very grateful for that because you realise how important it is to have made people happy.

"I remember a wonderful letter some years ago from a little lady and she felt that the world had really come to an end.

"She said that she made herself a cup of tea and sat down and put the television set on and then she said, 'There you were'. It just helped me get through a very, very difficult time.

"It makes it all thoroughly worthwhile."

The actress also disclosed that Keeping Up Appearances had garnered admiration from high-profile individuals, including royalty and religious figures.

In the documentary, she revealed: "We were one of the Queen Mother's favourite sitcoms, which was lovely, and the Queen enjoyed it, too. Hyacinth would have been flattered beyond words, and why not."

Patricia decided to put an end to the sitcom at the age of 77, much to the disappointment of the BBC

Explaining why in BBC Four's Patricia Routledge Remembers, she said: "I thought the writer was beginning to recycle old ideas. And also, remembering the glorious Ronnie Barker, he always stopped when he was at the height of something and he always left with people saying, 'Oh, aren't you doing any more?' Rather than people saying, 'Is that still on?'

"That's the place to be, really, and I had other adventures to explore. I'm an actress, and I wanted to take on the stories of other people."

Patricia also shared what initially drew her to the character of Hyacinth, saying: "I had opened the script for a moment at one o'clock in the morning, read straight through and Hyacinth leapt off the page.

"I knew that woman, I knew several of that woman," she added with a laugh.

After the series concluded, Patricia continued to shine in other prominent roles, such as Hetty Wainthropp in the BBC's Hetty Wainthropp Investigates and on stage as Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest.