Christopher Beeny dead: Upstairs Downstairs and Last of the Summer Wine star dies aged 78

Upstairs Downstairs and Last of the Summer Wine star Christopher Beeny has died at the age of 78, his son has confirmed.

The actor, who played footman Edward Barnes in the popular '70s costume drama, died at his home on Friday, January 3 according to son Rick Blackman.

“I have some sad news to impart,” Blackman wrote on Twitter. “On Friday 3rd of January my old dad Christopher Beeny died at his home in Kent.

“He was 78. Comforted to know he was not alone in the end and was in his armchair.”

Blackman also shared a series of photos of his father playing various roles, including a sweet black and white snap of the pair on the set of Upstairs Downstairs, with Beeny dressed in a military costume.

He later thanked social media users for “all the kind tributes and messages” following his father’s death, writing: “I’ve tried to answer and like as many as possible but the sheer volume has been staggering.

“Thank you all so much from me and the rest of the family.”

Born in London in 1941, Beeny began his television career in 1954 with a role in the BBC series The Grove Family, which is regarded as the first ever British TV soap.

He starred as Barnes in Upstairs Downstairs, an ITV series which depicted the lives of an upper class Edwardian family and their servants living in a Belgravia townhouse, from 1971 to 1975.

He also appeared in the sitcoms Miss Jones and Son and In Loving Memory and had a recurring role in Last of the Summer Wine as debt collector Herman Teesdale.