Ian Pepperell: Actor who played Roy Tucker in The Archers and starred in EastEnders dies aged 53

The actor Ian Pepperell, who was best known for playing Roy Tucker in The Archers, has died aged 53.

The BBC announced the news, that the actor passed away yesterday (Dec 22), following a long illness. The "perfect Archers actor" was best known for his performance of Roy Tucker on the long-running Radio 4 programme The Archers.

Paying tribute to Pepperell, The Archers editor Jeremy Howe said in a statement: “Ian was the perfect Archers actor – he loved being part of an ensemble, relished the camaraderie and gossip of the Green Room, and had a seemingly effortlessly fine tuned vocal technique.

“Like all the very best radio actors he could think on his feet and change the way he played a scene in the blink of an eye. Thanks to Ian’s brilliance, he created in Roy a character who managed to face in two directions simultaneously in almost every scene he played."

He continued: “He captured Roy as both genial and anxious, funny and sad, easy-going and permanently stressed – a man who could hold down with ease a top job, yet who always carried with him Hamlet’s sense of failure.

“It all made perfect sense because of Ian’s uncanny and laser-guided ability to find humour in the emotional scenes and find pathos in the comedy that he always played so unerringly well."

He added: “Ian had a lot more gas in the tank and was desperate to return to Ambridge once his health permitted. It is tragic that he died in his prime, we will miss him dearly and our hearts go out to his family and friends and everyone who knew him. Ambridge loved Roy – The Archers and our millions of listeners loved Ian’s Roy Tucker.”

Whilst BBC Director of Speech, Mohit Bakaya, added: "Ian was a hugely talented actor who contributed greatly to The Archers and brought much pleasure to listeners on Radio 4 for over two decades. He will be missed greatly and we send our deepest condolences to all who knew and loved him."

Pepperell will be best remembered for playing the hotelier in the long-running BBC Radio 4 drama for 22 years. He featured in many dramatic storylines including a New Year's Eve episode in which his character asks Hayley Jordan (Lucy Davis) to marry him.

During his career, he also starred in EastEnders and in 1993 appeared in ITV police drama, The Bill. He also acted in numerous stage productions, playing Hamlet for the Oxford Stage Company and Richard III at the Haymarket Theatre in Leicester.