BREAKING NEWS: Derek Fowlds-Yes Minister and Heartbeat actor dies aged 82

By Tony Winterburn • 17 January 2020 • 12:21

Yes Minister and Heartbeat star Derek Fowlds has died aged 82.

Actor Derek Fowlds, known to millions for playing Bernard Woolley in Yes Minister, has died at the age of 82.

The actor was best known for playing Private Secretary Bernard Woolley in the sitcom and its sequel Yes, Prime Minister, as well as for his role as Oscar Blaketon in the long-running police drama Heartbeat.

Picture shows: 1982: Derek Fowlds as Bernard Woolley (left) , Nigel Hawthorne as Sir Humphrey Appleby (centre), and Paul Eddington as minister Jim Hacker

Before that, he found fame with children as Mr Derek on The Basil Brush Show, alongside the glove puppet fox with the catchphrase “boom boom!”, from 1969 to 1973, replacing Rodney Bewes as the presenter.

The actor died at Royal United Hospitals Bath in the early hours of Friday morning surrounded by his family, he was suffering from pneumonia that led to heart failure caused by sepsis.