"I need to say how profoundly moved I am by the extraordinary tributes paid to my dear Nigel. In the twenty-two years that we were together, neither of us fully realised the depths of love and esteem in which he was held. Ours was a quiet, private life, tucked away from the razzmatazz of showbusiness; a world where professional integrity and domestic life went hand-in-glove. Reading your tributes I am delighted - as Nigel would have been - that he succeeded as both an actor and a human being."

Trevor Bentham