Plus a knighthood for  Roy Clarke

Bill Bailey,  Meera Syal, Matt Lucas and Paul Chuckle are among those honoured in the new year’s list.

Last of the Summer Wine, Keeping Up Appearances and Open All Hours writer Roy Clarke has also been knighted in the annual awards with OBEs for Warwick Davis and Richard Osman.

Syal – part of the team that created sketch show Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at No. 42 – is recognised for her contribution to drama, literature and charity. She has written. several novels and plays including Anita and Me, which has found its way onto school and university English syllabuses 

Clarke, 95, was the sole writer of all 295 episodes of Last of the Summer Wine, which at its peak had an audience of over 18 million viewers. Meanwhile Keeping Up Appearances has been the BBC's most exported TV programme ever.

Actor Henry Dawe, who submitted a knighthood nomination for Clarke two years ago, told Chortle: ‘The impact which Mr Clarke has had on the county of Yorkshire and on the cultural life of the country as a whole is immense.  Mr Clarke’s work has given pleasure to millions of people all over the world in an extraordinary output that no other solo comedy writer can match.’

Lucas has been given an OBE – a stark contrast with his Little Britain co-star David Walliams who has increasingly fallen out of favour and was this month dropped by his publisher. The pair had previously faced criticism for their previous work and in 2020 apologised for their portrayal of characters using racial caricatures, 'including an obese Caribbean woman called Desiree DeVere, portrayed in blackface, and a "portly Thai bride" called Ting Tong.'

Lucas told the Press Association: 'I'm still in shock. It hasn’t sunk in yet. I really wasn’t expecting it at any point. About a month ago. I returned home very late from a work trip and was opening some post. I was half-asleep. I had to read the letter a couple of times, and then I thought it might have been a prank, so I had to really scrutinise it.'

In response to an investigation by HarperCollins, a spokesperson for Walliams said: 'David strongly denies that he has behaved inappropriately and is taking legal advice.'

Quiz-show-host-turned-author Osman also receives an OBE as does Davis, who said today: ‘This is the best thing that's ever happened to me - and I've been in Star Wars.'

Bailey and Paul Chuckle are made MBEs for services to entertainment, under their real names of Mark Bailey and Paul Elliot.

Elliott, along with his late brother Barry –  who died from bone cancer aged 73 in 2018  – made nearly 300 episodes of their TV show ChuckleVision in the 1990s and 2000s.

He said: 'A lad from a council estate in Rotherham, and after all these years, getting an MBE is just such an honour. I'm very much a royalist.'

Sir Keir Starmer said: 'This year's Honours list celebrates the very best of Britain - people who put the common good ahead of themselves to strengthen communities and change lives.'

Published: 29 Dec 2025