BBC comedy icon gives fans health update after being rushed to hospital with mystery illness and cancelling all work
The 65-year-old icon sparked concern among fans after suddenly pulling out of appearances.
4
4
Red Dwarf star, who played the holographic Arnold Rimmer, cancelled upcoming public appearances owing to a "medical situation".
But he has now given a health update from his sickbed.
Writing on his official website, Chris Barrie said: "For those interested, here is an update on my health situation.
"Since being discharged from hospital in early July I have been feeling better and stronger with each passing day.
"I am not on any medication and am now a month into a 3-4 month healing process and there may be more diagnostic tests towards the end of that period.
"Apologies for being utterly non specific but I would rather keep it that way for now.
"So, in brief, feeling much more myself, enjoying being at home and busying myself with light tasks, although this is about to be stepped up to medium tasks…
"With regard to working, it is still too early to say.
"If my rate of recovery remains the same as over the last month, then I could be looking at working the odd day in October, but I will not be in a position to confirm this until early September.
"As usual I will update on this page as and when anything is confirmed. In the meantime good 'ol Scarborough remains on the schedule as I really hope to be back working by November."
Red Dwarf's Craig Charles reveals there will be more specials of hit show
Red Dwarf follows the adventures of a group of oddball characters who are stranded on a spaceship three million years in the future.
The show's main character Dave Lister wakes up after three million years in suspended animation to find out the rest of the crew on his spaceship were killed in an accident.
This would have left him alone in outer space - if not for the strange companions he met along the way.
This includes the hologram of his former bunkmate, the ship's computer, an android he rescues from a shipwreck, and the creature that evolved from what was his pet cat.
It first aired on BBC2 in 1988 and ran until 1999, before it moved to UK TV channel Dave ten years later.
Chris worked as a grave filler before he played uptight Arnold Rimmer in Red Dwarf.
He also starred in the hit BBC sitcom The Brittas Empire during the 90s, later resurrecting the character and appearing alongside pop group Little Mix in the video for the Sport Relief charity single Word Up.
He also virtually reunited with The Brittas Empire cast last year in celebration of the sitcom's 30th anniversary.
He has also hosted the television series Chris Barrie's Massive Engines and Chris Barrie's Massive Machines, which aired on Channel 5.
In 2006, he appeared as a regular team captain in the BBC2 quiz show Petrolheads.
Not much is known about his personal life, which he tends to keep out of the limelight, but he has been married twice and has two sons.
4
4
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
5 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
The Wheel contestant leaves BBC show with ZERO pounds after everyone fails to answer jackpot question in 'rare' result - but could you have guessed it right?
A contestant on The Wheel went home with zero pounds after every celebrity failed to guess a jackpot prize question on an episode of the BBC show. The popular programme sees members of the public try to win cash prizes by answering quiz questions in specific categories, with the help of a number of celebrity experts. As The Wheel spins, contestants hope they will land on the celebrity who has the right knowledge to help with their question. However, one episode has gone viral after a contestant walked away empty-handed leaving host Michael McIntyre stunned. The show started off smoothly, with each hopeful sailing through the rounds up until the end of the game. Could you have done better than these participants? Fans watched as contestant Jonathan took on a question for a prize of £52,000 with help from YouTube star Harry Pinero. He was asked: 'When fully grown, which of these species of shark is typically the largest? Great hammerhead shark, Great white shark, Tiger shark or Basking shark.' Unfortunately for Jonathan, Harry confessed he had 'no clue' but answered Hammerhead Shark - but the correct answer was a Basking Shark. Gillian was up next and faced a £26,000 question with Mark Wright. They were asked: 'Which country is the world's largest producer of coffee? Brazil, Colombia, India or Kenya.' While they were both drawn to Columbia, they were gutted to learn the right answer was in fact Brazil. Luckily for Gillian, she had another shot at cracking The Wheel, with comedian Katherine Ryan stepping in to help her with a £13,000 question. They were asked: 'Of these restaurants, which opened in the UK first? KFC, McDonald's, Domino's or Wagamamas.' Katherine, 42, admitted she hadn't been in the UK that many years to know for sure, but noted that McDonald's is long in business. Gillian agreed, sharing how she remembers having birthday parties there as a child. Have you guessed it? In a shock to them both, it was revealed KFC was the oldest restaurant chain from the list. While Gillian was devastated at the result, funnyman Michael, 49, called the episode a 'heartbreaker' and pointed out how it's 'rare' contestants leave the show empty-handed. Closing the show, he told viewers: 'We have no winner tonight, but thank you to all our experts. We'll see you next time - and hopefully we'll have a winner then - on The Wheel.' The Wheel airs on BBC One and is available now on iPlayer.
The Sun
7 minutes ago
- The Sun
Love Island's Arabella Chi shows off incredible post baby body in bikini just three months after giving birth
ARABELLA Chi looked incredible as she showed off her post baby body in a crochet bikini just three months after giving birth. The Love Island star, 34, posed for sunkissed photos in the beige two-piece swimwear. Arabella who welcomed her baby daughter Gigi in June with partner Billy Henty, looked in her element as she posed on a sun lounger. She showed off her golden tan and her toned figure in the holiday snaps, which she simply captioned: "Getting my Vitamin C." Her followers were quick to flood her comments with flame emojis, while one gushed that she was "gorgeous". Last month, the new mum stunned in a white floral maxi dress with a thigh split, before sizzling in a backless mini dress. Arabella recently opened up on facing her first parenting struggle after being left home alone by her partner just days after giving birth. Confirming Billy had jetted off to work, the star revealed she'd found it "challenging" having to look after the tot on her own. Cradling Gigi in a mirror selfie, the ex of Ruben Dias declared: "One tired mumma." She added: "Billy has been away for work this week which has been challenging but has also given me so much confidence in getting out the house alone. "Can't wait for another pair of hands and to have a long shower when he's home." She confirmed she was expecting shortly after she went public with her romance with Billy which The Sun revealed in September last year. Pregnant Love Island star Arabella Chi shows off huge bump as she lifts weights in the gym They begun dating just weeks after she took part in the first ever All Stars edition of Love Island early last year. Confirming their tot's arrival at the end of May, Arabella uploaded a black and white snap of Gigi to her profile. She added the caption: "Our worlds are complete. "Gigi Harper Henty, 20/05/2025, 6.2 lbs." She was recently forced to defend herself from trolls who took aim at her showcasing her toned body within days of giving birth. Arabella had chronicled her fitness journey throughout her pregnancy and clarified that her post was a means of continuing her regular content and not to be insensitive towards women struggling with their bodies just a few days after giving birth. She said online: "I was amazed that my body did bounce back as quickly as it did and I am proud of myself." "I was proud that all that training I had done had paid off and to inspire other people that if you train safely throughout your pregnancy it does make a difference." Arabella concluded by writing: "Don't get me wrong, post partum isn't always glamorous, most days I'm covered in sick, milk, blood or poo. But it's also nice to share the small wins on here." Arabella first shot to fame on series five of Love Island in 2019. 5 5
Telegraph
7 minutes ago
- Telegraph
How the era of the ‘angry young men' sowed the seeds for the Swinging Sixties
The 1960s, that much-loved decade, revived with gusto during the Britpop era, still surrounds us with its images and iconography, from Bond to Sgt Pepper – but where does this distinctly English narrative come from? When did it start? Look a bit deeper, and in the decade between the end of the Korean War and The Beatles releasing Please Please Me, something stirred in the provinces. Drama, fiction and cinema started to produce a body of work that was distinctly at odds with what had passed as appropriate entertainment in the 1940s. During a time when people knew their place – and were often trapped as a result – the era of the 'angry young men' took shape. Full of 'outsider' characters and regional settings, and dubbed 'kitchen sink' by critics in recognition of its determinedly down-to-earth style, this is what gave birth to today's cultural landscape. It's part of our national DNA, and language, giving us phrases such as 'I believe you, thousands wouldn't' as well as immediately identifiable characters such as Billy Liar and Archie Rice. While there had been writing of this type before – notably by Arnold Bennett, JB Priestley, and George Orwell – what came after the post-war austerity period was much greater in scope, drawing heavily on the class consciousness of the 1930s and the bitter, traumatic experience of the war. (Especially the latter: this was a time when everybody spoke about 'the war'.) Dominating voices Within a few years, disparate talents such as the Goons; Tony Hancock; writers William Cooper, Kingsley Amis and Philip Larkin; film producers the Boulting brothers and actors such as Stanley Baker, Diana Dors and Dirk Bogarde were presenting the public with new characters, novel situations and a questioning approach to status quo. Influenced partly by US noirs and European social realism, both of which were readily viewable on screen or available to read in paperback, 'kitchen sink' drama provided readers with everyday plots and strongly drawn working-class characters. Usually male, they rent a room somewhere. It's signalled that they may have been in the war, but none were officers, and they avoided heroism. Their appearance is important to them, and as this is a time of full employment, they drink and smoke continuously. Disaffected and denunciatory, they aspire to owning property and embrace materialism. Such plots are common in the work of John Osborne, John Braine and Alan Sillitoe. In terms of women writers, it was the idiosyncratic voices such as Muriel Spark and Iris Murdoch who dominated; yet, at the end of the decade authors, such as Shelagh Delaney emerged, whose narratives were grounded in reality: they described mixed-race relationships and affairs with yet-to-be-divorced older men, and broke new ground by allowing pregnancy and abortion to haunt their narratives. Frustrated, one morning our hero (or heroine) may pack a suitcase and head down to the station. On a long, slow train of blood-red carriages hauled by a black steam locomotive, they depart for London, throwing aside the conventions and restrictions of regional life. Distinctly realistic depictions All of this takes place in a country markedly different to the one we live in now: a landscape clogged with coal smoke from countless factories, yards and depots set amidst geometric rows of tiny houses. In some ways, the shadow of the war persists. Rationing has either just ceased or is still in force, and National Service remains a rite of passage for young men. How far we are from this world is apparent when viewing the images of Salford and Wakefield captured for posterity by Walter Lassally and Denys Coop in A Taste of Honey and This Sporting Life respectively. Crisp and perfect, almost every frame could be an LP cover or book jacket. Given today's London-centric arts scene, it's interesting to note the importance of Liverpool in launching the kitchen sink as a phenomenon, with two juvenile delinquency dramas, Violent Playground and These Dangerous Years, both shot there. Reminding us that current concerns about toxic masculinity are nothing new, both were outliers for the musical explosion that erupted in the city just six years later, and showed audiences a world very different from the BBC-style, Received Pronunciation dramas that still proliferated. Nor was this solely a 'northern' thing. London – Soho in particular – came into its own with distinctly realistic depictions. Prior to the mid-50s, film-makers rarely strayed beyond Mayfair and W1, and, if they did, usually shot on sets. Now there was an abundance of bedsit dramas, lots of crime and, by the standards of the time, sex (the Lady Chatterley trial helped fell those boundaries). Sowing the seeds for kitchen sink cinema The medium for showing these dramas varied. Despite being limited to only two channels, each broadcasting about six hours a day, television sowed the seeds for much of what followed. The feature-film-length TV play was a key element in the evening inventory, with ITV leading the way. At its peak, over 200 original scripts per annum were being commissioned, providing young actors and directors with critical early career exposure. TV today – including subscription platforms – could only dream of this. As for the theatre, director Joan Littlewood broke down stylistic norms and tackled themes rarely seen on stage before. Brendan Behan, John Arden, Lionel Bart, Shelagh Delaney and Arnold Wesker all benefited from her support. Much influenced by Bertolt Brecht and happy to stage big political ensemble pieces, her output at the Theatre Workshop, Stratford (formed in 1953), was youth-orientated and anticipated the satire boom that followed. There were hits, Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be, deprecating the replacement of community with consumerism, intriguing misses (Ned Kelly, with Harry H Corbett comes to mind) and one undeniable classic, Oh! What a Lovely War (1969). Most people encountered the kitchen sink in the cinema, though. The Odeon, Gaumont, Granada and ABC chains remained uniquely accessible and popular; and yet, the conservatism of traditional producers – for a while – made getting Osborne, Sillitoe et al on the screen difficult. The Rank Organisation, anxious to maintain their role as custodians of family entertainment, declined to back Look Back in Anger. One explanation for this resistance came from the kitchen sink portraying 'difficult topics' previously considered to be of limited interest to paying audiences. One of these was politics. No Love for Johnnie, written by Wilfred Fienburgh MP, a predecessor of Jeremy Corbyn in Islington North, showed a world of cynical career advancement, no-confidence votes, late-night drinking and extra-marital affairs. The genre ended on a high. Back in Liverpool, A Hard Day's Night was written by Alun Owen, and directed by Richard Lester, an accomplice of The Goons. Filmed in black and white, with kitchen-sink actors Wilfrid Brambell and Norman Rossington in supporting roles (and Kenneth Haigh, uncredited), it repeated one of the main plot features – the cast goes down to London by train – while also beginning the swinging Sixties. Indeed, A Hard Day's Night feels like the archetypal 1960s film, marking the dawn of a new permissiveness – but in its breaking down of barriers, in its celebration of four working-class lads, the seeds of its success were sown in the previous decade. Top five kitchen-sink heroes The writers remain in print and many of the actors are still recognised names. But look deeper, and there are some no-longer-quite-so-well-regarded figures whose work repays study. 1. Mary Ure Glaswegian actress Mary Ure made a huge impression as Jimmy Porter's fragile, abused wife Alison in Look Back in Anger (1959), playing the part – definitively – on both stage and screen. A spell with the Royal Shakespeare Company followed, as did an Academy Award nomination for her role as Clara Dawes in Sons and Lovers (1960), but her career – like those of many women – remained defined by her marriages, in her case to John Osborne and Robert Shaw. Like Harvey she died in early middle-age, more than half a century ago. 2. Laurence Harvey A true outsider – Jewish, Lithuanian, brought up in South Africa – Laurence Harvey projected an undemonstrative, detached acting style whilst being simultaneously debonair and anti-heroic. It was an approach that fitted the times, and brought him Academy Award and Bafta nominations for his turn as proto-Thatcherite Joe Lampton in Room at the Top (1959). He also directed, including the black jazz musical Simply Heavenly (1958) and a film The Ceremony (1963), which, much influenced by Orson Welles, suggests a talent that might have been more widely used. 3. Tom Bell Leading man Tom Bell owed much to TV plays, appearing in 33 when that genre reigned supreme on the small screen. From Liverpool, Bell was famous for 'upsetting the establishment' something that lost him much work. With a background in provincial rep and a spell at the Theatre Workshop his best role during this period was in The L-Shaped Room (1962). 4. Kenneth Haigh Similarly, Kenneth Haigh, from Mexborough, never quite achieved star status despite creating the part of Jimmy Porter in Look Back in Anger, partnering Roberts in Maggie May and playing Joe Lampton in Man at the Top (1970-1972) on TV. During a long career, which saw him appear in 21 TV plays, he played Napoleon in Eagle in a Cage (replacing Albert Finney) and co-starred with Joan Collins in The Bitch. 5. Rachel Roberts Rachel Roberts lasted only a little longer, and like Ure was famous as much for her husband, Rex Harrison, as for her acting. This included Bafta-winning performances in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and This Sporting Life. Lionel Bart built the stage musical Maggie May (1964) around her, but despite a third Bafta for John Schlesinger's Yanks (1979), alcoholism took its toll a year later.
