‘An inspiration’: fellow impressionists pay tribute to Mike Yarwood

Rory Bremner says he may not have started doing impressions had it not been for the 70s star, who died on Friday aged 82

The Mike Yarwood kicked the door down" for others in the comedy trade, Rory Bremner has said, after the death of the impressionist and satirist.

Yarwood, who died on Friday aged 82, was a household name in the 1960s and 1970s. His 1977 Christmas special pipped Morecambe and Wise's festive offering to break, and still hold, the record for the highest-ever single Christmas Day audience.