DON'T BELIEVE IT
Richard Wilson looks very different as he makes TV return 25yrs after One Foot in the Grave
ONE Foot in the Grave legend Richard Wilson is returning to our screens, it has been revealed.
The Victor Meldrew actor, 86, is going to appear in a major role on Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway.
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He is playing the head of ITV in this year's mini-drama, called Murder At Bigwig Manor, which will air most weeks.
Richard's TV appearance comes 23 years since his last appearance on One Foot In The Grave.
However, viewers may not have recognised him in the new role - were it not for his "I don't believe it" catchphrase.
He was seen sporting glasses, wearing a smoking jacket and being pushed in a chair during the brief clip.
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Ant McPartlin, 47, revealed who would be joining them, saying: "Yes, you're right, that was Richard Wilson."
He added, to poke fun at David Tennant, that week's guest announcer, and one of Richard's former co-stars: "Without doubt my favourite Scottish actor."
Despite being famous for playing grumpy old man Meldrew, Richard was only 53 when he signed up to One Foot In The Grave.
The character was written especially for him by David Renwick and he was initially reluctant because he believed he wasn't old together.
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However, he and the show proved a huge hit with sitcom audiences throughout the 1990s.
Richard quickly became a major star, with the star often greeted by viewers saying his "I don't believe it" catchphrase at him - a fact he parodied in an episode of Father Ted.
One Foot in the Grave, which came tenth in a 2004 BBC poll to find Britain's Best Sitcom, started in 1990.
It ran for six series and seven Christmas specials before ending in dramatic fashion in 2000 with Victor killed in a hit-and-run accident.
He remained a big name on TV and had later roles alongside David in ITV's Duck Patrol and in the BBC drama Merlin.
In 2016 he suffered a nasty fall that left him feeling more forgetful - though, he insisted, no more grumpy.
He told magazine: “I do get quite tired about not being able to walk as I used to and having to use a stick, but that is frustration more than grumpiness.
"I fell off a small balcony while I was waiting to meet a writer for coffee outside Maison Blanc. As I did so, I hit my head, which caused a bleed in the brain.
"That’s why my memory has been destroyed a bit. As a result, I am more forgetful – but not more grumpy.”
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