His television series Talking Heads has become a modern-day classic, as have many of his works for the stage, including Forty Years On, The Lady in the Van, A Question of Attribution, The Madness of King George Ill (together with the Oscar-nominated screenplay The Madness of King George) and an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. The fact that Her Majesty could probably not manage this today is a reminder of how swiftly treacherous advanced old age can be.

Bennett's lugubrious yet expressive voice (which still bears a slight Leeds accent) and the sharp humour and evident humanity of his writing have made his readings of his own work (especially his autobiographical writing) very popular. He recounts a telling anecdote from 1941 in which the whole family went on a Sunday fishing expedition in the country.I spent a pleasant half hour reading this but it's not as jaunty as his diaries have been in the past and the constraints of the pandemic and ageing mean that much of his reflection now relates to past rather than present encounters. An abiding memory for me is his engaging encounter with a leaf sweeper which puts a smile on AB’s face for the rest of the day.

He may clearly be increasingly frail but, even in lockdown, Alan Bennett retains his customary waspish wit in the latest tranche of his diaries ― Choice --This text refers to the hardcover edition. HMQ pictured in the paper at an investiture wearing gloves, presumably as a precaution against Coronavirus.I expected insights into the pandemic, the impact on his life, the community, nothing but cups of tea, a few chats with friends over the fence and being driven around.

Young Alan was strictly forbidden from setting foot in this den of contagion until, lured by Mrs Sherwood’s cloud-like yorkshire pudding, he decides to risk it: “It was as if I’d signed my own death warrant. On 26 March of that first year, Nicholas Hytner rings with the exciting news that the BBC would like to record a new version of Bennett’s Talking Heads monologues of 1988 because it is exactly the sort of thing that could be done on Zoom. Since our earliest beginnings, every documented society has gathered to perform elaborate rites and ceremonies - from mass worship to body modification - yet ritual poses a deep paradox: why do we give the utmost importance to otherwise pointless activities? In no time, however, I was drawn in by Bennett's spot on reminiscences and comments upon current happenings. Our national treasure at work during the pandemic – sharing his everyday thoughts, alongside his increasing physical infirmities, in his own inimitable way.He made his first stage appearance with Beyond the Fringe and his latest play was The Lady in the Van with Maggie Smith. The fact that Bennett’s new normal now involves being met by helpful staff with a wheelchair whenever he travels between Leeds and King’s Cross tells us just how frail he has become in the intervening 18 months.