[Jayne Osborn]

Clive said:

Just as an aside - Pam Ayres was a writer of comic doggerel who was enormously popular in Britain in the late 70s, mainly due to her reading of the poems in a broad Oxfordshire accent.

Sorry to digress from JB, but that's a huge understatement, Clive! Pam Ayres is STILL enormously popular. I met her at a literary lunch last year and she's delightful; part of her appeal is her 'ordinariness' and lack of celeb behaviour. She even rears chickens in her back garden. Here's a testimony of how busy she still is:

PAM AYRES has just completed her UK Spring tour of 45 shows which played to an average 91% capacity, confirming her place as one of the biggest selling comediennes in the UK. Pam is now starting to write her autobiography which will be published in Autumn next year, when she will undertake an extensive book promotion tour including concerts in the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.

This year PAM AYRES celebrates 35 years as a professional entertainer. It was November 1975 when Pam made the first of her appearances on the ITV talent show, Opportunity Knocks, the “Britain’s Got Talent” TV show of its day, and this proved to be the start of an incredible career for a unique entertainer.
On TV Pam has recently been seen on The One Show, Paul O’Grady, and QI, and next year she will be recording a new DVD of her latest live show. Also next year Pam will be recording her fourth series for Radio 4 of AYRES ON THE AIR. Pam is is a regular guest on other Radio 4 programmes such as Just A Minute, Loose Ends, and Saturday Live.