Sir Tony Robinson has paid tribute to his Blackadder co-star Patsy Byrne following her death last week (17Jun14) aged 80.

News of the actress' death emerged over the weekend (21-22Jun14) and fans flocked to Twitter.com to share their memories of her as dim-witted queen's maid Nursie in Blackadder Ii.

Robinson, who played Baldrick in the cult Tv comedy, has now spoken of working with the classically-trained actress on the show, as well as on his kids' series Maid Marian and her Merry Men.

He tells BBC Radio 5 Live, "Patsy was just a real confident centre of all the scenes. She had unerring skill to make the daftest, silliest thing sound absolutely real and absolutely plausible.

"I was so fond of her as a person and so in awe of her capabilities that when I decided I wanted to introduce a mother to Maid Marion, my first choice was Patsy.

"I was thrilled that she took it. Even though she has done such grand work she came down to (English coastal town) Minehead and rolled her sleeves up and was just one of the lads, as she always was, and did a great performance."