Acting icon Patricia Routledge reveals the reason behind her departure from ‘Keeping Up Appearances’

Many fans warmly remember Dame Patricia Routledge from her star turn on the BBC series Keeping Up Appearances and now the esteemed actress has revealed why she quit the popular show.

During the show’s five-year run, Routledge starred as the formerly working-class Hyacinth Bucket, who had delusions of grandeur and insisted that everyone pronounce her last name as “bouquet.”

The comedy, which co-starred Clive Twist, Jeffrey Hughes and Judy Cornwall was an enormous success when Routledge quit the show in 1995.

The 95-year-old Dame made the confession while reflecting the on show that made her famous during a BBC Four documentary.

“I thought the writer was beginning to recycle old ideas,” she revealed.

“And also, remembering the glorious Ronnie Barker, he always stopped when he was at the height of something and he always left with people saying, ‘Oh, aren’t you doing any more?’

“Rather than people saying, ‘Is that still on?'”

She also admitted career ambitions may have added to her decision, confiding that she wanted to explore other avenues in show business.

“That’s the place to be, really, and I had other adventures to explore,” she said.

“I’m an actress, and I wanted to take on the stories of other people.”

She got her chance when she went on to star as Hetty Wainthropp in BBC’s Hetty Wainthropp Investigates (1996-1998) and tread the boards for two years as Lady Bracknell in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest (1999-2001).

Later in the documentary, she gave fans a unique insight into how she came to play Hyacinth, admitting that she opened up the script early one morning and the character just, “came off the page”.

“I knew that woman, I knew several of that woman, ” she said.

“When (the producer) mentioned Clive Swift, I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, how wonderful. Now we really are in business.'”

While Hyacinth Bucket may be her most famous character, Routledge was well-known as a theatre and television actor who had graduated from the prestigious Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

Starting in 1952, Routledge has worked on stage, TV and radio, and has also provided her distinctive voice to audio-book versions of Wuthering Heights and Alice in Wonderland.

Routledge was recognised for her long service to theatre and charity when she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2017.