Friday Night Dinner was a member down as it returned on Friday evening with the loss Frances Cuka, who passed away in February aged 83.
Nelly Buller, the grandma of the Goodman boys, made 12 appearances during the show’s seven year run, and always caused chaos in her wake (but then again, what’s new for that family).
But unfortunately following Frances’ illness, which was never confirmed by her family, she was unable to film for the new series, and therefore won’t be seen on screen again in the beloved character.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com, series creator Robert Popper revealed that grandma won’t appear in series six at all, as much as he wanted Frances to be there.
He said: ‘She couldn’t do this series, or the last series, because of illness, unfortunately.
‘She was absolutely fantastic, and loads of fun, and brilliant.’
‘She added a real sparkle whenever she was in an episode,’ he added. ‘And people loved her. They really liked her. So that was really sad.’
Frances had a 50-year career as an actress, and starred on the West End stage.
She also had recurring roles in the soap operas Crossroads and Coronation Street.
Her film roles have included Scrooge (1970) as Bob Cratchit’s wife, and Henry VIII and his Six Wives (1972) as Catherine of Aragon.
Frances passed on 16 February, with her obituary posted in The Guardian, without a cause of death stated.
Friday Night Dinner airs Fridays at 9pm on Channel 4.
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