Penelope Keith was a class apart

Penelope Keith was a class apart The star of The Good Life and To the Manor Born embodied the class anxieties of a now vanished England. dataLayer.push({ event: 'author', author: "Simon Evans" }) Simon Evans Columnist 2nd July 2026 Share Topics Culture UK Want unlimited, ad-free access? Become a spiked supporter. Penelope Keith, who has died at the age of 86, was no mere actress. She was an embodiment, an avatar, an archetype – a particular kind of woman, once instantly recognisable to British audiences, now as quaint as Ladybird books and private first-class railway compartments. The two roles for which she was best known – Margo Leadbetter in The Good Life and Audrey fforbes-Hamilton in To the Manor Born – made her as recognisable and even adored as any character in sitcom.

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