Beryl Vertue, who has died aged 90, played an important role in the history of British television comedy. She began as an agent for writers such as Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes, as well as the performers Tony Hancock and Frankie Howerd, before pioneering the sale of hit UK TV formats to American television.
When she turned to producing, her first big sitcom success was Men Behaving Badly (1992-98), which ushered in an era of laddish humour. She read the 1989 novel by Simon Nye, who was working as a translator for Credit Suisse, saw its potential and set him off on a TV career. Martin Clunes starred as Gary, sharing a flat with Dermot (Harry Enfield) – replaced by Neil Morrissey as the womanising Tony after the first series – and Caroline Quentin played Gary’s girlfriend, Dorothy, with Leslie Ash as Deborah, Gary’s neighbour, who is attracted to Tony but put off by his immaturity.
