Fans of Friday Night Dinner were brought to tears by Paul Ritter's appearance in the 10-year anniversary documentary, which was shown tonight (28 May) on Channel 4.
The one-off special, Friday Night Dinner - 10 Years And A Lovely Bit Of Squirrel, took a look back at the funniest moments from all six series of the hit comedy.
It featured interviews with the entire cast and crew, including Tamsin Greig, Simon Bird, Tom Rosenthal, creator Robert Popper, and Paul Ritter, who sadly passed away in April.
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And fans found tonight's episode especially poignant:
Speaking in the documentary, Ritter, who took part despite being seriously ill at the time, said playing the shirtless patriarch was 'absolutely everything to him'.
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He said: "I'd be nothing without him. Seriously. I mean it was the great career gift. In terms of interesting parts, he's been absolutely everything to me, and I have loved playing him. I've loved all the extraordinary scenes we do."
Tamsin Greig, who played Paul's onscreen wife Jackie Goodman, paid tribute to her former co-star at the start of the episode.
She told viewers: "I'm sure you know that very recently we lost our dear and most cherished friend Paul Ritter, who plays Martin Goodman in Friday Night Dinner.
"We all miss him terribly, incredible actor, a true friend and a lovely human being. Sadly at the time of making the documentary, Paul was pretty unwell and to be honest - don't tell the producers - I did try and persuade him not to do the interview.
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"But it is testament to Paul's courage and generosity and dignity and complete lack of vanity that he wanted to participate in the documentary, do an interview and to really celebrate this little world that he's been a part of and that he's enjoyed so much over the years.
"So I know that Paul would want us to all sit back and laugh and enjoy this celebration of the FND universe. And say, as we do, in his memory: Shalom."
The show's writer, Robert Popper recently confirmed that season six of Friday Night Dinner was the last, explaining that he felt it rounded off the story perfectly and that the iconic comedy would not be returning.
Speaking to LADbible, the 53-year-old said the last episode was one of his favourites and he doesn't want to carry on the story.
When asked if this was always planned, Robert reveals: "It wasn't, actually. I never really know until I start.
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"I have all my ideas and I have my board up on a wall, but I never really know, until I start an episode, what it's going to be about.
"But I did think half-way through it would be great if they both brought girls round, and then I thought that one of them was pregnant and then 'oh, what happens if they're both pregnant?' So I thought that was good.
"And then, yeah, I was thinking this will be the end, because I didn't want to do a series where they had kids and babies, and Jim would have seven dogs, also, like, the world's weirdest dog that you couldn't find seven of.
"So that was going to be the end, yeah."
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The episode comes over a month since the tragic news of Paul Ritter's death was announced.
The actor, 54, passed away after suffering from a brain tumour, his agent said.
Featured Image Credit: Channel 4Topics: TV and Film
