Kirstie Allsopp was furious with Bafta for saying Penelope Keith had ‘passed’ and this A++ response was to the manor born
Sad news today that the great Penelope Keith has died, aged 86.
To readers of a certain age she was one of the brightest stars of the golden age of homegrown TV sitcoms and nowhere better than as Margo Leadbetter in The Good Life (before starring in another huge comedy hit, To The Manor Born).
I could spend hours watching clips of Margo pic.twitter.com/WC5BvcPvd8
— Tim (still totally unremarkable) (@forwardnotback) June 29, 2026
She won multiple Bafta awards so it was only natural that the good folk of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts should want to pay tribute.
We're saddened to learn of the passing of Dame Penelope Keith, aged 86. A familiar face on stage and screen, Keith won a BAFTA for her iconic role in The Good Life in 1977 and another for her work in The Norman Conquests and Saving It For Albie in 1978, with a further three BAFTA…
— BAFTA (@BAFTA) June 29, 2026
And yet there was something about the wording of their tribute that got – really got – Kirstie Allsopp’s goat.
It’s “death”, Dame Penelope died, she was an absolute national treasure, she lived & worked and was brilliant and then she died. Dame Penelope did not “pass”, she was not a car or a bottle of ketchup.
— Kirstie Allsopp (@KirstieMAllsopp) June 29, 2026
And of all the totally on-point responses …
What a heartfelt tribute https://t.co/Ii6M6ohAdh
— babygirl chibnall (@eveofthedaleks) June 29, 2026
“…and Dame Penelope, who was NOT a bottle of ketchup”. https://t.co/QmoTbgtC99 pic.twitter.com/QRrsMVycw1
— Colin S 🏴🇱🇻 (@BigC1874) June 29, 2026
Some people find the words dead/died/death quite harsh. If it helps with their grieving what difference dies it make ? My daughter was killed in a car crash aged 18 everytime someone said died/dead it felt like another stab to my heart so don’t lecture people !
— joanne bolton (@joanneb34113706) June 29, 2026
What a weird hill to pass on. https://t.co/nkpLtGBAMT
— Paul K (@ZiggyOnTheRadio) June 29, 2026
If we’re going to play that reductionist game, she wasn’t a national ‘treasure’ either, insofar as she wasn’t ‘wealth or riches stored or accumulated, esp. in the form of precious metals; gold or silver coin’. https://t.co/6qGKxfmp0q
— Tom White (@TBIZZLEBEAR) June 29, 2026
Passing away is a pretty standard way of announcing someone has died , in a world where everyone is now offended I’m not sure this is a high ranking thing to worry about .
— Mark Gridley (@MarkOnedayin16) June 29, 2026
Who are the people who say "my bottle of ketchup has passed?" https://t.co/br9jByRIkD
— Matt R (@j_razor101) June 30, 2026
… this one, from @MrJoeGooch , was to the manor born.
Performing Kirstie Allsopp's angry tweet response to BAFTA's tribute to Penelope Keith as serious drama https://t.co/OpusPifQww pic.twitter.com/4fU60znDDP
— Joe (@MrJoeGooch) June 29, 2026
Give that man a Bafta.
And because we are never less than fair and balanced, there was also no shortage of people who agreed with Allsopp, if not necessarily the way she chose to express it.
On the other hand, she also had the backing of this man.
I loathe “passing”. Loathe it
— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) June 29, 2026
Which means she must be wrong.
Number of Bafta awards won by Kirstie Allsopp – zero (and no, Outstanding Contribution to Scotland’s Screen Industry award at the BAFTA Scotland Awards in 2025 doesn’t count).
It seems I’ve stumbled across the most divisive issue of all time. Those who loathe the use of passed or passing in reference to death & those who prefer it. I’m in the loathe camp, I think it attempts to sweep away the profound significance of death, but it’s quite the debate
— Kirstie Allsopp (@KirstieMAllsopp) June 29, 2026
Follow @MrJoeGooch here!
Source @KirstieMAllsopp