Ashley Jensen, the Extras actress, found her husband dead in his car after his suicide, a coroner heard, as the star said: "I had no idea he was capable of doing what he did."

Terence Beesley, also an actor, was found unresponsive by his wife in the silver Mercedes in the garage of the home the couple shared.

The emergency services were called to the property in Camerton, near Bath, on the afternoon of November 30 last year.

Paramedics tried to revive Mr Beesley, who played Buxton in ITV's Victoria, but he was pronounced dead at the scene at 6.03pm that day, Avon Coroner's Court heard.

In a statement read to the hearing, 48-year-old Ms Jensen said she came home, found her husband and called the authorities.