TV great Ronnie Corbett died on March 31, 2016, aged 85. This interview with Celia Walden was conducted during an emotional time for Corbett, when he was returning to TV after 17 years and mourning the sudden loss one of his oldest friends, David Frost. It was first published in The Telegraph in September 2013.

"Is this tea or coffee?” asks Ronnie Corbett, peering through his horn-rimmed Specsavers glasses at the murky liquid in his cup. “I can’t tell.” Without waiting for a response, the 82-year-old comedian empties one sachet of sugar and one sachet of sweetener into this unidentifiable brew, takes a sip and frowns. “I think it’s a mixture of tea and coffee. But it’s warm, isn’t it?”

It’s the kind of relentlessly upbeat reaction one would expect from a man whose joyous brand of humour as one half of The Two Ronnies has been part of our national comic identity for over 50 years. Age and a much-mourned absence from our TV screens has done nothing to diminish Corbett’s effect on the public. As he trots into Addington Palace – a country club near his Surrey home – in a canary-yellow windbreaker, every face colours with pleasure. “I do find the 'national treasure’ thing very touching,” Corbett admits, once safely ensconced in a Queen Ann style armchair, the windbreaker swapped for one of his trademark tartan jackets (“Hunting Stewart of Appin, this one’s called – or 'Little Ron of Midlothian’ as I like to call it”). “Actually, it brings a tear to my eye when people call me that.”