It is with great sadness that we have learnt of the death of legendary actress Margaret John.

The Welsh actress died in her home town of Swansea after a short illness, at the age of 84.

Boosh fans will recognise her as the evil Nanatoo, the most deadly demon of all, summoned by Vince & Howard in the episode Nanageddon.

That role was just one of many she has made her own in a long and varied career.  She appeared in two very different eras of Doctor Who – a 1968 Patrick Troughton story and a 2006 David Tennant one: the latter of which even earning her an action figure!  Other television appearances included Dixon Of Dock Green, Being Human, Z-Cars, Coronation Street, Framed and most recently the recurring role of Doris in Gavin And Stacey alongside Julia Davis.

On film, the actress appeared in the likes of The Baker and Run Fatboy Run (the latter in a memorable scene featuring David Walliams and Simon Pegg), as well as the film A Bit Of Tom Jones which also featured Matt Berry.  John also had critically acclaimed runs on stage in Calendar Girls and The Vagina Monologues.  She had recently been awarded the Bafta Cymru Lifetime Achievement Award, and completed filming her final role in new American show Game Of Thrones.

Her Gavin And Stacey co-stars have led the way with tributes on the BBC News page.  BBC One Wales will show a special tribute program, Margaret John: National Treasure on Sunday, February 6th at 10pm, which will be available on iPlayer for 7 days afterwards.

RIP, Nanatoo…