The 200-seat theatre has hosted figures from Georgian star Edmund Kean to Dame Sybil Thorndike, Joyce Grenfell and Alan Bennett.

BBC: Appeal to save Richmond's historic Georgian Theatre Royal

The collector's item stamps featuring caricatures of Les Dawson, Tommy Cooper, Eric Morecambe, Joyce Grenfell and Peter Cook go on sale on Thursday.

BBC: Comic genius is licked

Her big break came in 1947, when she went to give a friend moral support at an audition, only to be dragged onto the stage herself, where she performed for music hall star Joyce Grenfell.

BBC: Daphne Oxenford