“I Wanted to Leave While It Was Glorious”: Dame Patricia Routledge Reveals the Real Reason She Walked Away from Keeping Up Appearances

In a rare and poignant interview aired on BBC Four this week, Dame Patricia Routledge, the legendary actress behind one of Britain’s most iconic comedy characters, opened up about the moment she made a bold decision — to walk away from Keeping Up Appearances at the height of its success. It was a move that surprised fans, frustrated BBC executives, and, in her own words, allowed her to leave the stage with dignity, not decline.

In Dame Patricia Routledge Remembers… Keeping Up Appearances, the now 96-year-old actress revisits the series that defined an era and cemented her place as one of the most cherished performers in British television history. For five dazzling years, from 1990 to 1995, Routledge portrayed Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced “Bouquet,” of course) — the insufferably posh, status-obsessed housewife who turned everyday middle-class suburban life into a comedic battlefield.

And yet, despite the show’s immense popularity — attracting millions of viewers weekly and acclaim across generations and continents — Routledge made the brave and calculated choice to step away. Why?

“I brought it to an end,” she says plainly in the BBC Four special, her tone as composed as Hyacinth’s best china. “Which, of course, the BBC didn’t care for very much.”

“I Knew It Was Time”

Routledge’s explanation is both artistic and deeply personal. “I thought the writer was beginning to recycle old ideas,” she confessed. “And also, remembering the glorious Ronnie Barker — he always stopped when he was at the height of something. He left with people saying, ‘Oh, aren’t you doing any more?’ rather than people saying, ‘Is that still on?’”

It’s a lesson in knowing your moment. Routledge’s instincts told her that the character, while beloved, had run her course — and she feared the show would fall into formula rather than flourish.

“That’s the place to be, really,” she said, “and I had other adventures to explore. I’m an actress, and I wanted to take on the stories of other people.”

That hunger for new creative ground has always defined Routledge’s career, which has spanned the grand stages of the West End and Broadway to some of the most acclaimed TV dramas of the past fifty years. But it was Hyacinth — with her florals, her phone voice, and her terrifyingly polite “candles and finger food” — who became an immortal character in the pantheon of British comedy.

“I Knew That Woman”

In the special, Routledge recalls the exact moment Hyacinth Bucket first came into her life. It was 1 a.m. when she casually picked up the script sent by the BBC. She couldn’t put it down.

“I read straight through,” she said, smiling at the memory. “And Hyacinth leapt off the page. I knew that woman. I knew several of that woman,” she added with a knowing chuckle.

The casting of Clive Swift as her on-screen husband Richard sealed the deal. “When the producer mentioned Clive Swift, I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, how wonderful. Now we really are in business.’”

Their on-screen chemistry became the comic heartbeat of the show. Richard — weary but loving, patient to the point of sainthood — served as the perfect foil to Hyacinth’s high-society delusions. His quiet endurance of her antics became one of the show’s most enduring delights.

Their dynamic was expertly complemented by the other unforgettable characters: Judy Cornwell as Daisy, Hyacinth’s scruffy but sweet-natured sister; Geoffrey Hughes as Onslow, the beer-drinking, vest-wearing slacker whose grunts often said more than dialogue ever could; and a rotating cast of horrified neighbours and baffled clergy.

Together, they built a sitcom empire that didn’t just reflect British society — it gently, hilariously mocked it.

Royal Approval, Global Praise

Even long after its final episode aired, Keeping Up Appearances has never left the public consciousness. It has been syndicated across the globe, translated into multiple languages, and remains a staple of nostalgia channels and BBC reruns. Its international success, Routledge notes, has often surprised her — as has the calibre of its fans.

“We were one of the Queen Mother’s favourite sitcoms, which was lovely,” she said in a previous documentary. “And the Queen enjoyed it, too. Hyacinth would have been flattered beyond words — and why not?”

Even Pope Benedict XVI, according to Routledge, was reportedly a fan of the show during his time as Cardinal. It’s not hard to imagine Hyacinth dreaming of Vatican approval for one of her candlelight suppers.

A Career Beyond the Bouquet

Though Hyacinth may be the role most immediately associated with Routledge, it is by no means the extent of her remarkable career. Following her departure from Keeping Up Appearances, she took on a very different kind of role — that of amateur detective Hetty Wainthropp in Hetty Wainthropp Investigates. The BBC drama ran from 1996 to 1998 and allowed Routledge to bring her sharp intellect and emotional nuance to the forefront in a more dramatic setting.

Her return to the theatre — her first artistic home — saw her grace stages across the UK, including a celebrated two-year run as the formidable Lady Bracknell in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest from 1999 to 2001. It was a performance that reinforced her status not just as a comedic actress, but as a master of classic theatre.

Now, in her late 90s, Dame Patricia Routledge remains as articulate, vibrant, and thoughtful as ever. The BBC Four special is a testament to a woman who has not only made millions laugh but also shaped the standards for when — and how — to take a graceful final bow.

Leaving While the Applause Still Echoes

What makes Dame Patricia Routledge’s decision to end Keeping Up Appearances so remarkable is its sheer rarity in the entertainment world. Most shows are dragged to their end by waning ratings or exhausted scripts. But Routledge, ever the professional, ensured her exit happened on her own terms — at a moment of triumph, not fatigue.

Her departure wasn’t an escape — it was an elegant evolution. A signal that she valued the integrity of her work more than the comfort of familiarity.

And that, perhaps, is what Hyacinth Bucket — in all her desperate striving and unintentional hilarity — never quite understood. While Hyacinth longed for status, Dame Patricia simply wanted substance. And she found it, not in accolades or applause, but in the continued pursuit of new stories, new characters, and new creative challenges.

Her legacy, like her characters, endures. And as fans revisit Keeping Up Appearances on BBC iPlayer, many will once again fall under the spell of a woman who made pretension laughable, the mundane magical, and middle-class mishaps into comedy gold.

As Dame Patricia herself might say — in the most proper, polished, and Hyacinth-esque tone — “It was my pleasure entirely.”

📺 Dame Patricia Routledge Remembers… Keeping Up Appearances is now available to stream on BBC iPlayer.