Tributes pour in as Kes producer Tony Garnett dies aged 83

Mr Garnett died at approximately midday on January 12 from a short illness, his production company World Productions announced on Twitter.

Tributes have been pouring in for the Birmingham-born TV and film producer, who produced Ken Loach’s Cathy Come Home and Kes, as well as TV series This Life.

Jed Mercurio, Line of Duty creator said he was "an inspirational figure who'll be greatly missed".

He wrote on Twitter: "Tony was instrumental in giving me my break into TV when I was a junior hospital doctor who'd never written anything.

"They don't make 'em like him any more."

Journalist, film-maker and author Paul Mason wrote: “Tony Garnett was a genius in the art of TV and Film production.”

Historian and journalist Maggie Brown called Mr Garnett a ‘legend’, adding: “Tony was a wonderful serious man.

“I encouraged him in 2013 to write his beautiful honest memoir,The Day The Music Died about his tragic loss of parents in Birmingham. And then Kathy Come Home. Legend.”

Born in Birmingham in 1936, Mr Garnett began his career on screen in 1960s TV shows including Emergency Ward 10 and Z Cars.

Mr Garnett later collaborated with director Ken Loach to produce the 1969 film Kes, based on the book a kestrel for a knave, written by Barry Hines.

During the 1990s he became chairman of World Productions, overseeing productions such as Between the Lines and This Life.