Martin Freeman said late Boys from the Blackstuff star Bernard Hill was 'playful man with a twinkle in his eye' as he talks of the honour of acting alongside him in his last role

Bernard Hill was a 'playful man with a twinkle in his eye', Martin Freeman has said.

The late Boys from the Blackstuff star was 'Liverpool royalty' and a 'gentle, kind' man, he told the One show.

Reflecting on his working relationship with Hill, Freeman said: 'It was delightful, it was really lovely. I think, you know, when he came on set he's sort of, you know, he was from Manchester but he was Liverpool royalty, having played Yosser Hughes in Boys from the Blackstuff like 40 years ago. 

'He was loved in that city. And for us and the cast and crew, he was a really gentle kind, sort of playful man with a twinkle in his eye. 

Hill's last performance on TV drama The Responder was aired on May 5, the same day he died.

He played Yosser Hughes, a working class Liverpudlian in The Black Stuff and its sequel, Boys from the Blackstuff, in 1982. 

Freeman said that while it was 'devastating' the Lord of the Rings actor wasn't there to see the episode, he was glad his last piece was something he 'cared about'.

He said: 'And I loved working with him, it felt like a real… Well, now, of course, it's his last performance so I mean for us, it's devastating he's not here to see, to sort of reap the rewards of what he did because what he did is so good. 

'But I'm glad that his last thing was something he cared about and loved so much. We were very lucky to have him.' 

Talking about the Responder's latest series which airs tonight, Freeman's co-star Adelayo Adelayo said their characters had a 'kindred spirit' in the new series.

She said: 'I think they realise that they’re friends. And I don’t feel like either of them have many friends. And there’s kind of, I guess, the feeling of a kindred spirit between them. 

'And I guess their friendship isn’t really based on the normal principles of friendship but there’s something about the fact that know each other, or they’ve told each other things that probably nobody else in the world knows about the other.'