Upstairs, Downstairs actress Nicola Pagett has died.

She was aged 75.

Ms Pagett played Elizabeth Bellamy – the headstrong and defiant daughter of Lord and Lady Bellamy – in the 1970s “posh” soap opera.

Upstairs, Downstairs was a format forerunner to Downton Abbey.

It won four Emmys in its heyday.

Ms Pagett was also a renowned stage actress, particularly in Harold Pinter plays.

The star was diagnosed only three weeks with a brain tumour.

Her daughter Eve Swannell said she died “very peacefully”.

Ms Swannell added:

“It was extremely sudden.

“I was by her side”.