Michael Sleggs: This Country star honoured in final series of show

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Michael Sleggs

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Michael Sleggs was well-known in his hometown of Cirencester

The final series of the BBC Three hit comedy This Country will honour actor Michael Sleggs after his death in July.

He played the character Michael “Slugs” Slugette, in the show set in a fictional unnamed Cotswolds town.

The show’s creators, siblings Daisy May and Charlie Cooper, were friends of Sleggs before giving him a role in the show and have named the first episode of the series A Letter From Slugs.

Mr Cooper said: “He totally embodied the whole spirit of the show.”

They spoke at a screening of This Country in their home town of Cirencester about how it felt to film the third series without their friend.

‘Wicked sense of humour’

The 33-year-old was already well-known in Cirencester but he found wider fame on the Bafta-winning comedy.

Filmed in and around Northleach in Gloucestershire, This Country centres on the lives of cousins Kerry and Lee “Kurtan” Mucklowe – played by Daisy May and Charlie – and the characters’ friends and family.

The pair said they regarded Michael as an “integral part of the show”.

“Michael was always a kind of misfit in Cirencester,” said Daisy May. “He was plagued with health problems, but he had a wicked sense of humour.

“He was a pain in the arse a lot of the time, but we just adored him.”

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Nick Robinson

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Daisy May and Charlie Cooper held a screening of the show in Cirencester

“It was so difficult. I think we always wanted to include him and I know he wanted to be included,” Charlie said.

“It was really tough filming those scenes but we had to be truthful to that character and the storyline.

“I genuinely don’t think this show would have been half as popular or successful if it hadn’t been for Michael.”

This Country starts on Monday 17 February.

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