Very sorry to hear this. Loved The Likely Lads very much, but it's the sequel series, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads that I really like. Every time I here that theme song I'm almost reduced to tears. There's something about it that almost mirrors my own young life growing up in the 60s and 70s. I had a very similar relationship with a best friend in those days.
Richard Lester tells a story about RB's role in 'The Three Musketeers' as Richelieu's secretary. He had one very funny scene where he had to read a spy's letter to Richelieu in bed. His narration was played over the muted voices of Mme. Bonacieu (Raquel Welsh) and the Queen (Geraldine Chaplin), as they spewed a string of evil adjectives about the cardinal. The typical Lester visual joke lay in that when the ladies' lips stopped moving, Rodney continued the reported string of invective with his own embellishments.
He arrived at the hotel in Spain and waited for the taxi to take him to the set, but it didn't arrive. Back on location, the whole crew waited all day and lost half a day's shooting, wondering where he was. It turned out that the Spanish staff at the hotel kept paging 'Taxi for Mr. Beeweez' all day. He didn't twig.
