Allo Allo's Vicki Michelle made an MBE

Allo Allo's Vicki Michelle made an MBE
Allo Allo's Vicki Michelle made an MBE (Image credit: PA)

Former Allo Allo star Vicki Michelle has been presented with an MBE for her charity work. The 59-year-old actress has been involved with a host of good causes for many years from being patron of the Dream Factory, which grants 'wishes' to terminally ill youngsters, to being president of the Essex Region of The Lady Taverners, She said: "This is an honour because you don't do charity work to get recognised, you do it because you're helping people. "I think it's important to give something back. That's what I've always done. I didn't expect to get rewarded for it, but it's fantastic." Tamara Mellon, founder and chief creative officer of Jimmy Choo - the luxury shoe brand - received an OBE for services to the fashion industry. Dressed in a figure-hugging black polka dot Dolce e Gabbana dress and wearing stiletto heeled shoes made by her company, the businesswoman, famed for her appearances in the gossip columns, said she was delighted. "Some of the younger royals do wear Jimmy Choo," she said. "I founded the business in 1996 and we became so successful because we have innovative design and quality. "It may be 15 years since I started the business, but it still feels like the beginning." Brian Cox, who first found fame as the keyboard player with 1990s pop group D:Ream before returning to his academic studies, received an OBE for services to science. Since leaving pop stardom behind he has become a popular presenter of factual programmes and is a professor of particle physics at the University of Manchester.

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.