Ah well, there goes another one. The death of Bill Pertwee, aka ARP Warden Hodges from Dad's Army has died, aged 86. Cue tributes, trending on Twitter and Tweets which are variations on the theme of his light being finally put out in honour of his famous "Put that light out!" catchphrase.

I guess the only survivors from the main Dad's Army team now are Ian Lavender, aka Pike, who at 67, really is old enough to be in the Home Guard now. He's still going strong though and is due to make his Edinburgh Fringe debut this summer in The Shawshank Redemption at the Assembly Rooms.

There's also Frank Williams, 81, who popped up as the Reverend Timothy Farthing, but as far as main characters go that's about it. Writer Jimmy Perry, however, is still with us at 89, and his co-writer David Croft only died a couple of years ago.

Perry's longevity, compared to numerous departed comedy legends, confirms my theory that writers have happier and lengthier lives than performers. Ray Galton, 82, and Alan Simpson, 83, are still around while all biggest stars they wrote for, from Harry H Corbett to Hancock and Sid James are long gone. Jeremy Lloyd, 82, who worked with David Croft on Are You Being Served? (and was married to Joanna Lumley, lucky lad) is still around. Clive Dunn did live to 92 and Arnold Ridley made it to 88, but as far as I know they were hardly spending their days working hard on movie sets and his nights partying hard down at Stringfellows. 

I guess the longevity of these writers and of Bill Pertwee suggests that if you want to live to a ripe old age don't be a star. Be a writer or a supporting actor. While those in the spotlight face the stress of being in the public eye, writers can usually keep a low profile. They are like drummers rather than lead guitarists. Absolutely vital cogs but rarely in the spotlight. What's that old gag about the Hollywood casting couch? "Did you hear the one about the dumb blonde actress? She went to bed with the writer."