A co-writer of popular TV political comedies died on the evening of Sunday (21 August). Sir Anthony Jay passed away with his family and wife present, according to his representative.

Jay scripted the BBC series Yes Minister alongside Jonathan Lynn, which starred Sir Nigel Hawthorne and Paul Eddington. The show ran for three series, between 1980 and 1984 and followed the career of MP James Hacker, minister for administrative affairs, and his ongoing run-ins with Machiavellian Whitehall civil servant Sir Humphrey Appleby (played by Hawthorne).

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His personal experiences as a TV producer brought a realism to the TV shows. "You saw a lot of politicians were just puppets," he told the Irish Times in 2013. "I realised these compromises, driven by conflicts between ministers and permanent secretaries, had huge comic potential."

Jay started his career in the current affairs and documentary department at the BBC and became the editor of current affairs programme Tonight in 1962.

He wrote also wrote The Householder's Guide to Community Defence Against Bureaucratic Aggression and founded the management and sales training film company Video Arts alongside John Cleese and two colleagues in 1972.

The writer became an outspoken critic of the BBC in his later years, recommending that the broadcaster be controversially cut down to just BBC One, Radio 4 and a news department in a report by the centre-right thinktank, the Centre for Policy Studies in 2008.

Jay also condemned the BBC for being "biased" on climate change, and accused staff of being "anti-industry" and "anti-monarchy". He also criticised how the opinions of BBC staff "were at odds with the majority of the audience and the electorate" in an article he wrote for the Telegraph.

He was recognised for his work in public relations, for which he was created a Knight Bachelor in 1988. He also wrote the BBC TV documentaries Royal Family and Elizabeth R: A Year in the Life of the Queen, for which he was appointed a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) for personal services to the Royal Family.