Family became the cornerstone of Thaw's life. His second child - and first with Hancock, their daughter Joanna - was born in 1975. John liked nothing more than to spend what spare time he had with ...

"John was as he has been throughout his illness ... as Monsignor Renard and one-off dramas like Buried Treasure. Thaw's family has been touched by cancer a number of times.

Sweeney co-stars John Thaw and Dennis Waterman had a real-life street brawl - on Christmas Day. Dame Sheila Hancock, 91, revealed how Thaw - who played DI Jack Regan - and Waterman, who played ...