Ricky Gervais has paid tribute to his “beautiful” on-screen dog who featured in his TV show After Life.

The British comedian and actor said Vislor Antilly, also known as Anti, was a “beautiful soul” and they “hit it off straight away”.

Gervais said the German shepherd helped make After Life his “favourite filming experience of all time” and he was glad he told her “a hundred times a day that she was a very good girl”.

Antilly was Brandy the Dog in all 18 episodes of the Netflix comedy about local newspaper reporter Tony, played by Gervais, who is dealing with his wife’s death.

In the show, which ran for three seasons from 2019 to 2022, Tony is often seen walking Brandy, who stops him from taking his own life.

A statement on the Instagram account of Antilly the Wonder Hound read: “Vislor Antilly, After Life’s Brandy, has sadly passed away. We already miss her terribly. Sleep well xxx.”

She died peacefully at her home in Oxfordshire at the age of 13.

‘Such sad news’

Reacting to the death, Gervais said: “This is such sad news. Anti was a beautiful soul.”

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The canine also featured in Hollywood movies including Tom Cruise’s Edge Of Tomorrow, Michael Fassbender’s Trespass Against Us and George Clooney’s The Midnight Sky.

And she was in TV shows such as The Capture, Doc Martin, Britain’s Got More Talent, and 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown.

Her final stunt on camera was released in July last year in the Midsomer Murders episode The Debt Of Lies, where she played a retired police dog who detains the murderer before retiring.

After that, Antilly retired from film and television.

‘Animal actor and stunt performer’

Born in April 2011 in Herefordshire, at the home of West Bromwich-based Vislor Dog Training Centre, Antilly was raised by trainers Travis and Ashley Foster, who appeared in Sir Christopher Nolan’s Batman: The Dark Knight. She visited them on set when she was 10 weeks old.

The biography on her Instagram account read: “Vislor Antilly is an animal actor, stunt performer and charity advocate. She played Brandy in After Life by Ricky Gervais and has a very silly tummy.”

Dame Judi Dench has revealed she can no longer leave her house alone due to her deteriorating eyesight.

The 90-year-old actress has macular degeneration, a condition which leads to a gradual loss of vision.

In a new interview on Trinny Woodall’s Fearless podcast, Dame Judi says “somebody will always be with me” when she leaves the house.

“I have to [have someone] now because I can’t see,” she continues. “And I will walk into something or fall over.”

Reflecting on how she used to feel about attending events alone, Dame Judi said she was “no good at that at all”.

“And fortunately, I don’t have to be [alone] now because I pretend now to have no eyesight,” she laughs.

In July 2023, Dame Judi said she was determined to work “as much as I can” despite her health issues.

“I mean, I can’t see on a film set anymore,” she told The Mirror’s Notebook magazine. “And I can’t see to read. So I can’t see much. But, you know, you just deal with it. Get on.”

Dame Judi’s acting career began in the 1950s when she made her stage debut in a production of Hamlet at London’s Old Vic theatre.

In the decades since, she’s conquered the worlds of TV and film, winning an Oscar for her role in the 1998 movie Shakespeare In Love and, more recently, playing the head of MI6, M, alongside Daniel Craig’s James Bond.

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Dame Judi has also cemented herself as one of the UK’s best stage actresses, winning a string of Olivier awards for starring roles in plays including The Winter’s Tale and Macbeth.

Her most recent screen credit was in 2022, for a small role in Christmas film Spirited. She has continued to make public appearances and last October, she was a speaker at the Cheltenham Literary Festival.

Sting has cancelled an awards ceremony performance and several shows at short notice this week, on the advice of his doctor.

An announcement on the British singer’s Instagram page said the decision had been made “due to illness” but did not include any more details.

Sting, 73, was due to perform at the Bass Magazine Awards in California, where he is set to be honoured with a lifetime achievement award, on Thursday.

He has also postponed shows in Phoenix, Arizona, and Wheatland, California, as well as a performance at a record label’s anniversary concert, which were all due to take place later this week.

“On advisement from his doctor, due to illness, it is with sincere regret that Sting must cancel his appearance at the Bass Magazine Awards this Thursday and postpone his STING 3.0 concerts,” the statement said.

The Phoenix show, originally scheduled for 24 January, has been moved to 1 June, while the 26 January Wheatland show has been pushed back to 28 May.

“Fans should retain their tickets for the postponed shows, as they will be honoured on the new dates,” the statement said.

“Sting sincerely apologises for any inconvenience and extends his gratitude to the fans for their understanding.”

The Cherrytree Music Company’s 20th anniversary event, also set to feature Shaggy and other artists, will now take place on 29 May.

Sting, whose real name is Gordon Sumner, rose to fame as frontman of The Police in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with hits including Roxanne, Message In A Bottle, Don’t Stand So Close To Me, and Every Breath You Take.

His success continued as a solo artist, with three number one albums in the UK chart and three top 10 singles – All For Love (with Bryan Adams and Sir Rod Stewart), When We Dance, and Rise And Fall (with Craig David) – as well as other hits including Englishman In New York, and If I Ever Lose My Faith In You.

In 2022, he became the latest in a list of high-profile artists, including Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan, who have sold their music rights, announcing that his back catalogue of solo material and songs he wrote for The Police had been acquired by Universal Music Publishing Group.