Susan Sheridan: Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Noddy actress dies aged 68

Voiced Trillian in the original cast of Douglas Adams' classic, as well as a range of beloved children's TV characters

Susan Sheridan voiced many beloved children's TV characters (YouTube)

Susan Sheridan, the actress who starred as Trillian in the original radio production of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, has died aged 68.

Current The Archers radio actor Tim Bentinck wrote on Twitter this morning that Sheridan, who also worked as a vocal coach, had died.

"A wonderful, brave, kind person, and a brilliant actress," he said in tribute. "Miss you x".

Fellow actress Susan Penhaligon also tweeted, saying Sheridan had "died peacefully at home". "We'll miss your amazing spirit and giggles Sue," she said.

Born in Newcastle, Sheridan received her acting breakthrough with the part of Trillian in the 1978 Hitchhiker's Guide series, with whom the dressing gown-wearing lead character Arthur Dent falls in love.

She starred alongside John Hurt in the 1985 Disney film Black Cauldron, voiced a number of children's characters including the title characters of the BBC's Noddy's Toyland Adventures and the 1990 TV series Moomin.

In 2011, Sheridan appeared at London's Southwark Playhouse in an adaptation of the Japanese animation Howl's Moving Castle.

She is survived by her husband, the musician Max Brittain, and her three daughters.