Dame Sheila Hancock said she still talks to her late husband, the actor John Thaw, when she feels lonely and described solitude as "terribly difficult to deal with," in an essay published in Prospect magazine.
Thaw, best known for his role in Inspector Morse, died in 2002 at age 60 after a diagnosis of oesophageal cancer. Hancock, 92, who was married to Thaw for 28 years, said friends and family provide comfort but "eventually go home," leaving her to face a profound personal loss.
In the essay, Hancock wrote that she sometimes speaks aloud to Thaw, particularly when watching the news on Channel 4, imagining shared complaints about politicians and human behaviour. "I still talk out loud to my long-departed husband, especially when I watch the news on Channel 4, but our imagined rant about politicians and human idiocy has grown fainter over the years," she wrote.
She described mornings when she can feel "overwhelmed by depression at the thought of a solitary day ahead" and urged herself to get up and be active rather than remain in bed, warning that inaction can deepen despair "into the Slough of Despond." Hancock said she has noticed people queuing at staffed supermarket checkouts, which she thinks may in part be an attempt by some customers to find human company for a few minutes.
Hancock said she had considered getting a cat for company but had resisted because she worried the animal might outlive her. The actress, who was awarded a damehood in 2021, has had a career spanning seven decades with roles in productions including Carry On Cleo, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and Edie, and more recently in The Sixth Commandment.
Hancock has previously spoken about the difficulties in her marriage to Thaw, saying he struggled with depression and alcoholism and that their relationship could be "tempestuous." She described the bond as "an obsessive love" and acknowledged the unpredictability of his moods: "When he was wonderful he was absolutely wonderful, and when he was vile he was vile." The couple each brought children from earlier relationships and had one daughter together, Joanna, born in 1974.
The essay offers a first-person account of ageing, bereavement and the small routines and choices that can shape everyday life after loss. Hancock’s reflections also underscore a wider public conversation about loneliness among older adults and how people seek connection in a changing social landscape.