“THE nation feels they have lost a friend” – that’s how Hampshire TV star Easther Rantzen described the death of her friend, broadcasting legend Sir Terry Wogan.

Esther was one of many paying tribute to the radio and television presenter who has died from cancer aged 77.

Esther, who has a home in the New Forest, told how she had worked with Sir Terry on the first Children in Need fundraiser and many times over the years since she first met him in the 1960s.

The pair even provided the sound effects together as guests for the 10,000th episode of The Archers radio drama in 1989.

She recalled how the autocue had failed on the first Children in Need broadcast the moment it went live, but said “it was fine because nothing would shake Terry”.

“He was a unique talent,” she said.

“It was just a natural thing for him to respond wittily to the world around us so whether it was Dallas or BBC bosses, it became a joke we shared with him that he created.

“He was a really skilled interviewer actually but it looked so easy.

“We know that Eurovision will never be the same without him.”

She said Sir Terry made whatever he was working on a piece of first class entertainment and people tuned in for him.

“When he signed off his daily Radio 2 programme he said thank you for being a friend and I think for all the people who wrote to him and took part in his shows it was like a friendship, and I think he played a really important part in people’s lives.

“I feel I’ve lost a friend but I think the nation feels they have lost a friend.”

Born in Limerick, Sir Terry moved to the BBC as a presenter in the mid 1960s.

Over the years he fronted numerous television and radio shows including Blankety Blank, Auntie’s Bloomers and chat show Wogan.

He became known for his stinging commentary of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Sir Terry was one of the founders of Children in Need and hosted the telethon for more than 20 years.

He ended his BBC Radio 2 breakfast show after 27 years in 2009 but continued working.

Sir Terry made a number of visits to Hampshire.

Former Daily Echo reporter Duncan Eaton recalled a flying visit by Sir Terry in 1974 to the Carrefour Hypermarket in Chandler’s Ford, now Asda.

“Terry had just become a big name on the radio air waves and after his helicopter touched down in the car park he was mobbed by fans,” he said.

“I did a little interview with him.

“He was charming and had a razor-sharp wit. He even offered to give the photographer and I a lift in his helicopter back to our office.”

In 1982 he was at Beaulieu Motor Museum to broadcast his live radio show, where he drove a car with the late Lord Montagu.