Tom Owen, 50, will play the long-lost son of Bill's character Compo in the programme's 22nd series, which will be shown on BBC One next year.

He said: "It's a great honour and privilege to follow my father into such an established and well-loved programme and to work with such a wonderful cast."

The way it was: Bill Owen (centre) with his colleagues

Bill died on 12 July after suffering from cancer, midway through work on the new series.

Writer Roy Clarke has now reworked the remaining programmes to show how Compo knew he was ill, but kept it a secret from his friends Clegg and Truly - played by Peter Sallis and Frank Thornton.

It emerges Compo wrote to the son he had never met - his wife left him shortly after they married - but Tom Simmonite, who in contrast to his Yorkshireman father is a southerner, arrives too late to attend the funeral.

Tom, who is described by Clarke as "an old age, new age traveller", stays in Holmfirth to see if there is any money in Compo's will to pay for a new exhaust for his bus.

Fans mourning Bill Owen in Holmfirth

Tom Owen has been an actor since his teens and now runs his own production outfit. His film roles include a part in Goodbye Mr Chips alongside Peter O'Toole and Michael Redgrave.

Roy Clarke said he was inspired to ask Tom to join the cast after seeing a photograph of him in a newspaper after Bill's death.

"His resemblance to Bill is uncanny - just one look at his picture and the idea came to me of writing Compo's son into the series," he explained.

Colleague Peter Thornton said: "I'm sure Bill is sitting up there quite delighted at the way things have developed."

Compo, with his woolly hat and wellington boots, became one of British television's most popular characters after Bill Owen took the part in 1973.