It is a list of men and women who have defied time in their contributions to British culture, sport and industry.

The Queen’s Birthday Honours list, published today, includes Russell T. Davies, the man who revived the fortunes of Doctor Who.

There is also recognition for an even more persistent timelord of British television: Des O’Connor, 76, the talk-show host, singer and latter-day presenter of the Channel 4 show Countdown.

O’Connor, whose first job was as a complaints clerk in a boot factory, was given his first television show in 1963, the same year that Doctor Who was first broadcast on the BBC. “I was born in the East End of London to a working-class family,” he said yesterday, upon learning that he was to be appointed CBE. “I just wish Mum and Dad were here to see it . . . They would have been elated.”

From The Times Archive: Birthday Honours 1914

Lord Kitchener an earl

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He said that he considered the award to be “a great plus”, particularly considering that “I haven’t done a day’s work in my life”.

June Brown, another almost eternal presence on the small screen, is appointed MBE for playing the sanctimonious and judgmental Dot Cotton on the BBC soap EastEnders, as well as for her charity work.

Paul O’Grady, who once made his living as the drag queen Lily Savage, and has latterly carved out a career as a successful daytime television host, also appears on the honours list. It is his birthday today, too.

O’Grady said that the last time he met the Queen he was “blowing a trumpet with my head between my legs at the Royal Variety [Performance]”. Despite this, he added: “She was very nice.”

The writer and comedian Victoria Wood, the celebrated caricaturist Gerald Scarfe and the prolific crime writer Lynda La Plante, are all appointed CBE.

Joan Bakewell, one of the first women to carve a career in radio and television — only to be dubbed, to her dismay, “the thinking man’s crumpet” — becomes a Dame. Michael Nyman, the composer who wrote the score for the award-winning film The Piano, is appointed CBE.

Sportsmen with an equally impressive longevity have also been recognised. The boxer Joe Calzaghe, who recently passed the ten-year mark as the WBO super-middleweight champion, is appointed CBE.

Lawrence Dallaglio, the World Cup winner and colossus of the England rugby union team, who retired last month at the age of 35, is appointed OBE. Bill Beaumont, another former England captain, and afterwards a team captain on the television show A Question of Sport is appointed CBE. Kelly Smith, the Arsenal and England footballer, is appointed MBE.

Captains of industry are recognised too. Clara Furse, the first female chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, becomes a Dame for her success in fending off a series of hostile takeover approaches last year. Barbara Stocking, head of the charity Oxfam, becomes a Dame for her leadership in international development.

Paul Stephenson, the Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, is knighted, a sign that he is in line to replace Sir Ian Blair as the next London police chief.

The Prime Minister had requested that a significant majority of the 959 honours awarded should go to “local heroes” — and in response hundreds of candidates were selected for their work in schools, hospitals and the voluntary sector. The ability to defy time did not always guarantee an honour in this year’s list. Bruce Forsyth, whose return to prime-time television has astonished and delighted Saturday evening audiences, was not awarded a knighthood, despite a petition requesting that he become Sir Bruce.

“I was born in the East End of London to a working class family and they [my parents] would have been elated. It’s a great plus . . . I haven’t done a day’s work in my life” Des O’Connor, entertainer, CBE

“I’m delighted to accept, and I hope it does the whole industry a bit of good, for the writing of television drama to be recognised” Russell T. Davies, executive producer of Doctor Who, OBE

“What have I done to deserve it? I’ve just sat there night after night banging out telly” Paul O’Grady, entertainer, MBE

“I believe this honour recognises the vital role that the London Stock Exchange plays within the City of London and the enormous strides we have made in making London the world’s capital market.” Clara Furse, chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, DBE

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