When acting legend Sir Tony Robinson received an honorary degree from Aberdeen University last year he was overjoyed at the special recognition.
The star who brought history and archaeology into the living rooms of the nation was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters during a ceremony at the ancient campus.
Sir Tony, best known as Baldrick from the hit TV series Blackadder, said: “This is one of the great universities, and to be recognised for some of the work I’ve done is an enormous honour.”
So it should perhaps come as no surprise that the entertainer was keen to make the occasion extra special for this year’s graduates yesterday.
Taking part in the video celebration, Sir Tony said: “Congratulations for being graduates of one of the UK’s great universities.
“I know you’ve got a lot of problems ahead with jobs and the economy and the environment and Covid.
“But do yourselves a favour, just sit down for a couple of days, pat yourselves on the back and say to yourselves, ‘I did a great job’. Because you did.”
Sir Tony told the Press and Journal how the north-east has a special place in his heart as he received the award last June.
He said: “My dad was stationed here throughout the war, in the RAF patching up Spitfires and Hurricanes.
“He was part of the Canadian forces’ jazz band and he toured all the pubs and village halls of Aberdeenshire.
“When the war was over, he had developed all these relationships which meant that we came back here year after year after year.
“So the north-east of Scotland is a place very dear to my heart.”
Another TV star with strong ties to the north-east, Laura Main, also wished the graduates well yesterday.
Prior to finding fame in BBC drama Call The Midwife, the Granite City actress studied at Aberdeen University. She graduated with a History of Art degree in 1998.
Speaking to the students who took their lessons in the same historic halls where she spent her further education, she urged them all to savour the moment.
Ms Main said: “From one graduate of the University of Aberdeen to another, many, many congratulations.
“It’s a day to be really proud of yourselves.
“I know you won’t have been celebrating in quite the way you would have imagined after all the hard work that you’ve put into this moment, but I promise you, no matter how much time passes, you will always feel incredibly proud of your achievement. Well done and congratulations.”
Dame Sue Black picked up her BSc degree in Anatomy and Physiology in 1982.
It was the first step on her path to becoming one of the nation’s most prominent forensic anthropologists, anatomists and academics.
She offered the students a pragmatic view.
Dame Sue said: “University is just the end of one point on your career, on your life.
“It’s the next step that’s important – what do you do with that degree? Where you go with it, how you make the most out of it.
“All I can say to you is huge congratulations on your achievement.”
In addition to her degree, the scientist got a PhD from the university in 1986 for her thesis on Identification from the Human Skeleton.
From 2005 to 2018, Dame Sue was professor of anatomy and forensic anthropology at Dundee University and she is the current president of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.
Other notable figures who yesterday’s graduates can now list themselves in the same company as include author Ali Smith, former chancellor of the exchequer Alastair Darling and oil tycoon Sir Ian Wood.
