Why Andre Braugher’s passing is so significant

I had a little cry this morning.

I woke up to the news that Andre Braugher, the actor who starred in Homicide: Life on the Street, Glory and, most notably for me, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, had passed away at the age of 61. I never met Andre, but because of his portrayal of Captain Raymond Holt in the New York-based comedy show, he almost felt like family to me.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is my go-to television show. It’s my happy place. Relationship woes? Watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Work sucks? Watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Sad about the bleak state of the world? Watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

I remember the first time I ever saw the show. I’d been in New Zealand for a sports development conference in my previous job with the International Cricket Council and was flying home solo. The journey was 26 hours – Christchurch to Sydney; Sydney to Dubai; Dubai to London. I felt whacked on the last leg and just needed something to pass before my eyes and kill some time. I stuck on this sitcom that I’d never heard of, and expected to watch for approximately four and a half minutes before giving up and playing Football Manager on my phone. I blitzed six episodes back-to-back and have waited for every new series with bated breath ever since.

Sure, there’s the ever-childish and incredibly funny Jake Peralta, the badass and effortlessly cool Rosa Diaz, the eccentric and hopeful Charles Boyle, the yoghurt-loving stack house Terry Jeffords, the wacky and insanely confident Gina Linetti, not to mention the love of my life, the ambitious and smart Amy Santiago. But Captain Raymond Holt was the glue that held everything in that precinct together.

There’s an elegance and grace to his character. Andre put so much rhythm and dynamism into Ray Holt. He’s musical and gracious. In a world where everything is dumbed down, his character was unashamedly intelligent, articulate and grandiose. He was a pedant for punctuation and grammar – and we loved him for it.

Much to the sheer delight of our studio producers and directors, Ryan Russell and I would quote Brooklyn Nine-Nine on the regular in the CBeebies House. It kept us thoroughly entertained and definitely didn’t drive other people mad.

I won’t ruin the show for those of you that haven’t seen it – but Captain Ray was like a wise, insightful father figure. The kind you just wanted to shoot you a knowing look, a gentle nod and his seal of approval.

I know that death is always around us, but over the last few months that’s felt more real than ever. My next-door neighbour, Morea, had lived in her house for almost 50 years. She passed in October and Saturday nights aren’t the same without hearing her through our mid-terrace wall, clapping in appreciation of Strictly Come Dancing.

A couple of weeks ago, my grandfather passed. My mum rang me with the news at 8am and a little after 10am, I was wearing a full elf costume, singing a Christmas ditty about packing presents, alongside Justin Fletcher and Dodge the Dog. Hundreds of thousands of people will see that link on CBeebies over the holidays. There’ll be children who’ve watched me hundreds of times and other extended family who will see me on their screens for the very first time. They’ll never know that I felt heartbroken for my mum and slapped a smile on for the cameras.

I’m sure there were multiple times over the eight seasons of Brooklyn Nine-Nine where Andre had serious things going on in his personal life, but along with the rest of the show’s cult audience, I’ll never know. He just delivered – and I’ve watched him over and over and over again.

The eulogies have been moving and the words full of love and gratitude. Dirk Blocker, who co-starred in Brooklyn Nine-Nine said that “to be in his presence was truly a blessing” and Ryan Case, who directed the show said that “the world is worse without him.”

Amen. Goodnight, Captain.