Emma Thompson holds back tears as she is surprised with letter written by late father

Dame Emma Thompson was left overcome with emotion during an appearance on The One Show when she was handed a letter written by her late father, which was discovered in the BBC ’s archive.

The British actress’s father, Eric Thompson, was the person behind the creation of the English adaptation of children’s television programme The Magic Roundabout. He also narrated the show.

During her time on the weekday evening show, Dame Emma was given a letter written to the BBC by her dad. In it, he asked for an audition for a chance to work at the broadcasting corporation, as well as an audition report written by BBC producers and accompanying pictures of her father.

After presenters Zoe Ball and Jermaine Jenas handed Dame Emma the items, she appeared surprised and delighted, saying: "My mother, who is 90, is watching this! Mum! I mean honestly, look!"

Dame Emma Thompson was handed a letter by her late father by The One Show's hosts (BBC)

After gazing at the old snaps of her dad, Dame Emma joked: "Check him out! He was a bit of alright wasn’t he really!"

Former footballer Jermaine, 39, went on to explain the story behind the items, saying: "There’s this letter from your dad to the BBC. So he says he’s just left the army and that he’s been advised to write a letter to ask for an audition with the BBC.

"And I’ll tell you what it says, so it says: 'I have no broadcasting experience apart from an audition in Birmingham some years ago, but I have had stage experience both amateur and repertory'."

She held back tears after being handed the letter from the archives (BBC)

Zoe, 51, jumped in: "And the good news is, Emma, he did get an audition, three years later. The producers wrote a positive report on him, which you can have a look at now, so good isn’t it."

She continued: "And you can see there, they noted that he had a 'quiet charm and a twinkle and an obvious sense of humour'."

After studying the items, Dame Emma removed her glasses and was clearly emotional.

Dame Emma Thompson's dad died in 1982 (BBC)

Eric was an English actor, scriptwriter and stage director who trained to be an actor before joining the Old Vic theatre company in 1952. He went on to become best known for his adaptation of The Magic Roundabout from the original French version Le Manege enchante.

The English version, which was broadcast on the BBC between 1965 and 1977, used the footage of the French stop motion animation show but with new scripts and characters.

Eric died in 1982 aged 53.

The One Show airs every weekday on BBC One.