The New Year's Honours List in full: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Terry Pratchett declared himself “flabbergasted” to receive a knighthood as he led a group of writers, actors and performers honoured today.

Pratchett, whose Discworld series has helped him to sell more than 55 million books, said: “There are times when phrases such as ‘totally astonished’ just don’t do the job. I am of course delighted and honoured and, needless to say, flabbergasted.”

Robert Plant, the singer and songwriter for Led Zeppelin, is appointed CBE. The pioneering rock group broke up in 1980 but reunited for a one-off London show a year ago, since when Plant has been nominated for the Mercury Prize for Raising Sand, recorded with the American bluegrass artist Alison Krauss.

Michael Sheen, the actor who stars in Frost/Nixon, is appointed OBE. He previously played Tony Blair in The Deal and The Queen, and said: “It’ll be nice to meet the real Queen at last.”

Earl Cameron, 91, one of the first black actors on British television in the 1960s, who appeared in series such as Doctor Who and The Prisoner, is appointed CBE, as is the jazz musician Courtney Pine. He said he was “deeply moved”, adding: “I never imagined that I would be recognised for playing improvised music in the United Kingdom in this way.”

The countertenor Michael Chance and Owain Arwel Hughes, principal associate conductor with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, were also appointed CBE.

Diana Athill, 91, is appointed OBE in recognition of her role as one of publishing’s leading editors of the postwar period, as well as her highly original memoirs. The novelist Jane Gardam, who has won the Whitbread Prize twice, becomes OBE, as does the pianist and conductor Howard Shelley.

Liz Smith, 87, the Bafta-award winning actress known for her roles in Lark Rise to Candleford and the Royle Family, is appointed MBE.

Jenny Abramsky, the BBC’s former director of audio and music who now chairs the Heritage Lottery Fund, becomes a dame.

There is an OBE for John Martyn, the jazz-inflected singer-songwriter who has recorded with Eric Clapton, David Gilmour and Phil Collins in his 40-year career. The banjo player David Miles is appointed MBE.

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