The Guardian's theatre critic, Michael Billington, and the Observer's film critic, Philip French, receive OBEs in the New Years honours list for services to theatre and film respectively.

Billington, the Guardian's theatre critic since 1971 and author of several books including a biography of Harold Pinter and State of the Nation: British Theatre since 1945, said: "I'm thrilled, delighted and surprised."

The longest-serving member of the Critics' Circle, he added: "I'm glad for the Guardian. Also, it is the 100th anniversary of the Critics' Circle this year, so I believe it is recognition not of me but of the need for critics and the continuity of criticism."

French, film critic for the Observer for 50 years, said he was "genuinely surprised" and described it as "a very considerable honour".

In his distinguished career French has also received a lifetime honorary membership of Bafta and a lifetime achievement award from the film Critics' Circle. He is one of only three British film critics to have sat on the jury of the Cannes film festival.

It is fitting that both are honoured on the same day, as they have been friends since French, then a BBC Radio 3 producer, hired Billington as a reviewer in 1965. The recruit's first task? To review two plays by a then unknown writer, Tom Stoppard.