Spotlight on a star
Ah, those twinkling blue eyes, that naughty smile and that deadpan humour — except, perhaps, when she is playing Elizabeth I. The actress Judi Dench is a British national treasure. We have loved her for years for roles that include James Bond’s boss, M, and Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love. When the coronavirus came along, Dench kept us entertained with poetry readings and funny videos, and now, at the tender age of 85, she is gracing the cover of British Vogue. It’s high time, we thought, to present her to Spotlight readers. You’ll find “Judi Dench — from stage star to fashion icon” on pages 20–21, and a biography of the actress starting on page 22.
While Judi Dench kept us smiling, forecasters were busy thinking about what the pandemic will mean for our lives in the future. Stephen Armstrong spoke to three people whose business it is to consider how challenges like corona shape our lives. Paul Dolan, professor of behavioural science at the London School of Economics, Richard Bentall, professor of clinical pschology at the University of Sheffield, and Geraldine Wharry, a futurist and trend forecaster, each took a look into their crystal ball for Spotlight. Find out what their predictions are in “What will be the new normal?”, which begins on page 14.