Dames of the garden table: documentary to reveal friendship of four acting legends
THERE is nothing like a dame, as the song goes. But how about four together? Dames Joan Plowright, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Eileen Atkins are to appear together on screen for the first time, not in a drama, but in a BBC documentary celebrating their decades of friendship.
Now in their 80s, they look back at their careers from the early days in repertory theatre to their current status as acting royalty. Just don’t call them national treasures: Dame Judi recently declared she loathes the term. The programme was recorded at Dame Joan’s West Sussex retreat, which she shared with Sir Laurence Olivier, her husband, until his death in 1989.
The four spent the weekend together as Roger Michell, the Bafta-winning film director, recorded their reminiscences. All enjoyed ribbing Dame Judi about the number of plum roles she gets. Dame Maggie joked when asked about a lack of opportunity for older actresses: “Judi’s always there. It was Joan Plowright who said that to me: ‘There are always parts, but Judi gets her paws on them first’.”
The film, with a working title of Nothing Like A Dame, was commissioned by Mark Bell, a BBC executive. He said: “These four great dames are friends with a long, shared history, and they often meet up and reminisce. We know them well but usually see them in character. To see these incredibly celebrated women talking naturally to- gether felt like a fresh take. They laugh a lot. They’re funny. They talk about their careers and being a dame.”
The women have been friends for decades and have often appeared on screen together, although not at once.
The programme is currently in production and will air on BBC Two next year. It will include archive footage of their greatest performances.
Bell said he was delighted to be putting four women on screen together, although he did not rule out the idea of a follow-up featuring knights of the realm. “This is four women talking about the experience of being a woman in the theatre and film world in the second half of the 20th century – I’m intrigued to see what they say.”
Nothing Like A Dame is one of several arts programmes announced today by the BBC.
‘Judi’s always there. Joan Plowright said to me “There are always parts, but Judi gets her paws on them first”’