DID YOU KNOW? Joanna Lumley

As Joanna Lumley’s Postcards continues (8.30pm, ITV), here are a few surprising things you might not know about the absolutely fabulous actress and presenter…

Early ambition: Born in Srinagar, India, in 1946, Joanna Lamond Lumley was educated at St Mary’s Convent School in Sussex. As a child, she dreamt of becoming a barman when she grew up: ‘I used to line up small bottles and fill them with water and offer them to nobody.’

Mission accomplished: While working as a model, her big break came in 1976 when, aged 29, she beat thousands of others to the role of Purdey in The New Avengers. Believe it or not: She struggles to remember names (‘I forget in a second, it’s like water on a hotplate’) and, in contrast to her Absolutely

Fabulous character, Patsy Stone, she is very good at needlework – and hates the idea of long parties. Spas, she says, ‘fill me with horror. Frankly, I’d be more interested in doing a walk through the sewers of London.’ Better late than never: When she was 31, she met musician Stephen Barlow, then 23, at a wedding. But, despite Joanna having ‘the strongest feeling we should be together’, he married someone else. Single again six years later, Stephen put a note through Joanna’s door; they have been together ever since, and last year celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. Age of reason: Now 70, Joanna has no problems with ageing: ‘I’ve always longed to be older. In my 20s, I wanted to be in my 30s and now, I want to be 80! Life becomes more interesting the older you get.’