RIVER CITY MAINSTAY AIMING FOR 30 YEARS ON SOAP

JOANNA LUMLEY’S INDIA is particularly special for the Ab Fab star as it sees her return to her homeland.

“I was born in India and lived there until I was nearly a year old,” explains Joanna.

“My parents were brought up in India and they had family on both sides going back to the 18th Century.

“They said that no matter how long you live there, you will never really know India, because it’s too big and too complex.

“This was quite a challenge for us making the programme, where to start?

“I wanted to show things and places which were not the obvious tourist spots.

“My father and my sister were both born in what is now Pakistan, but was India at the time.

“So we didn’t visit there and some chunks of my family history are missing, but it is a bit of a personal journey.

“It’s lovely when I can say, my grandfather lived here or that picture is my uncle over there. It was quite something going back to Kashmir.

“I’ve been there before but each time I think, this is where I drew my first breath and it was in India, and it was here in Srinagar.

“It makes me feel very humble.”

Joanna’s engaging personality and enthusiasm make her travelogues so enjoyable.

She met the Dalai Lama, stayed with a Maharaja and saw cave temples the height of St Paul’s carved out of the rock.

And she has her own views on what makes India such a unique place.

“I think, because it’s the size and complexity of Europe, but it’s one nation,” she says.

“It has some of the richest people in the world and also the poorest, sometimes living within half a mile of each other.”

n Joanna Lumley’s India, ITV, Wed, 9pm.