Patricia Hodge believes veteran actresses still face 'limitations' when it comes to the kinds of roles they are offered.
The 74-year-old thespian plays the role of Mrs Pumphrey in the All Creatures Great And Small reboot - and while she believes there are plenty of interesting roles for women these days, she has mused on her age-group being lumbered with 'waspish' characters.
'I do think that there are more dramas created with interesting women at the heart of them. But there are still limitations within that, beyond a certain age,' she told this week's Radio Times.
'You're a maiden aunt or you've got dementia!' Patricia Hodge believes veteran actresses still face 'limitations' when it comes to the kinds of roles they are offered
'The roles now for people of my age are generally the maiden aunt who sits and makes waspish comments from the side of the ballroom, or else you've got dementia!
'That's why I go back to theatre, which gives you more opportunity to work with a good script.'
In the interview, she pondered on the show's slower pace, and how it contrasts with modern dramas to allow for greater delicacy to show the complexities of human nature.
The Channel 5 drama, set in the Yorkshire Dales in the 1930s, sees Patricia take over the role from the late Dame Diana Rigg who died a year ago aged 82.
Current role: The 74-year-old thespian plays the role of Mrs Pumphrey in the All Creatures Great And Small reboot - and while she believes there are plenty of interesting roles for women these days, she has mused on her age-group being lumbered with 'waspish' characters
Stern: She played Lady Roche in Roadkill in 2020
Mrs Pumphrey is the delightfully eccentric owner of pampered Pekingese, Tricki Woo.
Series 2 wrapped filming on location in Yorkshire earlier this summer, and
