Wednesday 2 November 2022 02:10 AM CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews last night's TV: Even guileless Louis can't outwit ... trends now
Louis Theroux Interviews... Dame Judi Dench
Rating: *****
Rating: ****
Dame Judi Dench twinkles so tirelessly that to call her a national treasure misses the point. She ought to be our national Christmas tree decoration.
Star of the National Theatre stage and TikTok, she's known to countless millions worldwide as James Bond's spymaster, M; at the door of her cottage is a mat emblazoned with the words 'I've been expecting you, Mr Bond'.
'That's not for you,' she told her guest, on Louis Theroux Interviews... Dame Judi Dench (BBC2). The implication was that it is there in case Pierce Brosnan or Daniel Craig drops round for tea.
The conversation when they do will be resolutely light and, well, twinkly. You won't catch Dame Judi indulging in maudlin chat. She refused to answer Louis's questions about mortality or the afterlife.
Most of his forays were deflected with mischievous jokes. Whenever he referred to his research, or produced video clips from her decades of theatre triumphs, she teasingly accused him of being sneaky.
The conversation when they do will be resolutely light and, well, twinkly. You won't catch Dame Judi indulging in maudlin chat. She refused to answer Louis's questions about mortality or the afterlife
Twice she threatened to throw him out, for daring to mention her movies that fell short of Shakespearean heights, such as The Chronicles Of Riddick — sci-fi twaddle with Hollywood's Vin Diesel.
She could hardly refuse to make the film, Judi explained: Mr Diesel sent so many bouquets to her dressing room at the Old Vic they went halfway down the corridor.
Louis's guileless interrogation techniques were hardly needed. Dame Judi eagerly chatted about her favourite roles and reminisced
