JUDI AT 90

My role in Bond films 'made me drunk with power | I had a happy marriage but we had terrible rows | A director in the 60s said I'd never be in films | I'm a Quaker, it gives me a quiet Soul, which I need

- SARA WALLIS

With a wicked sense of humour and twinkle in her eye, legendary actor Dame Judi Dench still captivates audiences at the age of 90.

Having graced our screens and stages - for seven decades, Dame Judi is a true national treasure (even though she hates that phrase).

In celebration of her 90th birthday on Monday, a Radio 2 show honours her life, as told through BBC interviews with the likes of Zoe Ball, Graham Norton, Sir Terry Wogan, Sir Michael Parkinson, Mark Lamarr, Sir Richard Eyre, Kirsty Young and Michael Ball.

Sweeping through her roles, from Cabaret and Macbeth to Mrs Brown, Iris and the James Bond films, our First Lady of the Stage also shares some hilarious anecdotes, and reveals how she nearly never acted at all.

She says: "I was going to be a designer of costumes - I was quite determined.

"My brother Jeffrey was older than me and he went to Central [School of Speech and Drama] and I suppose I got a disease, in a way, from him. I just thought overnight, I'll have a go." Dame Judi has gone on to acquire dozens of accolades, including an Oscar, 10 Baftas, seven Oliviers, a Tony Award and two Golden Globes - but her first role was much more low key.

She says: "I played a snail at my prep school. I had an enormous shell I was under and when our parents came, I stood up-that was not part of the play.