I have seen cockroaches the size of terriers'

Joanna Lumley shares travel tales that aren't for the faint-hearted, Ab Fab gossip and other stories from her legendary screen career

- MARC BAKER AND SHELLEY SPADONI

She’s probably tired of hearing it, but Dame Joanna Lumley is someone who truly deserves the title of “national treasure”. A comedy icon for the ages in Absolutely Fabulous and an acclaimed actress in gritty dramas such as Fool Me Once and Finding Alice, Joanna is also a respected travel presenter who has introduced viewers to most corners of the globe via her heartwarming, witty TV travelogues (you can catch her on ITV travelling along the River Danube next March, as she brews beer with nuns and stays at King Charles’ retreat in Transylvania).

Currently on her first tour of Australia with the show Me & My Travels, the delightful Joanna, 78, has plenty of life experiences to open up about — as she proved to a spellbound audience when she spoke at The Capitol Theatre in Horsham last month. She enthralled fans with tales of Ab Fab, travel adventures (including drying her knickers in the car), and much more besides.

One of Joanna’s most iconic roles remains the chain-smoking boozehound Patsy Stone. And Joanna says, of reuniting with the cast for a special BBC Radio 4 show this Christmas, ”We’re doing one of those Kirsty Wark reunion shows on Radio 4. Instead of Desert Island Discs they used to have something called The Reunion. It will probably be called Ab Fab: The Reunion.”