Intensive care was a bit of a shock!"

Actor Patricia Hodge on keeping healthy, ageism and reprising her part in All Creatures Great and Small

- VICKI POWER

Patricia Hodge is currently living in the past as rich widow Mrs Pumphrey in All Creatures Great and Small on Channel 5. In country tweeds, with permed hair and her hands full of the Pekingese dog Tricki Woo, she cuts an elegant if eccentric figure.

But when we meet today in a London hotel, 77-year-old Patricia is a world away from her period alter ego. She's wearing a striking blue trouser suit that matches her eyes and trendy white trainers, and her strawberry blonde hair is softly coiffed. She looks remarkably youthful, and is vibrant and quick-witted as we meet over coffee.

Patricia is only drinking water this morning, though, and there's a story behind it. It's part of the secret to her robust good health. 'I do heavy self-maintenance,' she reports. 'I go swimming every day and do other exercise. There's an amazing place I go to in Austria too. I try to go every year and I've just been, actually.

'It's called the Mayr Clinic and they put you on a sort of a detox. I'm continuing it now that I'm home, because if you the "Mayr Cure", as they call it, then you should really do it for three weeks to get the maximum out of it.'

She explains that the health farm's detox regime 'is pretty strict, but it's very good for you.