‘I just love to ENTERTAIN'

Joanna Lumley on why the ageing process excites her and how travelling has made her wiser

- SUE CRAWFORD

Like the rest of the nation, Joanna Lumley is currently working from home and speaking to us via video call from her office at her London residence.

As her composer husband Stephen Barlow pops his head around the door to deliver a cup of tea, Joanna smiles apologetically. ‘It’s very, very cluttered,’ she says, picking up her laptop and giving us a whistle-stop tour of the room.

‘Can you see that bookshelf with millions of bits and pieces from everywhere, and these are my pictures. There’s too much of everything, but I like operating within plenty of things,’ she says.

It is a rare moment of confinement for Joanna,who, these days, is as well-known for her TV travel documentaries as her hilarious portrayal of the outrageous Patsy Stone in Absolutely Fabulous.

With the rest of us, she has temporarily had to pack away her passport, but, undeterred, she dashed out between lockdowns to make Joanna

Lumley’s Home Sweet Home – Travels in My Own Land.