Spice up your life! - JOANNA'S JOURNEY OF JOY

The star insists you're never too old for an adventure and being scared just spurs her on

On screen, she’s been everything from a Bond Girl and a secret agent to a man-eating booze hound. Off screen, she’s been a free spirit, a single mum at a time when hardly such a thing existed and, above all, an optimist. And let’s be clear: nothing makes Dame Joanna Lumley more optimistic than ageing!

The beloved British actress turns 77 on May 1 and, says the star, one of the best things about being a septuagenarian is not sweating the small stuff.

“You realise that your husband won’t divorce you if you haven’t hemmed the curtains right and that it’s better to be kind than to be well dressed,” she laughs.

“It’s lovely to be both, but if you have to pick one, choose kindness. You learn all sorts of things about your appearance: if you have a spot, smile and people won’t know or mind. And if you want to look slimmer, wear bigger clothes. And frankly, it all matters a lot less anyway!”

It’s been 54 years since Joanna burst onto the big screen opposite George Lazenby in the Bond movie On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. She got her big break in the ’70s as butt-kicking Purdey in The New Avengers and then went stratospheric in the ’90s as vain, chainsmoking Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous.