This week joining Kelly-Anne Taylor, in the studio, is the British actress, presenter and author, Joanna Lumley. Born in India, in Kashmir, Srinagar – she was brought up in the Far East, coming to the UK, aged 8, to attend boarding school. She went on to work as a model and actress, living in London in the Swinging Sixties – and made her name starring as Purdy in The New Avengers. She boasts a successful career – spanning over 6 decades – she had audiences in hysterics as Patsy in hit sit-com Absolutely Fabulous, has presented wonderful travel programmes – and, of course, captured the nation in Jan Etherington’s radio show, Conversations From A Long Marriage – in which she stars alongside Roger Allum. In this episode, she talks about why she doesn’t have a mobile phone and how difficult she found it to shed the ‘pretty girl’ stereotype when she moved from modelling to acting. Plus, she talks about raising a child as a single mother, how playing Purdy in The New Avengers changed things financially for her and why she wishes sex scenes would be cut from TV and film.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices