And Furthermore (26 page)

Above and below:
Preparing to play Esme in David Hare’s
Amy’s View,
directed by Richard Eyre (left). David (centre) was a huge comfort throughout the rehearsal period.

With Patricia Hodge rehearsing
A Little Night
Music
, which broke all previous box office records at the National.

With Michael at John Mills’s eightieth birthday party. We had been friends with Johnny ever since he and I first worked together in
The Good Companions
, and he was a man after my own heart.

Enjoying the garden at home.

Michael learning some bad news for England in the sports report.

Finty with a very alert Sammy.

Michael and Sammy at Eriska.

With Finty, Sammy and Minnie.

With Geoffrey Palmer in
As Time Goes By.
Geoffrey taught me to fine-tune my timing on television.

In
Cranford
with Lisa Dillon, Eileen Atkins and Imelda Staunton.

Pierce Brosnan and I got on very well indeed, and I loved M’s line rebuking Bond, calling him ‘a sexist, misogynistic dinosaur’.

With a new Bond, Daniel Craig, in
Casino Royale
. He too is hugely good fun to work with, and does most of his stunts himself.

With the writer and director of
Shakespeare in
Love
, Tom Stoppard (left) and John Madden, at the announcement of the Oscar nominations.