Dame Judi Dench: 'I can't do a play, a film or read anymore'

Despite her condition, she has continued to make public appearances and speak openly about adapting to life with deteriorating vision, stating that "the radio has always been important to me".

During the interview, Dench recalled being invited to lunch by former MI6 chief Sir David Spedding, describing the experience as "very exciting". When she asked where her driver should drop her off, she was told: "No, no, we'll send a car to you, we'll come and pick you up."

However, she arrived about 20 minutes late after the driver struggled to find her house. "I said, 'I'm sorry for being so late because your driver couldn't find my house.' I loved it."

Asked if she had any views on who should play the next Bond, she simply replied "no".

Dench also discussed meeting American actor Sidney Poitier, who became the first black man to win the Academy Award for best actor in 1964.

She was appearing in Amy's View in New York when Poitier came backstage after a performance. She recalled that director Richard Eyre was in her dressing room, giving her notes, when there was a knock at the door.

Dench said she felt as if she were in a wind tunnel when Poitier walked in, adding: "It was thrilling."

Asked what she had said to him, Dench replied: "Not much, a bit of an open mouth. So charming. Very tall."

The conversation then turned to Dench's love of Shakespeare. She recalled watching her brother play King Duncan in Macbeth when she was nine and said the moment sparked her passion for the playwright.

"He walked on and he said 'What bloody man is that?' I thought, 'oh my God, this is for me'. He said 'bloody', did you hear that?"

She also admitted to being " besotted" by Shakespeare's sonnets: "I just love them."

"It's the rhythm of it. It's the rhythm of your heart," she added, "it's the way he's summed up so simply the way that any of us feel about, well, anything."