Judi Dench to make Countryfile debut in honour of William Shakespeare
Dench and presenter John Craven will retrace The King's Men's footsteps while discussing Shakespeare's lasting legacy
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Your support makes all the difference.Dame Judi Dench will be making her Countryfile debut this weekend in honour of a man close to her heart: William Shakespeare.
The Oscar-winning actress, 81, will join the BBC One show on Sunday night for a 400th anniversary special focusing on the playwright’s love of the British countryside.
Dench and presenter John Craven will retrace the footsteps of Shakespeare’s touring acting troupe The King’s Men while discussing theories behind the Bard’s life, her passion for his plays and why they still resonate so strongly with audiences today.
Dench made her professional debut as Ophelia in Hamlet with the Old Vic Company in 1957 and has since starred in Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth.
“I’m a huge fan of Countryfile,” she said. “It was lovely to be part of it, and it was wonderful to learn that Shakespeare had toured with his company.”
Craven said few things in his long career would top the experience of “standing in a 16th-century hall where Shakespeare’s touring company once played and doing a bit of the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet with Dame Judi Dench”.
He described the veteran actress as a “delightful companion” and said her “life-long passion for Shakespeare’s work really shone through”.
Leading Shakespeare academic Dr Siobhan Keenan, from Leicester’s De Montfort University, also joins them on their journey by foot and boat.
Bill Lyons, executive editor of Countryfile, said: “Even today, Shakespeare’s words still shape the way that we look at the beautiful landscape of the British isles, its animals, flowers and woodlands.
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“Judi is a countrywoman at heart and I can think of no-one better placed to follow in Shakespeare’s footsteps on this very special programme.”
Elsewhere on the programme, Ellie Harrison tracks down the forest believed to have inspired As You Like It and Matt Baker searches for the secret cave in the Brecon Beacons rumoured to be the location for A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Countryfile airs on BBC One at 7pm on Sunday 24 April.
Additional reporting by Press Association
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