‘At my age, I don’t have to BE POLITE!’

Not everyone enjoys the ageing process, but Dame Sheila Hancock is definitely a glass half-full sort of person.

For the past three years she has battled rheumatoid arthritis, but she reckons that one of the upsides of being 88 is that you can get away with far more than when you were younger.

‘If I’m a bit curt with somebody, my daughter will say, “Oh, forgive