Dame Judi Dench and Sir Ian McKellen have reunited for the return of her intimate documentary series, 50 years after their groundbreaking performance in Macbeth.
Tea with Judi Dench returns to Sky Arts this summer, continuing the celebration of conversation, storytelling and friendship that began with filmmaker Kenneth Branagh last year. Dench, 91, welcomes close friend McKellen, 87, to her rural Surrey home.
Acting legends discuss careers and friendship
The acting legends discuss their extraordinary careers, from acclaimed performances with the Royal Shakespeare Company to struggles with insecurity and the broader commercial fame that followed the James Bond and Lord of the Rings film franchises, as well as success, failure and the importance of taking neither too seriously.
“I am absolutely delighted to be returning for a second film, and even more pleased to be sharing the experience with the wonderful Sir Ian McKellen,” she said of her reunion with the veteran star. “The response to the first film was deeply touching, and it's a great privilege to continue these conversations and capture moments of great friendship.”
McKellen reflects on coming out and stage fright
Viewers will also have an opportunity to hear McKellen’s reflections on coming out at the age of 49, his key role in the fight against Section 28 and the enduring regret that has followed him throughout his life – never sharing the truth about his sexuality with his parents.
“It’s a private matter,” said Dench of McKellen’s initial struggle to come out. “But nobody should ever feel that they can’t intrinsically be themselves, but also nobody should be made to feel that they have to declare anything about themselves, sexuality, religion, their age, nothing. It’s not about what we do but as long as people can live authentically as themselves, I feel that that is quite important.”
In a new clip from the forthcoming special, McKellen credits Dench for her ‘magic empathy’ in helping him overcome a hitherto unknown battle with stage fright. The veteran star also reveals his admiration for Dench, whose career began with the National Theatre in 1957, began long before their first meeting.
“I had admired you from afar, but we’d never met, I don’t think,” he tells the actress over tea at her Surrey home.
Fifty years since Macbeth
The pair established a close friendship in 1967 after starring in director Frank Hauser’s West End revival of Alexei Arbuzov’s post-war drama The Promise, staged at London’s Fortune Theatre. But it was a lengthy association with the Royal Shakespeare Company that earmarked Dench and McKellen as two of Britain’s finest acting talents, notably their collaboration in Trevor Nunn’s acclaimed 1976 production of Macbeth – widely viewed as the most complete interpretation of Shakespeare’s pioneering Scots tragedy.
Recalling her legendary portrayal of Lady Macbeth, Dench said: “It was the summer of 1976, it was the heat wave, and it was a pared back production which was staged at [Stratford-Upon-Avon theatre] Other Place. There were no costumes as such, and it was cited as being the most definitive Macbeth that has ever been done, and it was brave, honest and very different from anything else that had ever been done before.”
It would serve as the springboard for awards, accolades and enduring success over the next fifty years.
Dench’s career and health
Dench’s long list of achievements includes an Oscar for her supporting role as Queen Elizabeth in the 1998 comedy Shakespeare in Love. Her diverse Hollywood career also includes appearances in science fiction epic The Chronicles of Riddick, the Clint Eastwood-directed J. Edgar, and an adaptation of Patrick Marber’s West End play Notes on a Scandal, while her portrayal of MI6 boss M across six consecutive James Bond films has earned her a wider Hollywood fanbase.
Dench’s acting work has been limited in recent years following her diagnosis with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) - a degenerative eye condition that affects more than 700,000 people – in 2012. Discussing the significant impact AMD has had on her career in 2023, she said: “I can’t see on a film set any more. I can’t see to read. But you just deal with it. It’s difficult if I have any length of a part. I haven’t yet found a way. Because I have so many friends who will teach me the script.”
Celebrating the approaching 50-year milestone of Trevor Nunn’s Macbeth with McKellen in December, she told ITN: “I can’t recognize anybody now….I can’t see the television, [and I] can’t see to read.”
McKellen’s upcoming projects
Close friend McKellen is famed for his roles as Magneto in the X: Men film franchise and Gandalf the Grey in Peter Jackson’s big-budget screen adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. He will reprise the role in the Andy Serkis directed spin-off The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, scheduled for release in 2027. His TV work includes an unlikely appearance on long-running soap Coronation Street in 2005.
Dench welcomes McKellen to her home just eight months after hosting Academy Award winning actor and director Kenneth Branagh, with whom she enjoys another decades-long friendship borne from an affiliation with Shakespeare – notably their collaboration on Branagh’s directorial debut, a 1989 adaptation of Henry V.
“Both Ian and Ken’s careers are phenomenal,” she said. “My relationship with both Ken and Ian are very much based on a sense of humour. When I first started working with Ken it was on television and we were both sent out of the studio for laughing so much and we have been close friends ever since.”
Produced by Mindhouse, Tea with Judi Dench follows a nostalgic reunion with McKellen on the National Theatre’s Olivier stage in December, during which the acting legends joined host Jim Carter for a lively discussion about their respective careers.
Phil Edgar-Jones OBE, Executive Director of Unscripted Originals at Sky, said: “Tea with Dame Judi is fast becoming one of our most treasured and delightful treats on Sky Arts. If you join Judi Dench as she reflects on life, art, culture, and all manner of topics with the peerless Sir Ian McKellen, you’re sure to be amused, moved and enlightened in equal measure.”
Nancy Strang, Mindhouse co-founder and creative director added: “I’m completely thrilled that Sky have commissioned us to make another Tea with Judi Dench. Judi has a unique combination of warmth, intelligence and mischievousness which appeals to audiences across generations. To be invited in to spend a day with her and the incomparable Ian McKellen at her home, sharing their memories of their lives, careers and lost loves is a complete privilege. I’m sure we’ll make another magical slice of television together.”
Tea with Judi Dench will air in August on Sky Arts, Freeview and streaming service NOW.
