Joanna Lumley ‘thrilled’ to be made a Dame in New Year Honours List

Joanna Lumley said she had been given “the most beautiful present imaginable” as she was made a Dame in the New Year Honours.

Dame Joanna, 75, heads a list of entertainers which also includes Vanessa Redgrave, who likewise receives a damehood.

They are joined by June Brown, from EastEnders, and Bill Roache, from Coronation Street, who are honoured with OBEs for services to drama and charity.

MBEs go to Kate Garraway, the television presenter who has documented her husband Derek Draper’s battle with coronavirus, and to Cherylee Houston, a wheelchair user who plays Izzy Armstrong in Coronation Street.

Damehood is ‘most beautiful present imaginable’

Dame Joanna, born in Kashmir in the Himalayas as the daughter of a Gurkha Rifles officer, was recognised for her commitment to charitable causes, which have included fighting for the rights of Gurkha veterans to settle in the UK, as well as her contribution to drama and entertainment.

The former model, a Bond girl in the 1969 film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, won an army of fans in the Seventies for her role as Purdey in The New Avengers.

However, she is perhaps best known for her award-winning comedy turn as Patsy Stone in Absolutely Fabulous, which began in 1992.

She said: “I am astonished and thrilled and touched beyond words to receive this colossal honour. It comes as a complete and unexpected surprise, and is the kindest and most beautiful present imaginable.”

Screen royalty honoured

Dame Vanessa Redgrave was nominated for six Academy Awards, winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her 1977 role in Julia, alongside Jane Fonda.

She said: “I'm surprised and grateful to join this wondrous group of British artists whose work has inspired me and audiences the world over. My generation fought for freedom of expression. Long may this remain.”

June Brown and Bill Roache have between them graced the country’s two biggest soap operas for a combined total of 92 years.

Brown, who played Dot Cotton from 1985 until 2020, served in the Wrens in the final year of the Second World War and had a minor role in Coronation Street in the early Seventies, before landing the role in the BBC soap opera that would make her famous at the age of 58.

She said: “Thank you for the award. It is a great honour and I would like to thank Her Majesty, and all those involved in my recommendation.”

Nitin Ganatra, a fellow EastEnders star who plays Masood Ahmed, is also made an OBE.

Roache, who has played Coronation Street’s Ken Barlow since it first aired in 1960, holds the world record for the longest-serving television actor in a continuous role.

He said: “I can’t tell you how proud I am. Coronation Street has given me so much in life and I absolutely love the programme and everyone who works on the show. It’s a real family behind the scenes and we hope that comes across on screen."

A former Army captain, Roache was spotted playing a British soldier serving in Germany in a television play. He was invited to audition for the role of Ken Barlow by the show’s creator.

He received a British Soap Awards lifetime achievement award in 1999, which proved to be less than two thirds of the way through his career.

There are knighthoods for film directors John Boorman, whose credits include Deliverance and The Tailor of Panama, and for Horace Ove, the first black British film maker to direct a feature-length movie.

Bernie Taupin, who has for decades been Sir Elton John’s lyricist, is made a CBE.

There are also CBEs for Paul Greengrass, whose directing credits include three Jason Bourne films and United 93; Anthony Horowitz, the novelist and screenwriter whose credits include Foyle’s War and the Alex Rider series; Martin Lewis, the founder of MoneySavingExpert, who is recognised for services to broadcasting and consumer rights; Claudia Roden, the cookery writer; and Moira Stuart, the broadcaster who said she was “moved and lifted” by the honour.

OBEs go to Pauline Black, lead singer of The Selecter, and Katie Piper, the television presenter and campaigner for victims of burns and disfigurement.

There are MBEs for Adele Parks, the novelist; Ashley Banjo, leader of the dance group Diversity; and Melanie Brown, member of the Spice Girls, who is recognised for her work with domestic violence charity Women’s Aid.

Adam Hills, the comedian and presenter of Channel 4 series The Last Leg, who has a prosthetic foot, is made an MBE for services to Paralympic sport and disability awareness.