Joanna Lumley has never been shy in stating her love for Dundee.
The Absolutely Fabulous actress, who has turned 79, made several trips to Dundee in the 1980s and 1990s, describing it as her “lucky city”.
Her down-to-earth demeanour endeared her to Dundonians.
A fish supper at the Deep Sea or visiting the Skarne blocks in Whitfield was as far removed from the glamour of a James Bond movie as it’s possible to imagine.
Yet Lumley took everything in her stride.
And she loved it.
She said Dundee was one of her favourite cities in the world.
Dundee Rep role was dream come true
Lumley started her acting career as a Bond girl in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in 1969 before getting her major break as Purdey in The New Avengers.
She starred in a list of ratings-winners including Sapphire And Steel before being cast in the Pink Panther movies in 1982 and 1983.
Going pink paid well but Lumley dreamed of becoming a classical actress.
Robert Robertson was artistic director of Dundee Rep.
The St Andrews actor was best known for playing Dr Stephen Andrews in Taggart.
He offered Lumley the lead role in Hedda Gabler in November 1984.
Gabler was the “intelligent but wilful heroine who leaves tragedy in her wake”.
Lumley immediately accepted.
She said it would “fulfil a lifetime’s ambition”.
The play would run from March 14-30.
Lumley arrived for rehearsals in February 1985.
There were full houses for Lumley debut
She stayed in a modest flat in Broughty Ferry overlooking the River Tay.
Lumley went shopping and loved walking around.
She also spent time touring around Crail, Anstruther and St Andrews.
Lumley also visited Carnoustie and had tea at a local hotel.
Virtually every seat was sold for all performances.
Robertson directed the play.
The Stage newspaper said Lumley’s performance “convincingly contained and conveyed all the complex characteristics of Hedda”.
“It’s what I want to do,” said Lumley.
“I used to worry that people thought my career too lightweight but I don’t now.”
It was a masterpiece.
Lumley went on to play several powerful roles in London’s West End.
She left her mark on Dundee in more ways than one.
Lumley became only the third person to sign the visitors book at Dundee City Chambers when she met Lord Provost Tom Mitchell in March 1985.
The Queen Mother and Lady Strathmore were the first to add their signatures.
Lumley returned to Dundee Rep in 1989
She made a welcome return to Dundee Rep in 1989.
She took the role of Madame Ranevskaya in The Cherry Orchard.
It was again directed by Robertson, who also acted in the Chekhov classic.
Lumley was not the only former Bond star to appear in the production.
The cast included Julie T Wallace, who played an MI6 agent in The Living Daylights.
Lumley spent six weeks in Dundee.
She rented the same flat “to ensure I have as happy a time this year as I did in 1985”.
“I couldn’t be happier,” she said.
“I can eat when I like, do what I like and go where and when I like in a city that has been very lucky for me.
“With three weeks of rehearsals to go we are all burning the midnight oil, but once the show is up and running I’m hoping to travel around a bit, as I did the last time.
“I spent a lot of my time touring around the Fife fishing villages like Crail, Anstruther and St Andrews and I’m planning to do the same again – almost like an action replay.”
She also brought a suitcase full of letters to Dundee.
Lumley spent time replying to the fan mail after rehearsals.
Enjoying a fish supper at the Deep Sea
It was not all work.
Lumley swapped Chekhov for chips.
She enjoyed a fish supper at the Deep Sea.
BBC Scotland TV reporter Neil Mudie was a regular at the Nethergate chippie.
Owners Raymond and Lawrence Sterpaio pledged £100 for the BBC Children in Need appeal if Mudie brought Lumley to the restaurant for her tea.
Lumley had presented the show with Terry Wogan in 1988.
She accepted.
“Glamour at the chipper” was The Courier headline.
The actress tucked in to her deep fried plateful.
“I live on fish and chips,” she said.
“When I’m working in the theatre I often stop for fish and chips and eat them in the car on my way home from a performance.”
The Cherry Orchard was another sell-out success.
Lumley also filmed a BBC documentary about Dundee while filming Chekhov.
It’s My City investigated the city’s regeneration.
She took aim at Whitfield living standards
The actress visited an aerobics class for the-over-60s, Captain Scott’s Discovery ship, Dundee Law, the Wishart Centre and the Whitfield housing estate.
Lumley joined residents looking on as demolition began of some of the worst of the infamous Skarne blocks as part of the £6.5m redevelopment scheme.
She showed a keen interest in the work going on and blasted the “ghastly” and “dehumanising” blocks which were to be turned to rubble.
Lumley said she was “immensely impressed” with Dundee.
“The people are terrific,” she said.
She ended the programme by describing it as one of her favourite cities in the world.
She also stumbled upon the family she never knew.
“While I was making the film I found out that my family had lived across the River Tay in Fife, at Cruivie, since the 16th Century,” she said.
“I even met some of my relatives who still live there and we’ve become great friends.
“I found out that we share a common maternal great-great-great-grandfather.”
She couldn’t stay away.
Lumley was described as an “honorary Dundonian” in January 1990 when she returned to open the multi-million-pound Asda supermarket at Milton of Craigie.
She cut a ceremonial cake in the shape of the new store with the city’s civic sword.
Lumley headed round the aisles with a trolley following the ceremony.
She was loudly cheered on leaving.
Lumley was toasted by Dundee drinkers
She took her now iconic role of Patsy Stone in Absolutely Fabulous in 1992.
Lumley has not returned to Dundee since.
She was gone but not forgotten because, in 2016, she helped convince Dundee’s licensing board to grant an alcohol licence to a new restaurant.
The original application was refused for The Caird.
A revised application received hundreds of letters in support.
One stood out.
Lumley was a friend of an investor.
Lumley’s PA Lisa Baker wrote: “Joanna Lumley has asked me to write to you on her behalf regarding the application for premises licence for The Caird.
“Miss Lumley wishes to offer her support for this proposal and says that this development will bring significant benefit to Dundee.”
It’s an example of Lumley taking an interest in a city that captured her heart.
She’s worked there and played there, visited and revisited over the years.
Lumley is an iconic figure who is beloved all over Britain, but perhaps nowhere more so than in the city by the Tay – a friend to Dundee and its “terrific” people.
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