Patricia Hodge says she's 'lucky to work' as she returns to screens aged 78

Murder is no laughing matter for , who will be playing the role of Helena in the new Saturday night drama , starring

A veteran of long-running shows including Poirot, Miss Marple, Waking the Dead and Inspector Morse, she says of Death Valley: "It is sort of that new genre of humorous murder mysteries, which is quite a difficult thing to get your head around, because I don’t think there is anything funny about murder. But it's a new popular thing.

"It was lovely working with Tim Spall, who is a darling. Anyway, I am interested to see how it pans out. I am not the new Vera, though!"

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Patricia, 78, filmed around Cardiff for the show, which follows eccentric retired actor John Chapel (Spall) and detective sergeant Janie Mallowan (Gwyneth Keyworth) as they form an unlikely, and often comedic, crime-solving partnership working in and around the Welsh valleys.

Specific details of Patricia’s role are being closely guarded, but she is one of a number of guest stars and, with her vast experience of crime drama, she is sure to add to the intrigue.

Despite being close to 80, the star of A Very English Scandal is also busy working on another murder mystery series, The Marble Hall Murders, based on the Anthony Horowitz books.

Patricia, whose movie credits include Four Weddings and a Funeral and The Elephant Man, clearly loves working. "Work is what we are," she says. "I sort of like being challenged. I don’t want to sit on the back foot. I want to sit on the front foot.

"I am filming this new Anthony Horowitz thing at the moment, The Marble Hall Murders, and I have been filming in Dublin and , and I have never been to Greece, so that has been lovely. I am very lucky to work. Work engages me.”

She is also acclimatising to life without her husband, music publisher Peter Owen, who died aged 85 in 2016, after suffering from dementia. Downton Abbey star Patricia cared for him until his death and has helped raise awareness of dementia.

Speaking movingly in the past about her feelings of guilt over not being able to prevent her husband’s memory loss, which eventually meant he couldn’t recognise her, Patricia is not interested in finding anyone else.

She says of her loss: "It is always a big adjustment, isn’t it? We had over 40 years together, and it is now coming up to nine years (without Peter). I am not looking (for anyone new). It is not on my radar at all. I don’t know what I feel, really. I have wonderful friends. I am very lucky to work."

Besides acting, Patricia has been committed to supporting Historic Royal Palaces - the charity which oversees the restoration of ageing ancient palaces, held in trust for the nation by and the Royal Collection. She enjoys seeing new life being breathed into these impressive sites, for the nation to enjoy.

Patricia, who lives in Barnes, south west London, continues: "I was on the development board of the Historic Royal Palaces when it came out of the public purse and was given charity status. It suddenly made all these palaces belong to the nation again. And they gave them public ownership.

"I am no longer working on it, but it was amazing to be involved, and I would like to be involved again. I guess we only have so many hours in a day. During my time, we oversaw the opening of Kew Palace, which was so amazing because nobody had seen it before, and the things they uncovered, they did it so beautifully. I live in Barnes, so I am not far from it."

Avid history lover Patricia was also keen to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day. She says: "I stood on Hammersmith Bridge for the VE Day flypast and I watched the bombers come over. I was hit in the gut to think of what our parents went through. What they put up with and how they came through."

Turning to more fickle matters, Patricia is keen to pay tribute to the man behind her meticulously well-groomed appearance. She says: "I have very enduring relationships. All my friendships go way back, so I have had the same hairdresser for years, since 1981. It is a man called Hugh Green."

Immensely stylish, Patricia has an enviably ageless image. But she insists: "I have never, never lied about my age. I don't think there's any point, because people can find it out very easily.

"I think, better to rejoice in what you are rather than try and stifle it. And if people find out and they know you've been lying, then what else are you lying about? You know, far better to live and embrace the truth."

Made an OBE in 2017 in the Queen's Birthday Honours list for her services to drama, despite being widely regarded as acting royalty, Patricia likes to be known simply as "Hodge."She says: " The diminutives in Patricia are a nightmare. For the first 10 years of my life, I was called Patricia.

"Then I went to a school where, from day one, the teacher introduced me as Pat, without asking or anything. That was an automatic thing, that if you were called Patricia, you were called Pat.

"And then I got a bit tired of it, because actually Pat Hodge is not a great combo. When I went to drama school, I was called Trish or Trisha.

"There are a lot of people who just call me Hodge, and I think there's only about two, if not three of us (Hodges) in the whole of equity. So now, when I answer the phone, I go, ‘Hodge.’”

Whether Hodge, Pat, Trisha, or Trish, asked if Dame Patricia Hodge has a certain ring to it, it becomes clear that if she gets another call from the Palace, this grande dame of British acting will take it in her stride.

She says: I don't think about it. We should not get prizes for just doing a job. I am an OBE. Do you know what? If it happens, it happens."

• The new series of Death Valley begins on BBC1 on Sunday, at 8.15pm.

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