Wrapped up in a cosy woollen scarf, Dame Judi Dench reclines in a spotless cream armchair. Silver-haired, blue eyes sparkling, she looks like she’s about to read me a story, not talk to me over Zoom about her latest film, Allelujah. I feel like saying, “Are you sitting comfortably? Then we’ll begin”, like that classic British show, Jackanory, when famous people read out fairytales to the nation’s children. Dame Judi has, of course, been on it – just one of the many things that’s helped her to become a bona fide global treasure.
She’s speaking from her home in Outwood, Surrey, where she’s lived for the past two decades. Outside the window is her pride and joy, her garden. “I’m absolutely mad about trees, mad about them,” she confides. “All…
