SHE is known for her heroic bravery in her depiction of M in the long-running James Bond films.
But now actress Dame Judi Dench has been praised for saving a book festival in Ayrshire from the brink of disaster.
Dame Judi opened Boswell Book Festival in Cumnock on May 4 with an hour-long interview about her life and career.
But the festival was hit with catastrophe when a screening of the interview due to play the following morning suffered a technical glitch.
Spectators grew impatient and some even walked out of the sold-out session after the broadcast went blank after only 15 minutes.
Luckily Dame Judi Dench had stayed overnight and was still on site when the technical malfunction happened the following morning.
Festival Director Caroline Knox said she had run into Dame Judi when she had desperately tried to salvage the situation.
Caroline said: “She asked me what was wrong. As soon as I told her she smiled, calmly rose from her chair and said, in the very truest theatrical tradition, ‘Well I’ll simply have to go on then’ and off she went’.”
Dame Judi won a standing ovation from the audience who said the interview was an even better performance than the previous night.
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