The Isle of Man Arts Council has announced much-loved actress Dame Joanna Lumley will be the guest speaker at its annual lecture in September.

Joanna has had a wide and varied career which has spanned seven decades. She began life as a model and had bit parts in some television programmes, such as General Hospital and Coronation Street, and featured in adverts.

She came to prominence as a Bond girl in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service while she also appeared in two Pink Panther comedies. For those around in the 1970s, Joanna really came to the forefront as Purdy in The New Avengers.

However, it was her BAFTA-award winning role as the chain smoking Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous which brought her renewed fame with the series proving itself one of the classic sitcoms of British television.

Since Ab Fab, Joanna has acted in many successful television dramas such as Dr Willoughby and A Rather English Marriage as well as working with Martin Scorsese in the acclaimed The Wolf of Wall Street, Paddington 2 and playing The Queen in the adaptation of David Walliams' Gangsta Granny.

Outside of her acting career, Joanna is a keen supporter of the Gurkhas and was the public face of a campaign to provide all Gurkha veterans who served in the British Army before 1997 the right to settle in Britain.

The lecture will give the audience a look into the life of one the UK’s most loved actresses, covering her modelling, activism, film and television career, and the evening will also include an opportunity for the audience to ask questions to Joanna directly.

Minister for Education, Sport and Culture, Daphne Caine MHK is excited to welcome such a prestigious actress to the island.

She said: ‘After the success of previous Isle of Man Arts Council lectures with Louis Theroux and Kevin McCloud, we are delighted that Dame Joanna Lumley will be visiting the Gaiety Theatre to provide an insight into her life and work, also allowing the audience to ask questions in such an intimate setting.

‘As part of the National Strategy for Culture and the Arts, the opportunity to purchase subsidised tickets will broaden access across our community to attend this event.’

Joanna will appear at the Gaiety Theatre on Monday, September 30 at 7:30pm as part of the Isle of Man Arts Council event. All tickets for the event will go on sale today, Thursday, March 28, at 10am via the VillaGaiety website: www.villagaiety.com/joannalumley.

As part of the Isle of Man Arts Council subsidised ticketing programme, all tickets in the Amphitheatre and the Gallery will be priced at £10. As last year, seats in the circle are priced at £35, stalls at £30 and boxes at £100.