A fine double act - Jay & Judi - tell stories from their past (Image: C4) Judi Dench gets emotional after Jay Blades reads Shakespeare As a double act, Dame Judi Dench and Jay Blades are not going to be treading the boards with a song and dance show at the Palladium anytime soon. But honestly, don't bet against it, having watched their doc on Channel 4, Dame Judi & Jay Blades: The Odd Couple (C4, Sun) . For one, they really know how to tug at the heartstrings.
If you weren't moved by anything in this show, ask the nurse to take your pulse because these two national treasures were welling up for Britain in this show. It was a stroke of genius to bring them together to talk about their respective pasts which are completely dissimilar. Dame Judi is the daughter of a York doctor with a middle-class upbringing, while Jay Blades is the son of Windrush immigrants with 26 half-brothers and sisters.
Not to take anything away from her brilliant career as an actress, it could be argued that his life has changed more dramatically than Dame Judi’s. The boy who used to frequent Ridley Road Market now revisits his “manor” in a sporty little Aston Martin, perhaps bought from the proceeds of his highly successful TV career on The Repair Shop. Indeed, he is The Repair Shop! After a brief stopover at Ridley Road, where Dame Judi – tempted by thermals and string vests - took to market trading like Ian Beale, they swung by the Old Vic where both read Shakespeare, dyslexic Jay tackling Ham.