Judi Dench and Jay Blades explain origin of their unlikely friendship
Dame Judi and Jay: The Odd Couple followed The Repair Shop host and his friendship with the Oscar-winning acting legend.
What did you miss?
There aren't many circumstances in which the 89-year-old acting legend Dame Judi Dench would become best friends with The Repair Shop presenter Jay Blades, who's just 54 years old. However, that's the driving force behind Channel 4 documentary Dame Judi and Jay: The Odd Couple.
The documentary followed Dench and Blades as they carried out something of a cultural exchange, showing each other locations and experiences crucial to their lives. They also answered perhaps the most important question: how did they become friends in the first place?
What, how and why?
Blades and Dench addressed the unusual status of their friendship in the very first moments of the documentary. In voiceover, Blades said: "Why is Jay Blades, who fixes furniture on the telly, now in the home of Britain's best-loved actor, Dame Judi Dench?"
Dench then took up the story, adding: "Well, ever since we met at The Repair Shop three years ago, we've become the very best of friends."
The legendary thespian appeared on a special episode of The Repair Shop filmed at the Edinburgh TV Festival in 2022, having previously handed over a broken pocket watch she had gifted to her late husband Michael on their first anniversary.
Watch: Judi Dench appears on The Repair Shop
The show's talented team of restorers were able to get the timepiece working again, which left Dench overcome with emotion as she said the restoration was "more than I could possibly hope for". Since then, the duo have remained in touch.
"There's a lot we don't know about the very different journeys that have brought us together," said Blades of his friendship with Dench. "Me and Judi come from completely different worlds. I don't think we've got anything in common, to tell you the truth."
As for Dench, she was on typically mischievous form when asked to describe the differences between herself and her new friend. She said: "He's very tall. I'm amazed we can hear each other, he's so tall. He was born in something like 1970... pathetic."
What else happened on Dame Judi and Jay: The Odd Couple?
The documentary saw both Dench and Blades end up in fish out of water scenarios as they experienced some of the most important places to each other. Blades took Dench to Ridley Road Market in Hackney where she had a go at selling plantains from a stall, while Dench encouraged Blades to perform a Shakespearean soliloquy at The Old Vic theatre in the West End.
Throughout, the duo's adorable chemistry kept the documentary running and it proved to be a terrific mix of generations. There likely wasn't a dry eye in any household watching the show.
Dame Judi and Jay: The Odd Couple is available to stream on Channel 4.
