Dame Eileen rounds on the ladettes

Dame Eileen Atkins, one of Britain’s theatrical jewels, has rounded on shouty female television presenters like Charlotte Church and Sara Cox for promoting "laddish" culture because, in her mind, it undermines what the feminists of the 1970s set out to achieve. "My skin crawls when I see laddish women presenting television shows who almost slap their thighs as if they're in panto," said Dame Eileen in an interview with the Radio Times. "I think, 'Stop. This isn't what we meant by feminism.' It's gone completely wrong."

However, the actress, now 74, who was famously propositioned by the actor Colin Farrell (42 years her junior) on the eve of her 70th birthday, which won her the soubriquet the "sexiest pensioner of the planet", acknowledged the pressures placed on young women. "In my late teens and 20s I was in love all the time. Now girls are expected to have sex before they are 12, which is terrible. It really upsets me when silly girls get as drunk and aggressive as boys."