Dame Judi Dench has revealed that an eye condition she has lived with for more than a decade means she can no longer perform on stage or in films, and is even preventing her from reading books.

The 91-year-old Oscar winner was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in 2012, when she was still taking on major acting roles.

AMD affects the central part of the retina, which is needed for clear, straight-ahead vision. As a result, people with the condition can struggle to see detail and recognise faces.

Dame Judi’s most recent film appearance was a cameo in 2022. She has continued to appear on television, however, including this year’s episode of Tea With Judi Dench alongside Kenneth Branagh. She also provided a voice role for The Magic Faraway Tree, released earlier this year.

Speaking to the BBC’s Today programme about the impact of AMD, she said: ‘I can’t be on stage. I can’t do a play anymore. I can’t do a film anymore. I can’t read anymore.’

Reflecting on growing older, the screen and stage icon—who won the Academy Award for her role in Shakespeare in Love in 1999—said: ‘There’s nothing to say for it at all. [I] don’t think about it too much.’

The condition has also complicated everyday interactions, with Dame Judi explaining that she sometimes cannot recognise people and has accidentally approached the wrong person for an ‘almost hug’.

She has worked to adapt to her deteriorating vision, which made film sets increasingly difficult, and has described radio as ‘important’ to her.

To help her learn scripts, she has also turned to AI. The Daily Mail reported in May that she uses £300 Ray-Ban Meta glasses capable of converting written text into speech.

The glasses were recommended by Sight for Surrey, the vision-loss charity of which Dame Judi is patron. They discreetly deliver an audio feed that can be heard only by the wearer.

Despite the challenges, the actress has remained busy writing and promoting her new memoir, Is It Too Late To Make A Run For It?, which looks back on her extraordinary showbusiness career.

As part of the book’s promotional events, she will return to the stage to host a series of evenings with her close friend and writing partner, Brendan O’Hea.

Dame Judi, who received an extraordinary 27 Bafta nominations during her celebrated career, has also continued to speak candidly about her work. This month, she criticised the 2019 film Cats.

She played Old Deuteronomy in the adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1981 musical, which featured a star-studded cast including James Corden, Taylor Swift, Idris Elba and Jennifer Hudson.

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The film was widely mocked by critics and underperformed at the box office, taking $76 million (£61 million) against a reported budget of $100 million (£80 million).

Dame Judi described the production as a complete catastrophe and acknowledged that she has never watched the finished film.

In her memoir, she wrote: ‘Oh God, I can’t bear it – and [Lloyd Webber] had waited so long for it to be made.

‘What a waste of all that goodwill and talent. I understand the critics were rather hostile to the film. I never saw the final cut so I can’t judge.’

The star also hit out at theatres increasingly issuing trigger warnings before performances.

In an extract of her memoir published by The Times magazine, Dame Judi said: ‘I think they have gone too far. It’s mollycoddling. If you’re that sensitive, don’t go to the theatre.

‘By all means keep the warnings about strobe lighting and gunshots, and obviously there should be age limits for children, but that’s about it.

‘Otherwise, where will it end? The trigger warnings before Titus Andronicus would be longer than the play.

‘And if you overdo the warnings, doesn’t it take away from the audience’s enjoyment of the story?

‘Do you tell them that the butler did it in an Agatha Christie play so as not to shock them?

‘Besides, in the safety of a theatre or cinema, I want to be triggered, excited, stimulated, provoked and disturbed, to be taken out of my comfort zone. Isn’t that what makes theatre and films so thrilling?’

The Skyfall actress questioned just where trigger warnings should stop.

She added: ‘And who knows what might trigger people? Balloons, clowns, buttons… I have a friend who doesn’t like bananas. 

‘She feels physically sick every time she sees one. Should supermarkets put up warning signs in the fruit and veg aisle? It drives me wild.’

Christa Pike has reportedly made progress in the weeks since Tennessee’s failed execution attempt, with her lawyers saying she can now walk and speak in complete sentences.

The 50-year-old was given two doses of pentobarbital on September 30 as state officials attempted to execute her for the 1995 stabbing death of her classmate, Colleen Slemmer. However, Pike continued breathing after the drugs were administered.

She was taken to a nearby hospital, where she remained unconscious and dependent on a ventilator. Her arms had also suffered severe burns.

After being discharged, Pike was returned to the women’s prison where she had been held for 30 years. Her lawyers say she has shown physical improvement since the botched execution.

Her attorney told TMZ that Pike is now able to walk more independently.

Her speech has improved as well, the attorney said, and she can communicate more clearly and put together full sentences.

The lasting impact of the failed execution remains uncertain, however, as doctors continue assessing Pike’s cognitive and psychological condition.

Her lawyer said it could take another month before the long-term consequences of the execution attempt become clear.

Pike was 18 when she and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, beat and killed 19-year-old Slemmer at a job training camp.

Prosecutors said Pike believed Slemmer was trying to take her boyfriend. They alleged that she lured Slemmer into a wooded area, cut her with a box cutter and struck her with a large piece of asphalt.

Shipp later carved a pentagram into Slemmer’s body. He was 17 at the time and received a life sentence with the possibility of parole, while Pike was the only defendant sentenced to death.

Pike’s lawyers have previously claimed in court documents that medical staff used at least seven needles while attempting to establish access for the two lethal doses of pentobarbital on September 30.

“At one point, Ms Pike herself offered guidance on where the IV team could attempt access; one needle was bent at a 90-degree angle when it was removed,” they wrote.

According to the lawyers, Pike cried, whimpered and breathed heavily as medical staff administered the two sets of syringes containing the lethal drug.

During the procedure, she reportedly said, “my arm feels like it’s about to burst open.” At another point, she asked, “does this happen like that?”

By the time Pike reached the hospital, both arms were swollen, blistered and burned. Her lawyers compared the effects of the drug to bleach or Drano, a chemical used to clear blocked household drains and pipes.

Pike’s attorneys said they believed problems with the IV lines caused the pentobarbital to flow into her body instead of her bloodstream.

‘Apparently at no point did any member of the execution team realize that the IV lines were not correctly placed or that the veins had blown and that the pentobarbital was, in whole or in part, entering Ms Pike’s body,’ the lawyers wrote in the court filing.

They wrote that, instead of ‘remedying this failure,’ they prepared and administered a backup set of pentobarbital syringes.

A Tennessee judge has since ordered the state to preserve all evidence from her failed execution.

Assistant Attorney General John Ayers did not object to the request, noting there is no pending execution order for Pike and insisting that the Department of Correction has already preserved the evidence from her attempted execution.

He added that log books, observation logs, medical waste and products, and electrocardiogram readouts have been saved.

It has since been revealed that local and state police were left confused and incredulous after prison officials first reported that Pike survived her execution attempt – with one dispatcher even believing it was a false report.

Police dispatch audio transcripts from the night of the failed execution show that the first 911 call came in at 8.40pm, just one hour after the attempted lethal injection got underway.

‘We’ve been carrying out an execution tonight. We’ve administered 10 grams of pentobarbital. The person is not yet deceased,’ the caller said as he asked for an ambulance.

The dispatcher then replied by asking the caller for a verification code for agencies to confirm to one another that a call is not a false report, which the caller did not have.

At that point, the dispatcher called the Tennessee Department of Correction Central Control at 8.59 to verify the call’s authenticity.

‘We are trying to find out if that is an actual thing that is happening and we need to send an ambulance,’ or ‘if this is someone that is basically prank-calling,’ she said.

The dispatcher was then told that nobody from that office had called police about a botched execution, and at 9.03pm the dispatcher concluded, ‘We have been informed it is a false call’ and ‘there is no medical assistance needed at Riverbend Prison.’

But at 9.06pm, 26 minutes after the first call, the Department of Correction finally called back with a code. 

Still, the news did not reach the gate at the prison as a first responder reported: ‘Somebody is outside the gate at the prison telling us that it’s real and demanding us to go in. They say they are some sort of state official. I need somebody to get out to the gate and talk to those people.’

Finally, at 9.11pm, a police dispatcher called the Tennessee Highway Patrol asking the department to send a trooper to the prison so that emergency vehicles could get through the prison gates.

It now remains unclear how state officials will proceed with her case. Pike’s attorneys have argued she has suffered enough and want the governor to commute her sentence. 

John Healey has sought to calm business concerns ahead of the Budget, promising to reduce the costs facing companies and support firms that generate profits.

With less than a week before the closely watched fiscal statement, the Chancellor used an interview to strike a strongly pro-business tone and reassure entrepreneurs that their interests would be taken into account.

However, one high street leader said retailers would be “choking on our cornflakes” at the comments, branding Labour’s first two years in office “horrific” and “pretty brutal”.

Pressure has mounted over how Mr Healey intends to balance the nation’s finances as the economic impact of the Middle East crisis continues. Banks are widely expected to face scrutiny as ministers look for additional sources of revenue.

Speaking to The Times, the Chancellor said he recognised that businesses, like households, had been hit hard by the cost-of-living crisis.

“I want to be a chancellor who supports British businesses making a profit, as well as the entrepreneurs who challenge convention, develop new ideas and, in many cases through sheer bloody-mindedness, keep their companies going through difficult times,” he said.

Mr Healey accepted that companies had faced “a lot of pressure” in recent years, while continuing to defend Rachel Reeves’ substantial rise in national insurance contributions.

He added: “When I talk about the cost of doing business and the need to recognise it in the same way we acknowledge pressures on household living costs, I am conscious of that as I prepare for the Budget.”

In an effort to ease fears that entrepreneurs could be targeted, Mr Healey has indicated that capital gains tax rates will remain unchanged.

He also suggested on Wednesday that households struggling with rising energy bills could receive some form of “breathing space”.

Consumer campaigner Martin Lewis believes the Warm Home Discount could be increased from £150. The scheme is currently restricted to people receiving certain benefits.

At Prime Minister’s Questions, Andy Burnham appeared to suggest removing standing charges from gas bills. But unless the costs disappear entirely, shifting them into unit prices could leave households with higher consumption paying more.

The difficult financial backdrop was made clear on Wednesday when official data revealed that the UK’s total debt had reached the landmark figure of £3 trillion.

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The threshold was crossed after public sector borrowing came in above expectations, reaching £24.5 billion last month.

Inflation also proved stronger than forecast, climbing to 3.5 per cent in the 12 months to September.

Economists said the unexpected increase in prices could make a Bank of England interest rate rise next month almost certain, adding to the pressure on mortgage holders. Some analysts are already predicting a further increase in December.

Higher inflation could provide Mr Healey with an additional tax windfall, economists have suggested, as frozen income tax thresholds push more people into higher tax bands until 2031.

Although the extra revenue may help cover rising debt interest payments, it would also squeeze household finances and place further pressure on public services unless government departments receive more funding.

Andrew Murphy, chief executive of toy chain The Entertainer, said retailers on the high street continued to face serious difficulties.

Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme what he thought of Mr Healey’s latest comments, Mr Murphy said: ‘Once we’ve finished choking on our cornflakes, it’s extraordinarily welcome if it turns into decisive action.

‘Just to put this all in context the OECD’s tax and wages study this year found that the UK had the largest rise in the tax burden on labour of any OECD country… 16 times the OECD average.

‘It really has been a horrific couple of years for not just business and business entrepreneurs, but those that they would seek to employ.’

Mr Murphy was asked whether it would be enough if Mr Healey only cut regulation at the Budget.  

‘He doesn’t have a lot of money to play with, and we all accept that, but if it’s just tinkering around the edges it’s not going to make a decisive difference,’ the business chief said. 

‘We need the employer national insurance threshold to move back up so we can employ more people on eight and 12 hour contracts – typically students, young people, where we know we’ve got a youth unemployment problem.

‘And we need business rates to change as well.’

Mr Murphy said if Mr Healey held off from taking any major measures next Wednesday that would be ‘better than two pretty brutal years previously’.

Carrie Bickmore could be on the verge of a major radio career shift, but the Daily Mail understands her talks with rival network ARN began only after her hit program with Tommy Little came under threat.

The pair revealed to listeners on Wednesday that their Carrie & Tommy drivetime show will end after nearly 10 years on air.

The popular, high-rating program is Australia’s third most-listened-to network radio show and is expected to finish at the end of the year.

Although reports have linked 45-year-old Carrie to a national Drive role on KIIS FM, sources say her potential departure from Southern Cross Austereo may not have been planned long in advance.

Industry insiders claim the former The Project presenter began considering rival offers after discovering that the future of Carrie & Tommy was uncertain.

Carrie has reportedly been seen visiting ARN’s Melbourne offices in recent months, prompting speculation among staff that the television and radio presenter could be preparing for a network change.

Despite the growing rumours, the Daily Mail understands there has been no official confirmation that Carrie has signed an agreement to join KIIS.

Radio insiders have widely discussed the prospect of Carrie fronting a new national Drive program, but it remains unclear whether 41-year-old Tommy would join her or whether she would take on the role alone.

Sources say Tommy is not currently expected to be involved in any possible move to ARN.

There is, however, speculation that several members of Carrie’s long-standing production team could follow her if she moves to another network.

The uncertainty over Carrie’s next move comes as claims emerge that the decision to end Carrie & Tommy has left members of the production team devastated.

The Daily Mail understands staff had spent weeks seeking answers about the program’s future and became increasingly frustrated by what they viewed as limited communication from management.

According to sources, the team had hoped new contracts would be offered before eventually learning that the show would not return.

The reported decision followed an extended period of uncertainty, during which staff were left unsure about the future of their positions.

Tensions also reportedly surrounded the timing of the announcement, with some staff members wanting additional time to absorb the news before it was shared publicly.

The handling of the show’s conclusion has allegedly left some members of the team deeply disappointed.

For the employees who helped build Carrie & Tommy into one of Australia’s best-known radio partnerships, the sudden uncertainty has reportedly been especially difficult.

Industry insiders suggest the turmoil may also reflect broader changes now reshaping Australia’s commercial radio sector.

Insiders suggest the recent merger between Southern Cross Austereo and the Seven West Media has created growing concerns about the future of expensive radio programming.

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Some industry figures believe the combined business may be less willing to invest heavily in marquee radio personalities, particularly as broadcasters look for ways to reduce costs.

According to one source, television executives are increasingly focused on the financial realities of maintaining high-profile radio programs.

That could spell trouble for some of the biggest names in Australian radio, with industry speculation suggesting programs costing more than $1 million annually may face greater scrutiny.

While no broader programming cuts have been officially announced, the decision to end Carrie & Tommy has raised questions about whether other established shows could eventually face a similar fate.

Among the programs attracting industry attention is Melbourne’s Fifi, Fev & Nick breakfast show.

The popular Hit Network program, fronted by Fifi Box, Brendan Fevola and Nick Cody, has been a longstanding fixture of Melbourne breakfast radio.

However, industry sources have raised concerns about the program’s long-term future as SCA’s new ownership structure takes shape.

One insider suggested that Melbourne breakfast could face significant changes within the next year, although there has been no confirmation that the program is being cancelled or that any decision has been made about its future.

The speculation comes at a time when commercial radio networks are facing increasing pressure to justify the cost of their biggest stars.

For Fifi, who has remained one of the Hit Network’s most recognisable personalities, any potential changes would represent another major shake-up in Melbourne radio.

Meanwhile, Carrie appears to be considering her options as she prepares for life after Carrie & Tommy.

Her television profile remains one of her greatest assets, having spent more than a decade as a presenter on Network Ten’s The Project.

Industry insiders believe that experience makes her an attractive prospect for rival broadcasters looking for a personality capable of working across both radio and television.

And with ARN’s iHeartRadio platform continuing to develop its Australian content offering, Carrie could potentially find opportunities beyond traditional commercial radio.

As for her long-time co-star Tommy, sources suggest he has not been involved in the discussions surrounding Carrie’s potential move, despite the pair building a loyal following through their successful on-air partnership.

Inside Mail broke the news that Carrie was eyeing an exit from SCA following the company’s merger with Seven West Media.

Despite Carrie being popular with advertisers and listeners, apparently SCA is ‘quite happy to let her go’ to KIIS Drive.

Inside Mail was told that relations have cooled and there is ‘no love lost there’.

Tommy’s future is less clear, amid murmurs of a bidding war between KIIS and the Hit Network.

If he does end up staying with SCA, all signs point to pairing him with Loren Barry.

SCA wouldn’t comment on the record, though a source cautioned that line-up speculation is rife at this time of year.