Dame Judi Dench talks about the Pinewood and 007 connection

In an article celebrating 70 years of movie-making at Pinewood Studios, Dame Judi Dench talked about her experience and the famous 008 connection.

"I did not film at Pinewood until relatively late in its history. I came to film Jack and Sarah with Richard E Grant, Eileen Atkins and Ian McKellen in 1994 – a time of change for the studio. The previous year, Pinewood had had no films on its stages at all. It was a bad time for the industry in general. Yet, just months later, things had begun to turn.

While I was on one stage, Richard Gere and Sean Connery were on the back lot making First Knight, Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt were on another stage shooting Interview With the Vampire and Julia Roberts was filming Mary Reilly.

Pinewood has been home to some of the most renowned film series in British cinema history: all those Carry On films, the Doctor films, the antics of Norman Wisdom. Then there's Bond. For most of the past five decades, Bond and Pinewood have been closely linked. True, not all the films made at Pinewood were Bonds and not all the Bond films were made at Pinewood, but there does seem to be a tangible chemistry between these two giants. Both are such respected names in film that they suit each other.

Pinewood has a great history – one need only walk down the corridors and view the posters of the films that have been made here. There is the old mansion house and the beautiful gardens. The studio is well cared for and looked after.

Productions great and small are treated with equal respect. My own filming experiences – from Casino Royale to Jack and Sarah, from The Chronicles of Riddick to Iris, big budgets, small budgets – Pinewood has always made me feel at home.

Pinewood is 70, and it's an important milestone in British film history. Long may the studios continue as a place of film and television excellence."

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