Billy Connolly

BILLY CONNOLLY was said to have panicked Judi Dench had fallen head over heels for him whilst they shot Mrs Brown.

In a retrospective looking at Dame Judi Dench’s life and career, director John Madden recalled Billy Connolly’s fear his co-star “fancied” him. “And he was so frightened and so nervous and I went, ‘You’re going to love her, she’s lovely.’ Close friend and co-star Samantha Bond recalled: “My first day on GoldenEye was the first day of principle photography, and I had a scene with Pierce [Brosnan]. “We made it on a very small, BBC budget and it would have been destined to be shown on BBC One,” John, who directed the film, explained. “He’s in his kilt and she was just beaming at him and he suddenly got very nervous because he thought to himself, ‘I think she fancies me.’ Dame Judi and Billy formed a strong friendship as they filmed the low-budget which was expected to air on the BBC.