Jo on the go

BACK in 1976, just as Demis Roussos topped the UK charts with Forever and Ever, and Nana Mouskouri released her album Songs of the British isles, Joanna Lumley became a household name in The New Avengers.

Of course, there’s been a lot of water under the bridge since then. Demis and Nana are enjoying an easier life, but Ms Lumley shows little sign of settling for a quiet life just yet.

Aside from prepping assorted new projects, she’s been touring one of the most beautiful places on Earth, as we see in Joanna Lumley’s Greek Odyssey.

While exploring the history of its inhabitants, the stage and screen veteran visits some of the most significant sites of the ancient empire and also meets people who carry on the old traditions.

Her journey starts in Athens with a trip to the Parthenon, a temple to the goddess Athena built nearly 2,500 years ago.

From there, she treks around the southern part of the country, encountering modern Greeks still influenced by this ancient era – including marble-cutters who continue to use the same tools as their ancestors.

And at Epidaurus, one of the best-surviving amphitheatres, she meets the aforementioned music legend herself, Nana Mouskouri, who – in order to demonstrate the perfect acoustics – gives a rare performance.

In person, Ms Lumley has lost little of the poise or grace that made her a star all those years ago. And when it comes to reflecting on the show that made her name, she still has total recall. So, was she amazed by the overnight fame? ‘‘It was extraordinary,’’ she recalls. ‘‘You don’t think it will ever happen to you.

THE story of the amazing strength of Hayley, the World’s Oldest Teenager is now known the world over. Hayley Okines is an inspiration, even more so because this year she celebrates her 13th birthday – the birthday her family were told she’d never see.

Hayley suffers from the rare genetic condition progeria, which causes her to age eight times faster than usual. At the time she was diagnosed, the average age of death was 13, but medical advancements have meant she can now enter her teens with the hope that she won’t follow the same fate of so many of her friends.

Hayley is no stranger to the camera – she has, after all, been filmed on four other occasions – but for the first time, she’s telling her own story, showing how in many ways, she’s just like a normal teenager. Until, that is, she suffers a dislocated hip – an unwanted reminder that they cannot stop her body from degenerating.

THE competition part of The Great British Bake Off has now come to an end, but don’t worry, anyone missing the thrill of gazing at deliciouslooking cakes and breads need not be reduced to browsing through the cookery section in their local bookshop or pressing their nose up against the baker’s window.

Instead, they can watch this special episode, which sees judges Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry proving exactly why they are qualified to pass judgement on other people’s culinary creations.

In this final masterclass, they’ll be providing us with more recipes and tips, including the best way to prepare a pork pie.

If they’re home-made, at least you’ll know exactly where the meat has come from, especially if you follow the experts’ advice and use pork loin and quail’s egg. Maybe they’ll even explain what’s in the jelly.

For the more sweet-toothed, there’s also chocolate roulade, traditional iced fingers and sachertorte.