BBC Four celebrates the film and TV career of Judi Dench with a season of her finest performances.

Mrs Brown (1997)
Sunday 22 December 9pm-10.40pm
Judi Dench plays Queen Victoria in this much-loved film. Mourning the death of Prince Albert, the Queen finds friendship with maverick Highlander John Brown (Billy Connolly).

As Time Goes By: The First Episode
Sunday 22 December 10.40pm-11.10pm
The debut episode of the long-running sitcom starring Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer.

Absolute Hell (1991)
Monday 23 December 9pm-11pm
Comedy with Judi Dench as an oversexed, alcoholic proprietor of a bohemian bar in post-World War II London, a gathering place for an assortment of lost souls.

An Interview with Richard Eyre
Tuesday 17 December 9pm-10pm; rpt Tuesday 24 December 9pm-10pm; Saturday 28 December 12.50am-1.50am
The theatre and screen director talks to Judi Dench about her life and acting career in a brand-new interview.

As Time Goes By: The Final Episode
Wednesday 25 December 9pm-9.30pm
The sitcom comes to end.

Mr and Mrs Edgehill (1985)
Wednesday 25 December 9.30pm-10.55pm
Judi Dench and Ian Holm play a couple who return to England from the Pacific and try to find a new direction for their lives. Based on a Noel Coward story.

Last of the Blonde Bombshells (2000)
Wednesday 25 December 10.55pm-12.15am
Musical drama co-starring Ian Holm. Newly widowed Elizabeth, happiest playing in an all-girl band during the war, meets cross-dressing drummer Patrick and they reunite their band.

Langrishe Go Down (1978)
Thursday 26 December 9pm-10.50pm
This Harold Pinter play, not seen on British TV since 1978, is set in 1930s Ireland and stars a young Jeremy Irons as a student who falls in love with a woman (Dench) trapped in family of sisters.

Saigon Year of the Cat (1983)
Thursday 26 December 10.50pm-12.35am
Judi Dench and Frederic Forrest star in this unique wartime romance between two Westerners living in Saigon who fall in love just before the Vietcong take over the city. Stephen Frears directs.

Macbeth (1978)
Friday 27 December 9pm-11.25pm
Judi Dench is a hair-raising Lady Macbeth alongside Ian McKellan in the title role. Possibly the finest screen version of the Scottish play

Bafta Tribute
Friday 27 December 11.25pm-12.35am
To mark Judi Dench's Bafta fellowship in 2001, Stephen Fry hosts this tribute. Attendees include Richard Attenborough, Kate Winslet and perennial co-star Geoffrey Palmer.