Dame Joanna Lumley has thrown her support behind the assisted dying Bill

Actress Dame Joanna Lumley has said she “wouldn’t mind” undergoing assisted dying if she reached a “miserable” state where she was unable to talk or eat without help.

The 79-year-old said she supported the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which was backed by MPs in the Commons last month, that would allow terminally ill adults with fewer than six months to live to apply for an assisted death.

Asked about the Bill in an interview with Saga Magazine, Dame Joanna said: “People are terribly anxious about it and think one may be coerced (into voluntary euthanasia).

“But I’m saying this now when nobody’s coercing me, don’t let me turn into somebody who doesn’t recognise the people I love most, where I’m having a miserable time.

“When I get to the stage where I can’t speak and have to be fed, that won’t be me any more and that’s when I wouldn’t mind saying farewell.”

The Bill would see those wishing to go through assisted dying require approval by two doctors and a panel featuring a social worker, senior legal figure and psychiatrist. It will next come before the House of Lords for further debate and votes.

One of the Bill’s most high-profile backers has been TV presenter Dame Esther Rantzen, 85, who has terminal cancer, and recently urged members of the House of Lords not to block the legislation.

Dame Joanna is best known for her roles as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous, Sapphire in ITV supernatural series Sapphire And Steel, and in The New Avengers, the 1970s revamped version of 1960s ITV spy series The Avengers.

She will appear in season two of Netflix supernatural series Wednesday as Grandmama in August.