Joanna Lumley to embark on first tour

Lumley says: "The thought of this tour... has completely taken over my waking hours"

Absolutely Fabulous star Joanna Lumley is to embark on her first live tour, in which she will reveal anecdotes from her showbiz career.

"It's utterly thrilling to start planning the stories I can tell, and the rapture and gratitude with which I shall greet the audiences," she said.

"I may have to be dragged off with a hook at the end of each show."

The It's All About Me tour kicks off in Belfast on 5 October next year and concludes in Aylesbury on 10 November.

Other stops include Leicester, Blackpool, York, Cardiff and Dublin.

Lumley (right) is best known for her role as Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous with Jennifer Saunders playing Edina

Lumley will be joined on stage by her friend and producer Clive Tulloh, who will put questions from the audience to her.

Lumley said: "The thought of this tour next year, travelling across the British Isles and Ireland, has completely taken over my waking hours. Nothing like this has come my way before. Oh, people! This is especially for you from me, with masses of love. I think it will be fabulous."

Lumley, who was awarded the Bafta Fellowship earlier this year, is best known for playing champagne-quaffing Patsy Stone in Absolutely Fabulous.

Lumley campaigned successfully for the Gurkhas to settle in the UK

After starting out as a model she was propelled to fame in the 1970s as Purdey in The New Avengers.

Her other roles include a part in Hollywood film The Wolf of Wall Street, in which she played Aunt Emma, who Leonardo DiCaprio's character uses to open a Swiss bank account to hide his money.

She is also a well-known activist and charity campaigner.

She helped to secure the rights of Gurkhas who retired prior to 1997, to settle in the UK. She is also a patron of charities such as Trust in Children and Tree Aid, which fights poverty in Africa.

Tickets for Lumley's tour go on sale this Friday.

Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [e-mail].