Judi Dench to ditch the Oscars

Los Angeles - Dame Judi Dench won't be attending the Oscars next year.

The 79-year-old actress - who was nominated for Best Actress this year but missed the ceremony because of filming commitments - insists she "loves" the Academy Awards but isn't planning to be in the audience for the 2015 ceremony.

She said: "No, I don't think I'll attend. I don't imagine so, I mean I love them but I never like to speculate on these things."

For the next few months, Judi will be filming a BBC adaptation of Richard III opposite Benedict

Cumberbatch and she can't wait to work with the "true gentleman", who she has known since he was just a child.

She explained to the Daily Telegraph newspaper: "I knew him when he was a little boy at prep school before he went on to Harrow, his mother, Wanda Ventham, was at the Royal Central School of Drama a year ahead of me.

"He is a true gentleman and a thoroughly good actor, which helps. We start on Monday and it's a huge project, six months in filming."