Helen Mirren says BBC 'must be protected' and slams politicians with 'beady eyes'

Dame Helen Mirren has said that the BBC "must be protected," amid an uncertain future over its funding.

The admission comes ahead of the release of the new film the Duke - in which the acclaimed actor, 76, plays the wife of a man who refused to buy a TV licence.

She plays charlady Dorothy Bunton in the project, who is the worn-down spouse of real-life character Kempton Bunton, played by fellow Oscar winner Jim Broadbent, 72.

Mirren - whose credits include Prime Suspect and the Queen - has shared her feelings about the BBC in an interview with the Radio Times, whilst promoting the film.

Dame Helen Mirren and Jim Broadbent lead the cast of the Duke (Handout)

She told the outlet that the national broadcaster - originally founded in 1922 - "must be protected," with her stating that she appreciates it more having lived abroad.

"It's such an amazing thing, especially when you live in a country, like I do in America a lot of the time, which doesn't have anything like the BBC," she said in the interview.

The actor further commented: "[Politicians] turn their beady eyes on the BBC because the BBC is turning its beady eyes on them. And they can't stand it."

She added: "One after the other, they attack the BBC, and that is exactly why we need the BBC. It must be protected."

Mirren, pictured with co-star Broadbent, spoke about the BBC in a recent interview (Getty Images)

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The Duke is set to be released later this month after a long delay caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. It tells the story of a bus driver who allegedly conducted an art heist in the 1960s, amid controversy around the TV licence fee.

Promoting the film in the recent interview, Mirren said that although it "absolutely has comedy," the upcoming release also offers audiences "real tragedy and feeling."

The film is about the theft of Goya's portrait of the Duke of Wellington (Handout)

She expressed hope that it will be loved by viewers, with her co-stars on the film including Fionn Whitehead, 24, Matthew Goode, 43, and Anna Maxwell Martin, 44.

The Duke is set to be released in cinemas on February 25.

It comes as culture secretary Nadine Dorries, 64, considers alternative ways to fund the BBC, having suggested that she intends to end the licence fee from 2028.

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