Judi Dench takes memory pills

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Dame Judi Dench

Dame Judi Dench takes pills to help her remember scripts.

The 78-year-old actress admits her memory isn't as sharp as it used to be, so she relies on a supplement recommended to her by a university professor in order to help boost her recall skills.

Asked how she remembers her lines, she told Channel 4 News: "I don't know how I retain it.

"I take that wonderful thing called Eye Q every morning because the Master of Magdalen College [Cambridge] told me about it ages ago and he said, 'Oh you should take that for your memory, it's wonderful' and I've taken it ever since.

"It is of course more difficult to remember, to retain something, but it's really a question of retaining the story."

Eye Q is an over-the-counter fish oil supplement which contains high doses of Omega 3 and Omega 6.

Last year, the 'Skyfall' actress revealed she relied on her daughter Finty to read scripts to her because she is suffering from macular degeneration - an age-related condition which affects the retinas - and can no longer see clearly.

She said: "I can't read scripts anymore because of the trouble with my eyes. And so somebody comes in and reads them to me, like telling me a story. It's usually my daughter or my agent or a friend and actually, I like that, because I sit there and imagine the story in my mind.

"I've got what my mother had, macular degeneration, which you get when you get old."