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But Jones and Redgrave have such a consistency in how they play these skittish lovers that it drives home the point that their cruel, untamed condition doesn’t adhere to the niceties of narrative convention.

So it’s rewarding to see him as the kindly but shy Fish, nicely paired with Redgrave, whose Poinsettia is more temperamental but also more affectionate and open.

Redgrave died in 2010, Jones last year.

Dame Sarah, who was made a dame in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to para-cycling, had been the final contestant named on the show's line-up - alongside fellow celebrities including Olympic rower Sir Steve Redgrave, TV presenter Michaela Strachan and soap stars Charlie Brooks and Sam Aston.

She held up the example of Vanessa Redgrave playing Mary Tyrone in “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” as proof of her theory.