Screen veterans Maggie Smith, Eileen Atkins and Joan Plowright have joked that their fellow dame Judi Dench gets offered all the best roles first.

The four acting legends appear together in a new documentary, entitled Nothing Like A Dame, which sees them reminisce about their careers.

The Sunday Times said scenes show the women, who are all in their 80s, joking about competing for parts.

Downton Abbey star Dame Maggie teases: “We know that Judi gets offered all the roles first.”

Dame Joan, whose films include Enchanted April and Avalon, said an agent once warned her about the seven-time Oscar nominee snaffling all the top roles.

She said the American agent told her: “You might just get a cameo — provided Judi Dench had not got her paws on it before.”

In Nothing Like A Dame, the four stars meet up in the English countryside to talk about their lives and their professional experiences in their long careers in theatre, television and film.

The documentary, directed by Roger Michell, opens in cinemas in May.