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Miriam Margolyes has opened up about a major shift in her relationship with long-term partner Heather Sutherland. The 84-year-old actress and her Australian partner, who entered into a civil partnership in 2013, have been together for 58 years but have never lived together full-time.

Miriam lives in London, while Heather resides in the Dutch city of Amsterdam, although the couple spend as much time together as possible.

While their careers have kept them apart over the years, the actress said she is now ready for them to settle down together.

She explained: "I believe that but now I want to be with her, now I want us to live together.

"We are definitely going to. We were both very involved with our careers, we were both professional women, she was a professor at a university, teaching and writing and I was an actress and now I make television programmes, as a documentary maker.

"But, we are old and we won't have much longer, it's important to be together to relish the joy of each other's company."

Gushing further, the Call The Midwife star said she has never grown tired of her "overwhelmingly glorious" partner.

Speaking on the Comfort Eating with Grace Dent podcast, she added: "I have never thought that she wasn't sufficient, she is more than sufficient.

"She is overwhelmingly glorious and loveable and much cleverer than me, much, and I think that's important.

"I don't want to be the clever one," the actress added.

The couple reportedly met through a mutual friend while working on a BBC radio drama in the 1960s.

They later bought a house together in Italy in the 1970s, where they regularly spend time together and hope to settle.

Last year, the Made Me Me star revealed she had begun spending more time in Italy but must "come home every so often" because of travel rules.

Since Brexit, UK residents can stay in certain European countries for up to 90 days in any 180-day period without a residence permit.

"So I'm thinking I might have to become Dutch," she added to the Daily Mail. "Heather has residency in Europe because she's lived in Amsterdam for over 50 years, but we want to be together."

Miriam is back on screens tonight for her new BBC show, part of a project that initially started as a podcast idea but ended up as a documentary.

A filmmaker follows the actress as she documents her day-to-day life and career, capturing a series of unfiltered moments as she travels between London and Australia, visits old friends, performs on stage, and even has an encounter with royalty.

Miriam Margolyes Made Me Me airs tonight at 9pm on BBC Two