Dame Helen Mirren "absolutely loves" working with Tom Hardy.

The 80-year-old actress has again voiced her support for her MobLand co-star amid reports his future on the show had been in doubt until recent clear-the-air talks with show bosses following claims he had "clashed with producers".

Asked about the uncertainty surrounding Tom's future, Helen told Entertainment Weekly: "Tom is very much in.

"The work that we do, we're always in a new world, in a different situation, working with different people, having to create a new family, a new situation. And sometimes there's a squeak and an awkwardness going on and people are not toast and butter. In a way, those things can concentrate the mind, because you realise the value in what you've got.

"And I hope that's what people realised with MobLand. It's a great show, people love doing it, people love watching it, and it sorted itself out."

Helen stressed she and co-star Pierce Brosnan had previously voiced their support for Tom because they "love" working with him, not because they had been asked to defend the situation.

She said: "I did not get roped into it. No one asked me. I was simply saying the truth of me and my situation and where we stand on this, and incidentally Pierce also did [the same].

"We absolutely love working with this guy, we love doing the show, and we would love to continue, and that's all there really is to it. But we weren't roped into anything."

And the veteran actress hopes her character Maeve Harrigan gets to share more scenes with Tom's Harry in future episodes because she loves to "play" with the 48-year-old actor.

She said: "I'm really hoping we go for another season, and if and when we do, I'm really hoping I get to play more with Tom, because he's an extraordinary, extraordinary actor, and it's always lovely to get to grips with that kind of talent.

"There's so much danger because of what Tom does so brilliantly: He plays dangerous but so quietly, so surreptitiously, so controlled. Maeve is the absolute opposite; whatever's on the tip of her mind just comes out. She's very verbal, she loves put downs. So, whereas Pierce and I are toast and butter, Maeve and Harry are chalk and cheese."