Veteran actress Miriam Margolyes has launched a surprising attack on her adopted homeland of Australia, branding the world-famous Surfers Paradise "disgusting".

The 78-year-old, who holds dual British and Australian citizenship, travelled around the country for new documentary Almost Australian - including making a trip to Surfers Paradise, a tourist haven on the Gold Coast.

"We think we know what [Australia is] like, but we don't. It's quite complicated. It's layered. Lots of things happen. I do think I was right that it's harsher than it was. Maybe that's true in the world," Margolyes told TV Tonight.

"There is a brutality there and a greed in Australia, which I don't like. You know, the developers. Those horrible structures along the coast, that people should be ashamed of living in. Surfers Paradise, it's disgusting. I think that actually shocked me because I don't go there. It's not my world and I don't want to go there."

Margolyes recently courted controversy by admitting that she actively wanted UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson "to die" after he contracted coronavirus.