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And what of that University of London report? Are we happier in our seventies and eighties than we've ever been? It certainly chimes with something I have observed. I have long believed that my generation that grew up during the Second World War, when life was very, very tough, learnt values of hard work and application that left us more stoical than those who have come since.

All the rigours we went through have put a little stiffness into our spines. We were hardened up compared with those who grew up in the Fifties, when, as Macmillan remarked, "You've never had it so good". The softer life doesn't condition you for longevity.

_{Dame Angela Lansbury is back on stage in Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, aged 88}

So it is no accident that my own wartime generation has produced two stalwarts, hitting the headlines this week. Dame Vera Lynn, "the Forces' sweetheart", is releasing a new album at 97, and Dame Angela Lansbury, a mere 88, is back on the West End stage as Madame Arcati in Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit and winning rave reviews. I first met Angela when she was 14 and at school with my sister. She was already quite sophisticated back then, certainly enough to prevent me, as a shy 16-year-old from an all-boys school, from engaging her in conversation.

I'm not sure if I could take on a long theatrical run now, though I still enjoy performing my own one-man comedy show around the country, and, on occasion, my cultural show devoted to the life and work of Edward Lear.

I fear, too, that my dancing days are over. I used to do a mean Charleston and still dream of the call coming in for Strictly Come Dancing, but I'd have to decline with regret. Despite all the compensations in growing old today, there is still sadness about reaching these late landmarks. I have always been a keen sports player, but I've had to give it all up. First I gave away my water skis, next I hung up my squash racket, then my cricket bat was pensioned off, and soon it will be my golf clubs.

I still do a little exercise to keep my body active: the occasional session on a bike in the gym, and stretching in the morning. And I'm a great believer that the more you use your brain, the younger you will remain. So my latest project is a commission to write a history of Just a Minute, which I have been chairing now for 47 years.

I know others will disagree, but I would argue that older people are now treated with more respect than previously. That, at least, has been my experience – just this week I was presented with a Churchill Award for a lifetime's work in radio and television. The other day, I was struggling a bit to get out of a taxi, when a young woman offered me a hand. Admittedly, it made me feel old, but if you accept it in the spirit in which it is offered, it is lovely.

Yes, regular listeners to Just a Minute could be forgiven for concluding that we oldies face a barrage of abuse about age, but it is all part of the fun of the show. You have to laugh at yourself – in my case, at the running joke that casts me as a dinosaur. The panellists – particularly Paul Merton and Gyles Brandreth – are just pulling my leg.

After all, I've spent a lot of my working life being the straight man. It is part of the success of Just A Minute, but, more widely, I find, it helps remove stress.

And, if we are going to embrace this golden age for growing old, stress is the very last thing we need.