We all know the importance of a good night’s sleep to our overall great health – and Anna Maxwell Martin is no exception. Appearing on The Jonathan Ross Show to discuss her upcoming sci-fi thriller Star City, she revealed she wouldn’t ever be persuaded to take part in The Celebrity Traitors for a surprising but relatable reason: all the action happens much too late in the day.

‘I can see from the civilian one how late it gets on that show,’ said Anna. ‘That’s a Scottish summer and they’re not leaving that castle until it gets dark. I want to be in bed by 8pm.’

It’s a good reminder of the benefits of an early bedtime. Sleep expert Lucy Shrimpton, founder of The Sleep Nanny, explains: ‘Going to bed earlier isn’t about losing out on your evening. It’s about aligning with what your body is actually asking for, and as women move through midlife, that ask becomes a lot louder.

‘Our circadian rhythms, the internal 24-hour clock that governs virtually every system in the body, are deeply sensitive to the hormonal shifts of perimenopause and menopause. Oestrogen and progesterone both play a role in regulating sleep architecture, and as those levels fluctuate, the quality of sleep we’re getting in the later hours of the night often deteriorates significantly. Going to bed earlier means we capture more of our restorative sleep before those disruptions tend to occur.’

‘Going to bed earlier means we capture more of our restorative sleep’

Getting to bed earlier like Anna can also help tackle our stress levels. ‘There is a strong relationship between sleep timing and cortisol, our primary stress hormone,’ explains Lucy. ‘Consistently late nights keep cortisol elevated into the evening when it should be declining, which can affect mood, weight regulation, immune function and cognitive clarity.’

In short, says Lucy: ‘It’s not indulgent to be in bed by 9pm. For many women in mid-life, it’s genuinely one of the most powerful wellbeing choices available.’

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This isn’t the first time Anna Maxwell Martin has spoken about her love of an early night. In The Times, she said: ‘If I’m at home, the earlier I can get to bed the better. I’d go to sleep at 8pm if I could, but I have to let the dog out later so she doesn’t sh*t all over the house. Once in bed, I’ll read for a bit [...] and lights out.’

‘It’s genuinely one of the most powerful wellbeing choices available’

Adopting a similar approach of some screen-free time outdoors, followed by reading a good book, comes highly recommended. ‘Most of us treat the hour before bed as an extension of our day, catching up on messages, watching one more episode, finishing a task we didn’t get to. But the brain doesn’t switch from full activity to restful sleep at the flick of a switch,’ explains Lucy. ‘It needs a transition, and we have to create the conditions for that to happen. I recommend beginning your wind-down at least 90 minutes before you want to be asleep. For most people, that means by nine o’clock at the latest.’

An important flag: this remains the case even if you’re someone who falls asleep the moment their head hits the pillow. Falling asleep fast and getting high-quality, genuinely restful sleep are not the same thing.

‘When we haven’t given our nervous system a chance to settle, our resting heart rate stays elevated, and that can lead to disrupted sleep in the small hours, or waking at four or five in the morning feeling wired and unable to get back off,’ Lucy says. ‘The impact of our evening habits isn’t always obvious in the moment. You might manage a glass of wine and a late-night scroll and still fall asleep, but the quality of what follows is often compromised in ways we don’t immediately connect to those choices.’

So, just like Anna, perhaps we should all be aiming to get into our pyjamas a little earlier. ‘The reason a wind-down window matters so much is biological,’ Lucy explains. ‘Melatonin, the hormone that signals to the body that it’s time to sleep, begins to rise in response to dimming light and a quietening nervous system. Bright screens, stimulating content and mentally activating tasks all suppress that natural rise and delay the onset of sleep. Think of it less as restriction and more as reclaiming the end of your day for yourself.

Making sleep a priority is just part of Anna Maxwell Martin’s approach to wellness. She has previously mentioned benefitting from Pilates, and described herself as ‘literally always rushing around on a bike looking sweaty and haggard’. And speaking on the Dish podcast, she revealed that her death row meal would be vegetarian haggis, that she loves ‘all vegetables’, and that, despite being a meateater, she adores pulses – ‘I’d have them every day if I could… hold on, I can!’.

An early bedtime, time outside (whether on a bike or walking the dog) and lots of vegetables. If those are the three pillars of Anna Maxwell Martin’s wellbeing plan, we’re all for it.