I think some people think that being on television makes you a sitting duck, but you have the right to remain private.

If I want to run around a field when I'm 70, I would like to have that option.

I'm becoming more squeamish. I didn't use to be - nine years of 'Silent Witness' prepared me for most things one will have the misfortune to see in life. Before, I'd be wading up to my neck in gore, but now I tend to look away.

It always interests me how obsessed people are about age.

I like to think I'm a listener, and I'm fascinated by observing people - I suppose you just lock that in.

I'd been gearing up to working in theatre since coming out of drama school, but it was an exciting time for TV drama - it was the birth of Channel 4, and Brookside was very cutting-edge at the time.

But I didn't really enjoy my secondary education that much, probably because I am a very physical person and don't enjoy sitting at a desk all day. I just dragged myself through GCSE and A Levels, so it suited me very much to go on to drama school, which was very active.