Soaps are one of the few areas on TV that really embrace older women. In drama, there's this ridiculous invisibility for women between the ages of 40 and 60. Unless you're old enough to play a grandmother, there just aren't the roles.

At 50 you're more confident, more comfortable in your skin and you don't put up with nonsense, especially from men.

I don't think atheism means one does not believe in a spiritual life. I think it means one does not follow the tenets of the established religions.

I'm an atheist, so it was actually a joy. Spitting on Christ was a great deal of fun. I can't embrace a male god who has persecuted female sexuality throughout the ages. And that persecution still goes on today all over the world.

My father worked for the Foreign Office, so he was away a lot of the time. We were a very volatile family. There was a lot of love and a lot of conflict. The conflict kicked in mostly during my adolescence.

What I do for a living is re-create human emotion, and that's a pretty weird thing to do from nine till five.

If all you're doing is making money, you have a luxurious but empty life.