I have a stepladder. It's a very nice stepladder but it's sad that I never knew my real ladder.

British fans are exceptional, but the American fans are something else. Some of them fly 500 miles to stand in line for three hours, just to meet me, then when they do they collapse.

My life has been, I suppose, the most incredible series of highs and lows.

It's evolve or die, really, you have to evolve, you have to move on otherwise it just becomes stagnant.

Critics called me 'egregious' - I had to look that one up - and 'creepy', but now I don't read them, I weigh them.

There was never any career plan. When 'Red Dwarf' started I thought we were doing a curious little sitcom on BBC2, I didn't think I was becoming an actor. I didn't see that 21 years later I'd still be talking about it, let alone filming a new one. For me everything's always been an accident.

I've been very lucky, this is my 30th year on TV.