Both my parents were doctors, and my mother had her surgery in the house. There were six children.

If you've got a lot of children, I think you let the other children bring them up more and you just sort of step in and do stuff like every now and again.

My mother felt it was time that I had some parental control, so I went off to America and went to New York.

The best part of learning any profession, when you're really going through those huge stretching escalated times of learning and energy, is when you want to do it so much.

I sort of was good at writing essays. I was never very good at mathematics, and I was never very good at algebra. I loved science, but I wasn't sure of it.

I had a place in England and was commuting from England to Australia, which is pretty stupid, but after two years I sort of knew what I wanted to do, more or less.

I was often very, incredibly naughty, and if I didn't come home at tea time I used to be sent to bed without any dinner. But people used to bring me things: I was better fed in bed.