So many roles for women demand that you make the audience fall in love with you or sympathise with you.

As we have more women in power, so the plays and the TV dramas are reflecting what's happening.

For me, compatibility is a sense of humour, being able to laugh together; that is very important.

So many roles for women demand that you make the audience fall in love with you or sympathise with you.

I don't treasure things much - just people. And pets.

I do still get the odd fan letter about The Good Life, clearly written by somebody aged 18, who says: Will you send a photograph? And I think: Maybe it's kinder not to. I'm deeply into my 50s now.

I think very few people do find a relationship where, every moment of every day, everything they do comes together. That's why, in a nutshell, everyone loved Barbara in 'The Good Life.' She was the perfect partner. It was a formula. She wasn't glamorous. She wasn't clever. But she was a good partner. That's too easy, too perfect.