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

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.

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

I hope to start enjoying flirting again when I'm 70, like my mother did.

There is one sure way of telling when politicians aren't telling the truth - their lips move.

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.

I'm not very much of a foodie; I like small amounts of delicious things, but I've never overeaten - I'd much rather have a glass of wine.