If you are leaping a ravine, the moment of takeoff is a bad time to be considering alternative strategies.

When I was a child and I was upset about something, my mother was not capable of containing that emotion, of letting me be upset but reassuring me, of just being with me in a calming way. She always got in a flap, so I not only had my own baby panics, fears and terrors to deal with, but I had to cope with hers, too. Eventually I taught myself to remain calm when I was panicked, in order not to upset her. In a way, she had managed to put me in charge of her. At 18 months old, I was doing the parenting.

The World is insane. With tiny spots of sanity, here and there... Not the other way around!

Wine is wonderful stuff. But so many people are put off by the snobbery of it.

Filming is like a long air journey: there's so much hanging around and boredom that they keep giving you food.

I was very sad to hear of the death of Ronnie Barker, who was such a warm, friendly and encouraging presence to have when I started in television. He was also a great comic actor to learn from.

Your Mother was A Hamster and you Father Smelled of elder berries.