I was feeling very irritable. It was that difficult time of the month when the credit card statement arrives.

Sixty felt like a big landmark. Not in a dreadful sense, but none of the other birthdays have bothered me. It's got labels on it - OAP, retirement - and I just wanted to take stock. I wanted to be in my greenhouse at home and at least give myself the opportunity of not working again.

Being a mother adds another emotional dimension, a feel for children that I didn't have before I had one. They were a pain before.

Jane Austen was an extraordinary woman; to actually be able to survive as a novelist in those days - unmarried - was just unheard of.

There were people asking 'Can women be funny?' People still ask that. It's like asking: 'Can women breathe in and out?'

You can't help but feel a little bit like a mother to the younger cast members.

Some of the most interesting questions needing to be asked today can best be asked on television, or on stage, and they can be wonderful, great dramas, but they won't necessarily be blockbusters.