I used to go to the gym regularly and swim an awful lot, but that was when I was unemployed and knew leisure intimately.

At school I briefly wanted to be a palaeontologist, but I was no good at chemistry and physics.

When I was seven or eight, I was bought a fantastic book called 'The Movie Treasury of Horror Movies' by Alan G. Frank; it became my bible. It's packed full of the most amazing photos and is still fantastic to look at.

I prefer sneaking in the back door.

That's what makes characters interesting. If Sherlock [Holmes] had started out being a straightforward man, we wouldn't be talking about him now. If he became one, that would be interesting. But you have to give him somewhere to go, as [Conan] Doyle did.

If not exactly raging against the dying of the light, I was at least a little cross with it.

The first film I can remember seeing on TV was 'The Brides of Dracula.' I was instantly hooked.