When it comes to flying, I am a nervous passenger but a confident drinker and Valium-swallower.

Laughter always forgives.

My father once said there's a correlation between a nation's cuisine and its people: England, nice people, nasty food; France, nice food, nasty people; Spain, nice people, nasty food; Italy, nice people, nice food; and Germany, nasty food, nasty people. And I've always thought that there must be something terribly wrong with the German character - and that there is, really.

He awoke at six, as usual. He needed no alarm clock. He was already comprehensively alarmed.

It's hard to make progress with grief.

When I see a lot of young faces in the audience, it's just sort of sinking in how important that is. Because you're old enough now to identify them very strongly as being young - whereas before, of course they were young, because you were young. Now it's not like that.

It's good fun to create an unpredictable character. When he comes into the room, I don't know what he's going to do - I have to find my way.