If someone opens a glorious Scotch or a bottle of wine, it's no more than a whimsy, but after nearly 40 years I'm used to it. I don't find it difficult not being drunk when other people are, but I get uncomfortable because they're uncomfortable with where I am.

I tend to get starstruck with sports people. I was on a chat show with retired Scottish footballer Denis Law and I just lost it and couldn't talk to him.

If I won the lottery,I would love to buy an airfield and populate it with enthusiasts like myself, and old airplanes.

Be a vegetarian. That was the best advice I ever took. It means I'm not involved in killing, that's the main thing.

I saw a ghost when I was staying at Dartington Hall in Devon in the 1960s. I think there are many different kinds of entities, some are scary and some aren't, it depends on the state of mind you're in when you are confronted. I found that quite scary because it appeared when I was asleep, so it was quite a shock, but the other ones I've encountered, I didn't find scary. I have a lot more understanding of them.

It sounds very pretentious, but I don't lie. It's too uncomfortable. A lot of people think because you're an actor that makes you a good liar, but one of the things I can't articulate is a bad lie.

My very first professional job was with a theatre company in 1965 and the first job they gave me was literally shovelling sh*t. I was an assistant stage manager and they told me to clear out the prop store. I opened it up and no-one had been in there for 25 years and it was inches deep in rat sh*t. So before I could get anywhere I had to clear it up. I thought, 'All these years of training, the best drama school in the world, and this is what I'm doing.'