How oft do they rescue or ruin us, through whimsy or design or a combination of both, the adults to whom we entrust our care!

What were they thinking? 'It's an alien apocalypse! Quick, grab the beer!

Still, you tend to believe what you always believed, think what you always thought, expect what you always expected

My first favourite book was Are You My Mother? A picture book about a lost bird. After that my favourites changed almost yearly. I loved everything by Roald Dahl, but my favourite was probably Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. A librarian gave me a first edition of that book, which I treasure.

Maybe you reach a certain point in evolution where boredom is the greatest threat to your survival. Maybe this isn't a planetary takeover at all, but a game. Like a kid pulling wings off flies.

We are very much like them: indiscriminate killers, ruled by drives little acknowledged and less understood, mindlessly territorial and murderously jealous - the only significant difference being that they have yet to master our expertise in hypocrisy, the gift of our superior intellect that enables us to slaughter one another in droves, more often than not under the auspices of an approving god!

The doctor frowned upon drinking and often expressed wonderment at men who willingly made imbeciles of themselves.