Middle-aged women on telly is a bit of a hot topic - before, we were 27 to 37, and now we're 40 to 50. You do notice as you get older... you go past 35, and suddenly you're playing baddies.

My mum's from Yorkshire and my parents aren't snotty or posh - they're very hard workers, both of them.

Comedians have to write to survive because you don't get cast for your beauty.

What having a Down's syndrome child isn't - and I feel very strongly about this - is a tragedy. All those pregnancy books you read when you are expecting refer to Down's syndrome as if it were the worst possible outcome, and it's not.

A lot of things in 'Parents' I find very truthful.

One year you go in for auditions, and everybody thinks you're the queen of comedy, and the next year, you're so 'yesterday,' and it's not because you've done anything, or your ability has changed; you haven't been in work because you've been putting on weight and then trying to lose it.

I wasn't hugely popular at school. In fact, I was bullied at school.