If you put people up on pedestals, there's only one way for them to go and that is down.

My father Philip was an actor and appeared in everything from 'The Onedin Line' to 'Hedda Gabler' with Dame Diana Rigg.

I'm very shocked when I look at television and I see such an aggressive youth and image obsession in the representation of women on our screens.

I think that as you get older, you become aware of everything that could go wrong.

The bravest thing I've ever done is fly to New York. I'm simply terrified of aeroplanes - I am the woman you see weeping at the airport.

When women's parts are being written, they are more and more for under 30s who are nubile and beautiful. Actresses over 40 are finding very little happening.

Inside my heart, there's a 12-year-old girl who has always wanted to be Ginger Rogers.