When I got on stage, I would have a rush of adrenaline; everybody gets it. Normally after the first night it becomes more controllable, and as long as I could ride the wave, I was still in charge.

Not a lot of people know this, but I'm very good at mathematics. When I was an angry teenager, I used to sit in my room and do quadratic equations to calm myself down.

The middle-aged woman is the ground bed of the audience that watches television and yet they are absolutely invisible.

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.

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

Something like 'Sex And The City' was insulting - women all clawing on to their youth when there's such ripe territory in honestly exploring women's lives as they get older.

Sometimes I'll work through the crossword sections of three separate papers.