I adore acting; it's in my blood - quite literally - but I can honestly say the most creative thing in the world for me is being a mother.

If I pop off and do something drastic, everyone's going to realise because they know I'm 50. Anyway, middle-aged women are sensational.

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

I'm an appalling flyer. I get very tense, although I no longer weep uncontrollably for no reason - I just sob if there's turbulence.

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

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

It's one of the oldest theatrical adages: never work with children or animals.