I started writing sketches with Dennis Kelly, who I ended up writing 'Pulling' with. We entered a BBC competition and did quite well, then started writing bits for other people's shows. You wheedle your way in, write pilots and eventually you end up writing a sitcom.

You feel you can pretend to be young until you're 50, but after that, what happens and how do you approach it?

There are lots of actors, and you need a way to stand out. Writing comedy sketches was a way of doing that.

I think that's important to women in comedy, that we get a lot of the good lines and you're not just the girlfriend or the sister.

I never felt like I had to rebel against my convent upbringing, because it was comparatively regular.

Hackney gets a bit of a bad rap, but it's the only place I've ever lived that felt like a community. I know my neighbours.

I love Sutton House in Clapton, a beautiful example of Tudor architecture.