To enter a theatre for a performance is to be inducted into a magical space, to be ushered into the sacred arena of the imagination.

When the BBC decided to bring Doctor Who back as a feature film a few years ago, one national newspaper ran a poll to ask its readers who should be the new Doctor, and I topped it.

Many actors have protested about mobile phones going off in theatres, but the real menace now is people texting during a show. It may only disturb a few people around them, but for me, as an actor, when I spot them answering their emails, I am outraged.

I've come to this conclusion: What makes a great actor is great need. A huge need of acting.

My mother wanted me to be a teacher. She had this vision of me walking across the quadrangle in an Oxford college wearing my academic gown.

Increasingly I've come to think that what's at the core of acting is thinking. Most people would say it's feeling.

I hated Sundays when I was growing up in Streatham, south London. Everything closed down and stopped.