The most watched programme on the BBC, after the news, is probably 'Doctor Who.' What has happened is that science fiction has been subsumed into modern literature. There are grandparents out there who speak Klingon, who are quite capable of holding down a job. No one would think twice now about a parallel universe.

The reason that clichés become clichés is that they are the hammers and screwdrivers in the toolbox of communication.

Fantasy is an exercise bicycle for the mind. It might not take you anywhere, but it tones up the muscles that can.

It is important that we know where we come from, because if you do not know where you come from, then you don't know where you are, and if you don't know where you are, you don't know where you're going. And if you don't know where you're going, you're probably going wrong.

Journalism makes you think fast. You have to speak to people in all walks of life. Especially local journalism.

...no-one is finally dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away... The span of someone's life, they say, is only the core of their actual existence.

The kind of accidents you prefer to call...accidents.