Something about John Cleese was always very unsettled, I felt. There was always something else he wanted to do. He seemed constantly driven by this sense that there was a nirvana somewhere; some unique place...

I have been unusually blessed in that I’ve been allowed to pursue two strands of a career that both delight me and seem to please the public.

There is nothing better than playing a scene with John Cleese or Maggie Smith. It’s electric. But I don’t think I’m the sort of person who needs to have an outer ego in order to...

I do have high standards. I look at everything I have done and think, ‘Why wasn’t that better?’ Part of my motivation is from crippling self-doubt – I have got to prove myself wrong.

Fame changes everything. When you’re well-known, you’re expected to be different. Some people assume you must have a yacht and four homes. Or that you’re famous because you are ‘A Decent Man’.

I am certainly more interested in interviewing than being interviewed. Sometimes you find yourself attacked from the start.

I would love to go to Iran. The island of Madagascar, everyone says is pretty exotic, or the wonderful Namibian desert.

My parents have been married forty-two years. I wonder how many of those were happy.

I was very bad at projecting my voice. I used to do this Gumby Flower Arranging sketch which involved shouting, and I could never do it right, and at one point my voice went completely.

I always wanted to be an explorer, but – it seemed I was doomed to be nothing more than a very silly person.

I’m not good at confrontation. I know my strengths. I like company. And I am not a great arguer… I do find it much easier talking to people I like about things we both like.