What I expect to happen is that my body will fail, my mind will cease to function and that will be that. My genes will not live on, because I have had no children. I am comforted by Richard Dawkins’ theory of memes. Those are mental units: thoughts, ideas, gestures, notions, songs, beliefs, rhymes, ideals, teachings, sayings, phrases, clichés that move from mind to mind as genes move from body to body. After a lifetime of writing, teaching, broadcasting and telling too many jokes, I will leave behind more memes than many. They will all also eventually die, but so it goes.

I am so curious. We had my son christened because there may be a god but, equally, my partner is a science teacher, so I am also completely open to the possibility that nothing happens.

I have lots of beliefs about that, but that will have to wait for another interview.

I will let you know when I find out.

Being lost and no one wanting to find me.

Knowledge seeping into adventure, with a thin layer of giddiness, hysterical laughter and loss of control.

To believe my eyes and not my ears.

Another actress once said to me, “I’ve told you huge lies to make you feel good about yourself.” I’m not going to say who.

I try too hard not to get things wrong.

Not marrying the person I wanted to marry, but now I think it’s probably good that I didn’t.