Biography

A sad legacy of the women's liberation movement is that there's a generation of women, probably my age and the generation just below my age, who enjoyed liberation and who actually have settled back and thought, 'But it wasn't everything it was cracked up to be.' You cannot have it all and that's a really difficult problem for women.

I didn't like Morse (Inspector Morse (1987)) very much but I love Lewis (Inspector Lewis (2006)).

I heard the rumours about Jimmy Savile. I wasn't in a position to do anything about it. If I'd complained to anyone all I would have been able to say is there are lots of rumours but I can't base anything on anything.

When did it ever become OK to speak ill of the dead? I find it deeply uncomfortable how vitriolic some of the comments are about Lady T [Margaret Thatcher], only 48 hours after her death. In more respectful days, one used certain phrases to subtly speak critically of the dead. If someone was a 'tireless and dedicated worker' it meant they never saw anything of their family. 'A tireless raconteur' translated into a crashing bore. 'He was good company', meant he was an alcoholic. 'Held robust views' meant he was a bigot. He was a 'Bohemian', meant he was an alcoholic who lived alone in the most disgusting flat you have ever seen! And so the euphemisms go on. A cleverer and rather more respectful way of expressing a view and summing up a life, don't you think?

[on Julie Burchill] Careful what you say to her. Oh, she's quite a journalist as they say. She could turn anything into a book.