Unmisssable show?
MasterChef is pretty good. Cooking shows generally. Diners, Drive-ins And Dives on Food Network is another good one. But they haven’t asked me to be on to Celebrity MasterChef. I haven’t reached those heights yet. Maybe in 15 years.
Earliest TV memory?
Watching Spitting Image was one of the first. That was the first time I did impressions. I could do complete skits off that show when I was like, three. I could do Prince Charles, the Queen and Prince Philip. I was a natural mimic, I guess. And then Friday night comedies on Channel 4 like Cheers and Roseanne.
Bring back?
CHiPs. Men on motorbikes with guns and shiny helmets? You can’t beat it. I used to have a helmet, toy gun and badge set from that show. I always used to put stuff like that on my Christmas list. And then down to Argos we’d go.
Mastermind specialist subject?
Neighbours between 1988 and 1992. I liked Des a lot. And Henry was always funny. And Joe Mangel. Bronwyn and Henry’s will-they, won’t-they situation going on. I miss watching TV and thinking they were all real. I used to feel like that about Neighbours.
Guilty pleasure?
There’s a really geeky YouTube channel which I love. It’s a guy called Oliver Harper. He makes documentaries about films. He’s a real movie buff – there’s loads of trivia and detail. I’ve just read Christopher Reeve’s autobiography and started getting interested in his movie career. And it turns out Oliver Harper has done a film about Superman 4 so I’ve been watching that. They’re really good if you’re trying to write a script: there’s loads of stuff about how writing works.
Pitch us a TV show?
The Kayvan Novak Guide to Persian Cookery. It’s pretty self-explanatory! My signature dish is a khoresht fesenjan. It’s a stew with pomegranate and walnuts.
SunTrap, Wed, 10.35pm, BBC1. The series is available on DVD from 6 Jul
