Unmissable TV?
I like a really good documentary where I can learn something. I really enjoyed Kate Humble: Living With Nomads. It was different and didn’t feel like something that had been done before. And it made me debate things in my own head. I live in South Africa now and there’s nothing like British television. There really isn’t. There’s a real culture of watching television in Britain that there isn’t in other countries. Because we have the BBC, which everyone watches, there’s a chance we might all have seen the same things so we can talk about it the next day.
Earliest TV memory?
Play School. That shows how old I am! I still remember the toys they had, like Humpty, Little Ted and Hamble. They stay in your head like nothing else, those memories.
Guilty pleasure?
Strictly Come Dancing. I really enjoy it and I desperately want to do it. And I’ve never been asked! I can’t believe how many interviews I’ve mentioned it in and it’s still never happened. Maybe the problem is that I trained as a dancer so they might think it wasn’t fair.
TV turn-off?
There are an awful lot of tacky reality programmes at the moment. I always wish those people could step away from themselves and understand how badly they’re coming across. I can’t imagine what it must be like working on these shows. A lot of television has become a bit like going to the circus to look at the two-headed woman. It’s a big step backwards, I think.
Mastermind specialist subject?
Doctor Who. My son and I have got really into it. Whenever there’s an evening when we’re not doing anything we’ll sit down and watch it. They’re brilliant children’s programmes. I can’t believe how scary it still is. We’ve just watched the one where aliens squeezed themselves into the bodies of fat politicians and gave them terrible wind. It’s very funny and the variety is astonishing.
Watch this year’s Enter Eden shorts at edentv.co.uk/shorts
