Clive Anderson

“I like New York. There are similarities with London that make it feel rather like home, but at the same time it's slightly fictional.”

“Research gathered over recent years has highlighted the countless benefits to people, wildlife and the environment that come from planting trees and creating new woodland habitat. It's obvious trees are good things.”

“Well, I was very lucky. I was brought up west southwest coast of Scotland and my mother and father had a music shop, and so I was surrounded by pianos and drums and guitars, and music, of course.”

“I'm pale-skinned so I don't feel at my best on a beach.”

“If I ever had any vanity, then I definitely lost it by being on television.”

“My favourite plant is the foxglove. I think they are a perfect balance between being a garden plant and a wild plant, as at home in woodland as they are in a city.”

“I have done well out of TV, but not well enough to buy football clubs. I'm not sure it's ever a way to make money.”

“I like to think of myself as a natural gardener.”

“Well, I'm happier talking about other people than me.”

“Gardening has just sort of grown on me. I find it therapeutic. And I like smelly things.”

“I like being forced to think about things in a different way.”

“If you are a rich person straining every sinew to keep every last pound in your pocket, there comes a point when you realize you are not just escaping the clutches of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. You are passing a greater burden on to people poorer than yourself, and depriving even poorer people of your support.”

“You can be a famous poisoner or a successful poisoner, but not both, and the same seems to apply to Great Train Robbers.”

“Tree roots hold river banks together and stop the wind blowing soil away, there are many creatures that live in woods and they provide a sense of well-being and look nice.”

“I remember being in China and realising how irrelevant not even Britain is, but also Europe. We're just another remote country that hardly impinges on some places at all.”

“The labour Party has lost the last four elections. If they lose another, they get to keep the liberal party.”

“If you look at it ecologically, deforestation is high on the list of things which bring devastation. You cut down trees to build homes, for fuel, and you end up with no trees left, and you have to move on. If you take the earth as a whole, eventually there's nowhere to move on to.”

“I've always liked trees. And then, growing up, I took an interest in ecology, hedges being destroyed, the landscape being turned into prairies.”

“I try to make myself walk around a bit, but I probably think about it more than I actually do it. Years ago, I did think about joining a gym.”

“I do find myself surprised by the comedy shows that seem to have the same joke week in week out.”