Rebecca Front

“I adore 'The Apprentice' but I always feel I shouldn't support reality shows when there's so much drama that ought to be being made. I feel particularly guilty enjoying 'Young Apprentice' because you're sneering at adolescents.”

“Every Christmas Eve, we used to listen to evensong live from King's College chapel in Cambridge, and I'm almost ashamed to admit that it was my geeky fantasy to be chosen to perform the opening solo verse of 'Once In Royal David's City.'”

“West Somerset is one of my favourite places: there's fabulous walking with cliffs, forests and rivers.”

“Women have always been funny. I got asked so many times in interviews when I was younger, 'Can women be funny?' And you just think, 'Oh my GOD, just hang out with me and my friends in a pub. Yes women are funny.'”

“Feeding children is like working for the United Nations - getting reluctant parties to come to the table, negotiating, brokering deals. 'If you have two mouthfuls of salmon, I'll concede on the cookie dough ice cream subclause.'”

“You can make dark, sinister, weird jokes without being deeply offensive.”

“Growing up, our household felt unusual because none of my friends' parents had creative jobs like mine did: my dad was an artist, illustrator and calligrapher, and my mum was a teacher but wrote children's stories, too.”

“I'm almost always drawn to ensemble pieces - I like being surrounded by people.”

“I mean, there are people who suffer massive mental health issues all their lives, whereas mine - getting panicky in certain situations, as unpleasant as it is - feels a bit 'first world' in comparison.”

“Comedy is still sexist. There is still this sense that women can't be trusted to be funny.”

“I have a husband who's both honest and loyal and gives brilliant advice, but at the same time keeps me completely grounded.”

“The 'mirror face,' it's called in my house. Most of us have one, if we're honest. Mine comes from arching my eyebrows, sucking in my cheeks and pouting a little. I do it when I'm putting on make-up and when I'm trying on clothes.”

“In rehearsals, you are likely to discuss intimate details of your emotions, as this informs the way that characters behave.”

“I did a dance for Comic Relief in 2011, to Bjork's 'It's Oh So Quiet.' I was dressed in this kind of orange windsock, with a hideous black wig. When I watched it back, it was awful.”

“In my experience, anxiety disorders don't get better on their own, in fact they spread.”

“The Thick of It' is not 'Spitting Image,' mocking recognisable establishment figures of the day. The writers don't so much react to real events as predict them.”

“I'm a saver, but not a very successful one. I'm quite cautious about money, which I think you have to be when you're freelance. You're more aware that money comes in dribs and drabs.”

“When I was at school I was always in choirs and started my own barbershop quartet when I was eight.”

“I once tried to feed 15 kids on a group holiday. Each parent said pasta with tomato sauce would be a sure-fire hit. But one wanted pasta with no sauce, one wanted sauce without pasta. One could only eat it if the sauce was mixed in with the pasta, which another found repellent.”

“When I was a child, headlice were something to be mentioned in hushed horror. There was undoubtedly an element of snobbery in this, since lice were regarded as the preserve of the very poor.”