Sally Phillips

“I'm a big fan of community, and I think independence is over-rated.”

“A Local Government Stationery Store is something to behold. It's like walking through the back of a cupboard into a really dull Narnia.”

“What having a Down's syndrome child isn't - and I feel very strongly about this - is a tragedy. All those pregnancy books you read when you are expecting refer to Down's syndrome as if it were the worst possible outcome, and it's not.”

“I have three boys, so I live in a household full of testosterone.”

“I truly would love to be a designer-label girl, but I am very much High Street.”

“I don't leave London, really, and I don't do theatre, because I want to put the kids to bed.”

“I can make a virtue of slapdash. Slapdash can give you courage.”

“I definitely used to write a lot at school. Comic poetry and drawings about people.”

“My first film crush was Mark Lester as Oliver Twist in the Carol Reed film.”

“Red carpets and dressing up are a part of work that I enjoy less than some people.”

“I have a lot of funny friends, though not everyone's funny all the time. Doon Mackichan's my funniest friend in the pub; Nina Conti's the funniest with a monkey.”

“I start the day with the intention of doing 4,000 sit-ups but then have to work.”

“I'm sorry to say I'm very lizard-like. My skin is dry, so covering my face in greasy antioxidants is a better alternative.”

“I once had a friend who did the hair for sci-fi movies, and after a particularly bad break-up I stupidly went to her salon and told her she could do anything she liked. She dyed the bottom cherry red and the top peroxide blonde.”

“The only way I'll ever run a marathon is if I'm involved in the administration.”

“When I'm depressed, I definitely comfort eat, but I also eat when I'm happy. The only time I don't eat is if I am terribly nervous.”

“TV feels quite constipated, and the thing I find particularly difficult is the branding of the channels where it's not 'Is it a good script?' but 'Is it a BBC2 script?'”

“Getting a new passport took me a stupid amount of time. I had to go back five times with different photographs because they kept saying I was smiling, which is against the rules. I was not smiling.”

“All I want to do really is get married and be a matriarch.”

“I'm very devoted to my kids - I'm completely blind to their faults.”