Quotes

I would like to be where Diana Rigg or Judi Dench is, but I expect it is as good as it is going to get.

On the whole, I have quite a low opinion of men. I know I've always played man-eater parts but I'm really not a sexual animal and I've never had a voracious sexual appetite.

Whenever I get on stage, I feel safe and in control. Life can be so uncertain, but on stage I always know how a drama or crisis is going to end. Acting is a great comfort blanket, and has gotten me through countless personal crisis. I am a firm believer that the show must go on.

[on her desire to play the Rani, an evil Time Lady, in Doctor Who (2005) again] I'm a much older woman and there's a huge population of older people who, if they're watching television, they can't watch Hollyoaks (1995). If you put a much older woman in Doctor Who (2005), they can identify with it. I think it's quite an interesting concept and if you remember things like Grimm's Fairytales, the older woman is often the villainess, often the terrifying figure - why I do not know, but often she is. I think it's an idea to be exploited.

I have white hair now, but a lot of it, and I'm still very glamorous and so I won't disappoint, I hope! I'll still be wearing the tight leather trousers and high-heel boots, regardless of what age!