I was on a tour of a Restoration comedy in 1996, and in Moscow we stayed at the Metropole hotel, off Red Square. The food there was opulent, but in the Maly theatre canteen, there were just a few pieces of rye bread, peanuts, and gherkins. I stood in the queue and burst into tears.

'Spooks' was very much of its time and rather unique, so I was more than happy to be in that as a long-runner - because I think we won't have that sort of show again. I think it was really, really unusual.

It was really unusual that the crews on 'Spooks' were a real mix of men and women, and you'd struggle to see many women with parts that weren't cliched back in the late '90s.

I have to admit to the occasional need for 'Come Dine with Me.' I am the most atrocious cook, and that's probably why I find it so entertaining. It looks exotic to me.

I would like to think that there are more women in positions of power, to actually get these projects off the ground that are more balanced, where the story is about men and women.

'Better do it than wish it done,' is a phrase ingrained in my mind.

My husband says I'm a grumpy lioness.

My two great fears are either not working or working on something that means you can't do something else you really want.

I love being the first person to play a part. I really get a big thrill out of it.

I get quite fearful about interviews, so I sought advice from other actors.

My family moved out of London's East End to a tiny village. The school I went to was supposed to be mixed gender, but there were hardly any boys born that year. So, yes, joining a youth theatre was a fun way to meet the opposite sex!

I come from a family of scrap metal dealers, so becoming an actor seemed like a ridiculous thing to do, but I'd found the thing that gave me a kick, and I quickly became obsessed with it.

'Collateral' poses lots of questions and does it within the format of a really good, tense thriller. It starts at a real pace, and it doesn't let go.

My husband is an actor, and we don't talk about acting at home.

'Spooks' was unique. It took up such a lot of your life - I think we did 10 episodes for the first few seasons. That's six months of your life.

Every interview I've done since I've turned 40, the journalist will say, 'So, isn't it amazing? Your career should be over, but you're still working. Why do you think you have found a career at a time when a lot of women are slowing down?'

I am not a morning person.

When the acting all dries up, I won't be going there - either to the police force or to the church. I'll have to think of something else!

People very rarely know my real name but recognise me as characters from my shows, such as 'Last Tango In Halifax.'

Derek Jacobi is probably our finest actor.

I noticed that, on 'Spooks,' there were a lot of women behind the camera and in different departments.

I could never be anyone I've played. I am so not a detective; I can barely get 200 yards from A to B with the help of Google maps, and I am just about the least observant person on the planet, so I never notice what people look like or how they walk or if they're committing a crime in broad daylight.

When you're both actors, it is feast or famine financially and emotionally in your marriage.

Once I was asked to do celebrity rowing, where they taught people who had been to Oxford or Cambridge to row against each other. That sounded like too much hard work: really early mornings and having to be quite fit, which I'm not.

I wish someone had got hold of me and said, 'You know, children are really good fun. You will have a fantastic time, and you will still work.'

There aren't many shows that encompass roles for a seven-year-old to someone in their 50s.

Once you've sat in a room annoying Derek Jacobi while he's trying to do his crossword, you're prepped for working with the greats.

The best thing my mum and dad did was to send me to the local youth theatre. I loved that; I felt I'd found the thing I really wanted to do.

My make-up call as Cassie on 'Unforgotten' is 45 minutes, and on 'The Split', it's considerably longer. They have to do your hair and your make-up. On 'Unforgotten,' I'm in and out, and I don't have to worry about how I sit for the whole day so as not to crease the clothes.

I find the whole ceremony of marriage a bit like going to work. Putting on a lovely dress and make-up, learning lines, someone doing your hair.

When you're a kid, you imagine acting to be singing and fighting and like the movies. Then you become an actor and get the reality, which is often a lot more mundane. But sometimes it's really nice to run around with guns saving the world.

It can be tough to turn things down, but as an actor, being in demand is a nice problem to have.

When I'm not working, as a family we are obsessed with jumping off rocks into the sea and doing dangerous things.

There's a really sweet spot with acting where you've finished a job, and you've got another one coming up in three or four months' time. That's my favourite period of unemployment.

We're all used to seeing a lot of cop shows, some of them brilliant, some of them very generic.

High-end divorce is a closed world. When I tried to research it, I was really surprised about how little there is out there. I think that's because of the nature of the subject matter - privacy is incredibly important to this level of client.

I just want to carry on doing high-quality work.

There are a lot of women - directors, producers, writers - involved in my career. They are all interested in telling good stories, and good stories involve men and women.

When you're working, you're in the present, but you've always got one eye on where your next job might be coming from, and I don't think that will ever go away.

We bought a sofa with the money I made from 'Thunderbirds,' and I've still got it, and we call it Thunderbird 1. That's literally all I got out of the job.

I'd do anything with Tom Courtenay.

As I get older, I get happier.

Breakfast is a battle. I never feel like eating, but I have now found my way to porridge. I have it with full-fat milk and banana.

Roast potatoes - I can't say no. At Christmas, I reach over for the fifth or sixth one, and I think I could keep going until I explode.

I'd be an absolutely appalling detective... Appalling.

We lived in so many flats, and the more people you could get, the cheaper the flat was. Someone was always sleeping in the living room, and you're always slightly hiding them when the landlord came round.

I've got a feisty face.

You can't escape your face.

You just have to look at me to know what I am feeling. So I would be a useless policewoman or spy.

The confidence and charisma it takes to stand up in front of a group of children absolutely terrifies me.