It’s tough and it should be tough – it should never be easy to be given millions of pounds to make a drama. The coalition government is doing terrible things to the BBC, but drama will survive even if we end up putting on a play in a backroom of a pub.

I hate the idea that I have to represent any particular section of society; I just write good telly, that’s all.

Maybe that’s when bad scripts are written, when you choose the theme first. I consider that I’ve something to say when I’ve thought of a person, a moment, a single beat of the heart, that I think is true and interesting, and therefore should be seen.

I love having debates with people when they are debates but some people, you just can’t. Some people shouldn’t be given the oxygen.

Tea! That’s all I needed! Good cup of tea! Super-heated infusion of free-radicals and tannin, just the thing for healing the synapses.

There’s nothing better than a party that turns into a death trap.

My God, that scene in Monster Inc. where the monsters realise that their entire world is founded on hurting children -look at that for a change! Two galumphing cartoon characters making a shattering realisation about their world and their role in sustaining it. A truly epic moment. It’s stunning.

Wilf: God bless the cactuses! The Doctor: That’s cactI. Alien: And that’s racist!

Rose Tyler: Can’t you come through properly? The Doctor: Then the whole thing would fracture. The two universes would collapse. Rose Tyler: So?

Fun, that’s the word I keep on using. That’s the word I worry about when other writer’s scripts get too dark. Optimistic. Fun. And to be optimistic and have fun there’s got to be a darkness there. I think that’s a very British attitude.