In 1970s Coronation Street, if we must discuss it, the inhabitants were all aspiring to gentility. Now everybody is thrilled to be as common as muck and everybody strives to be seen as completely backward and aggressive and lunatic. It is like television commercials. Every single one now features a very aggressive voice, whereas in my youth it was always very gentle and soothing.

I'm personally not fooled by the monarchy. Whereas one can set the Queen aside and acknowledge that she means a great deal to many people, that is not the case…

Most people have nothing to say. And most people give you the same answers every time you talk to them.

The tabloids hound me. What makes me more dangerous to them than anybody else is the fact that I lead something of a religious lifestyle. I despise drugs and c…