When my daughter and my stepdaughters were feeling unhappy, we used to pretend to unlock something in their heart and then pour golden liquid into them, and it always warmed them. For me, that’s what love feels like – a warm feeling inside.

Scary, because when you really love, it means that you are really scared of losing it as well.

Comforting, solid, unconditional, a drug.

Love is comfort and warmth, being accepted as you are.

Losing my marbles.

To my parents for all the mess-ups. There have been times when I’ve been going through something and I’ve thought, God, I’m so glad my mum and dad are dead, because they don’t have to go through it with me.

Filming a TV show in a field in the snow in February in the Dublin hills for 14 hours; the director said, “We’re not going to get that shot today.”

Cowardice. There are so many issues that I would like to express opinions about but I’m too scared to stick my head above the parapet because of the social media pile-on.

I was born in 1964, in the most working-class area of Liverpool, so the N-word was bandied around a lot.

A Rolls-Royce. I met my wife, Jackie, when I was filming a Lynda La Plante drama called The Governor. I fell in love with her instantly and I was bullshitting that I had a Rolls-Royce. When I finished filming, she decided to leave her country and come and live with me in London. On the way to the airport, I phoned my PA and said, “Go and buy a Rolls-Royce.”