My father was my major teacher, disciplinarian. But my mother lent a lot to me and to my life, in that, when things weren’t going right, or when my father was too tough, I had the soft feel of my mother to help me, and she did. And she a lot of the times gave me confidence that I needed to overcome some of the things that happened that weren’t so pleasant.

The man who inspired me most, I think, was Dr. Alfred Blalock, who was professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins. He was a rather simple man with a burning curiosity. It was through his curiosity that he made many real contributions to medical science. I didn’t think he was an especially brilliant man, I just admired him for his curiosity, and for his perseverance.

To me, the greatest master that ever walked the earth. Maybe some could be as great, but none could be greater.

I want to emphasize the deep gratitude I feel toward my dad. He is my mentor, who shaped me into the person I am today.

"The love you take is equal to the love you make" – Lennon/McCartney.

It’s not sudden.

In the series I’ve got massive slabs of dialogue so I had to understand the scientific principles involved and then fake it to credibility.

He was vulnerable to all the sorts of contradictions that every human can be subject to.

The only experience I’ve had, in the early 90s I was working in the theatre and I went through a very bad period, 3 or 4 years, of dread inducing panic attacks before going out on stage and then I got an international film career and they sort of disappeared [laughter].

His name is Barry Humphries but you may be more familiar with him from his character, Dame Edna, a self-styled international superstar. I’d say he’s hitting pretty close to the genius description because back in the 1950s, he asked cultural questions that others neglected to ask or even consider.