What do you consider your greatest achievement?

There was no importance to what I was doing, but ultimately there was.  The diagrams and the whole business that I got the Nobel Prize for came from that piddling around with the wobbling plate.

That I live a life with no contact with arseholes.

Earning a living as an actor for 40 years.

Writing songs that can be handed down through generations.

Being able to write books that entertain people around the world.

Still being in work. And my vineyards; they’re beautiful.

To be working still.

Remaining normal.

I was very proud of doing Falstaff, because it seemed to go well.

The Blazing World.

Still being here, aged 60. If I thought I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.

Work-wise, joining the National Theatre when I was 21.

Staying sane in a career path that tries endlessly to unnerve you.

Being able to communicate with people all over the world through my music.

Deciding what I wanted to do at 15 and, against all odds, doing it.

In 1999, the British Library auctioned off some of its newspaper holdings. My wife and I formed a non-profit and saved more than 20 tons of these irreplaceable bound newspapers, including the last intact run of Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World.

I was the subject of a Celeb cartoon in Private Eye. I’ve a copy hanging in the downstairs toilet.

That I’m still here.

That’s easy. I’ve consistently punched above my weight.

Paying my rent and being able to support my family from making music.