Ben Miller

I adored 'Drop the Dead Donkey.' That show defined Channel 4 at the time; it was so inventive and off the leash. ”

You can reveal yourself on stage in a way that you can't on TV. If you drop a character on TV, it's death. Each character has to be ruthlessly, faultlessly played. But live, you can hint at what's going on behind. You can let the audience in a bit and go off the script. ”

On 'Death In Paradise,' I had a CGI pet lizard and had to react to nothing, which was hideously embarrassing. ”

That was one of the amazing things about Doctor Who. Considering it is such an enormous charabanc, a centerpiece of international TV, it feels incredibly small when you are actually involved in it. It is very intimate, very small; it feels like a few people messing about with a camera. ”

Much as I respect Russell Brand's point of view, I'm in the opposite camp to him about voting. I think it's enormously important to engage with the electoral process. ”

I got my first Mac in 1984. I've got an Airbook, iPad, iPhone, the lot. I love that blend of technology, creativity, and design. ”

I like to think of myself as focused in work, but it probably comes across as obsessive. ”

My enthusiasm for L.A. stems from my father, who was a lecturer in American literature at the University of Birmingham. Through his work, our family did several house swaps with L.A. families. It was a dreadfully daring thing to do in the early 1980s; there was no Internet, so you had no idea of what you were getting into. ”