Biography

He signed a seven-year deal for Les craquantes (1985) spin-off show The Golden Palace (1992), but lasted two weeks. "Those old ladies are horrible", he said.

The title of his autobiography, "Stalin Ate My Homework", is a reference to the fact that his parents were communists.

In February 1984, he reached number 15 in the UK Singles Chart with the novelty song "'Ullo John! Gotta New Motor?".

He is a critic of fox hunting and was among more than 20 high-profile people who signed a letter to Members of Parliament in 2015 to oppose Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron's plan to amend the Hunting Act 2004.

He is a keen cyclist.

At least Thatcher was insane. I think that Blair's insane and sanctimonious.

It's a quieter life than being on the telly but no one's been snide in their book reviews like people can be in TV reviews. I'm an intellectual. I'd have been given a medal in France. It's still a struggle here. People used to think I was just a shouty comic but I was doing stuff about Sartre [Jean-Paul Sartre].

It seems easier to make a career out of comedy now than it was in the 1980s. Now, as a comic, if you're vaguely amusing you can go straight into TV, then you play the O2 and then everyone's sick of you.

I did six series for the BBC and that was enough. I've been writing for ten years, which is more challenging artistically.

Everyone I used to work with is still alive and can afford expensive lawyers. For me, the showbiz memoir is uninteresting - you want to tell people something they don't know about.