The net is a very precious thing. I hate it when people discuss measures to limit it.
I've always been an enormous fan of comic books and anything that captures the real in a surreal environment.
I used to be a film and music journalist, and wrote for different magazines in the 1990s. I still love music, but the experience destroyed my enthusiasm for film.
I like working with people who respect the intelligence of their audience.
Of course, I'm not saying that news interviews can't be adversarial. Sometimes, you have to be nasty Columbo or we'd never get to the truth.
The writing of 'The Ladykillers' was fun. But once it goes out of your hands it's not fun, 'especially for someone who is used to being hands-on like me.
Whenever I write for television, I plan the story on whiteboard wallpaper in my office, using a system created by the American writer Dan Harmon. It's remarkably simple: a character wants something; they enter a new world and adapt to it; they get what they want, re-enter the old world and change.
Part of the job involves thinking about things and eliminating them. You spend a lot of time coming up with ideas that are terrible and hating them and hating yourself.
I'm not really good at character or plot development. I'm just interested in big comedic moments.
I like shows where the female characters are as funny as the male characters, not just commenting on how funny the male characters are.
I think there is something to be said for churning things out. Motown churned out hits and there is nothing wrong with that.
Father Ted' would be impossible to remake it in America. The whole situation of being Irish and being a priest in Ireland is so different than anything else in America.
The thing that changed everything for me was the Firefox browser. I was pretty bad when it came to computers - I didn't know how powerful the internet could be until I discovered tabbed browsing.
I think all technology should be plug and play. I would say it's easier to set up a blog than it is to change channels on your telly.
People are very confused about how to do things on a computer, but generally, if you hover your cursor over things, it will tell you what it is.
I'm a luddite in comparison with some of the people I follow on Twitter, but a nerd in comparison with many people. But I was always a nerd in other terms - always a big Dungeons & Dragons fan, stuff like that.
There is no 'magic water' that you can rub on a script to make the jokes funnier.
There are producers, like the late Geoffrey Perkins, who have truly great ideas that will fire up your synapses and show you that handing in your first draft is not the end of a horrible process, but the beginning of a beautiful one.
I'm often asked for advice on how to go about making comedy shows like the begrudgingly accepted 'IT Crowd'.
There are some actors who come alive in front of a crowd, and if you've cast it right, there's an energy between cast and audience that can be exhilarating for both parties, then enjoyed by the audience at home.
