Music

- My musical tastes are pretty wide; both my parents are classical musicians and I grew up surrounded by music. I trained as a classical double bass player and enjoy the symphonic works of Shostakovich and anything by the genius J.S. Bach. I’ve inherited my dad’s love of jazz and listening to Sarah Vaughan (above) singing Perdido always makes me smile. I enjoy running and if I’m out by myself will tend to stick my headphones on. My playlist has a bizarre mix of Joy Division, Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin and Ladytron. And yes, the music of my teens is much better than the music of today.

Books

- This is where I feel like I should say I have stacks of novels on the go - but while I do occasionally sit down with a fictional text, I prefer something instructional that will help me “do” something. With a teenager and a toddler in the house, I feel my time is at a premium. The last book I bought was about modern quilt designs... That said, I read plenty of fiction to our youngest child. I’ve been woken at 6.25am with him shouting the word “book!” and a copy of Julia Donaldson’s The Gruffalo (pictured) being thrust in my face.

TV

- Thank goodness for BBC Four. And subtitles. In short, Scandinavian TV dramas have me hooked: The Bridge (pictured) was probably my series of 2012. I thought Borgen was just excellent, too. I very much enjoyed the political drama The Thick of It. I often wonder what Malcolm Tucker would make of some political stories right now - some you couldn’t actually make up. I thought George Osborne being “unaware” that his enormous Land Rover was in a disabled parking space was a classic example of an out-of- touch politician.