“ Ours was a very progressive Protestant family, but my parents were God-loving rather than God-fearing. We went to church, and I still go with my mum and dad when I return home - it's a family thing. I played flute in my dad's marching band, but I had an integrated upbringing. We had a lot of Catholic friends. ”

“ My mother taught me what it is to have a sense of humour my dad, who was a headmaster, everything you need to know about hard work. My dad is the most decent man you could come across. ”

“ Brain surgeons are dealing with the very last thread of life, and they have to be very confident, but I think they tend to remember their failures rather than their successes, and that must be very hard. Who do you share that failure with? That's why their personal lives are often disastrous. ”

“ In my life, I have made the occasional catastrophic choice, and it's just a case of moving on and learning from it. ”

“ People love watching medical dramas - they also love watching documentaries about the workings of the brain. ”

“ Perhaps our imagination needs crime stories to fulfill some craving we have, as a way to assuage a darkness in ourselves. ”

“ It's a complicated relationship with the place one grows up in, particularly if it's Northern Ireland. ”