Michael Bond

Paddington Bear was a refugee with a label - 'Please look after this bear. Thank you', and he had a little suitcase.

As a cameraman, I was paid to stand within a few feet of Yehudi Menuhin performing. I saw Rudolph Nureyev dancing. I couldn't believe I was being paid for that.

The great advantage of having a bear as a central character is that he can combine the innocence of a child with the sophistication of an adult.

I have three things I really, really want to do. I want to do aerial trapeze, I want to do martial arts, and I want to learn Russian. And, because of my life, I'm not able to do any of these.

I want the BBC to be a mass market public service broadcaster still funded by the licence fee... and the licence fee is more durable than many people in the commercial sector believe.

I'm a big action junkie. I grew up on the '80s action movies - the bad ones and the good ones.