"I guess the first one would be the Mike Leigh movie, Naked. The performances in the movie are so great. David Thewlis — it’s just one of the greatest performances I’ve ever seen. And the movie — they improvised to find a script. They improvised for months and months, and then Mike Leigh writes a script based on the improv, and you can tell that it’s come from such a pure place, because it’s natural for all the actors, but it’s also just the — walking around London, and it’s just incredible. And also, my favorite actress of all time is Katrin Cartlidge, and she’s in that movie. She’s ridiculous in it, she’s so good."

"When I finally set off for Gombe many people felt it would be a wonderful opportunity for me to spend hours reading. A couple of people even suggested I take a good book to read while I was waiting for chimpanzees to arrive in a fruiting tree, or when I was sitting, hoping to see some, on the peak. I was shocked: how could I be immersed in the world of the wild chimpanzees if I was reading books about another place, another time. But I did have one book with me – I was reading it when I left London. It was Monica Dickens One Pair of Hands. I read it many times when I had malaria!"

"Well I guess my first one has to be Withnail and I, the 1987 Bruce Robinson classic. You know, the plot is one that would get you laughed out of any Hollywood studio: Two unemployed actors go on a holiday, drinking, to one of their uncle’s cottages for the weekend; but it’s one of the most deeply rich, brilliant, tragicomic tales of male friendship. I actually remember seeing it when I was a kid, and walking out of the theater in London — and by the way, it did not do well at the time it was released; it was a tiny little film — but I remember thinking that I wanted to become a filmmaker after that."

"The story of singer Sally Bowles in the Weimar Republic, which came out late in 1972, into a very dreary Britain. I think of it as a glam-rock document, really: all those fantastic songs, confined to the stage, plus the brilliant makeup, in this frightening city. The notion of “divine decadence” was very intriguing when you were an 18-year-old student from Newcastle, recently arrived in London. It also had an impact on punk – look at Siouxsie Sioux: obviously influenced by Liza Minnelli. My friends and I would listen to the soundtrack in our Tottenham student flat, back-to-back with Lou Reed’s Transformer and Roxy Music’s second album. It had the same impact."

"I'm especially partial to this one because it has the song 'First Born', which is actually not about me specifically, it's about all first-born sons. But nonetheless, I identify it as my kind of jewel to wear – I share that position with Jesus and Moses, there are a few of us. And it's funny: we did the Christmas shows recently in London and Sophie Ellis-Bextor sang that song, and as I was doing back-up, I was once again reminded of how lucky I was to receive such attention, care and unabashed love from my mother. Without that song, and that album, I don't think I'd be who I am today as an artist."