Heroes

Martin Bashir - the best interviewer currently on television. His preparation is immaculate and he is willing to make himself look unpleasant by asking the really hard questions that most interviewers shy away from. I suppose most viewers find him charmless but he certainly gets results.

On a more light and fluffy level, my two favourites are Ruby Wax and Graham Norton. They are both prepared to make themselves look foolish if necessary in order to shake their subjects out of their ruts. Of course the great originator of this style was Russell Harty. He was certainly prepared to take risks.

I suspect Paul Merton could be a very good interviewer if he wanted to be - he often gets unexpected insights on Room 101.

Ant and Dec - sometimes their playful approach can be just as effective.

Anne Robinson - she would be a great Parkinson replacement. When I interviewed her she kept throwing difficult and nosy questions back at me.

Villains

Michael Parkinson is a crashing bore - always concerned about making himself look good rather than getting anything new out of his subjects. Also he's unbearably patronising to young women - he was long overdue a Meg Ryan.

Jonathan Ross would be good if he could learn to listen more but he jumps in too fast. Just like Clive Anderson, it is so obvious that he is not listening to the answer.

Trevor McDonald is always hopeless, though Paxo still has his moments.

The one person I think used to be good but has become bad is Sue Lawley. She has got extremely ponderous and dull. And there's her terrible reverence for scientists, which I can't stand.