NIGHTMARE
"My nightmare is Orwell's vision of 1984, that very mechanical, non-human world. Nobody wants a world full of computers and ruled by screens -- there's no way that could be agreeable to human nature."

TECHNOLOGY
"I don't believe that it's taking over from man, and it's certainly not necessary. We don't need all this excessive technology, it's just a select bunch of people who think we have to keep up with the Japanese.
"People's requirements are quite basic. You need food and shelter but anything else you can live without.
"When you consider the amount of animals which are used in experiments for things which aren't really necessary, it's a horrendous waste."

COMPUTERS
"The people I know don't live among computers. It's just not true that everyone's lives are dominated by them. All this glorification of the hi-tech computer world goes against human nature."

TV TIMES
"In my perfect world I'd definitely have television. I think it's a wonderful invention. Simply because you have one doesn't mean you have to watch it all the time.
"It's a very powerful medium, but very educational. It has been abused, but that's more to do with the government than the invention itself."

VIDEO NASTY
"It is frightening because it's gone beyond television to video games, which kill children eventually. When I was a child it was almost a mortal sin to be caught indoors -- now you can walk through council estates and not see any children.
"They're all inside glued to their video games -- these days if a child is outdoors it's as if he's gone delirious. As a result children are very monotonous creatures."

FUTURE FREEDOM
"There's this illusion that children are their own person by the age of three, that they can completely control their lives, and that to interfere is to insult the child's individuality. That's nonsense.
"I hate excessive freedom with children, because the ones who are allowed to stand on the table and talk to guests don't express themselves in a very agreeable way. There's always this kind of boring brattishness."

GOVERNMENT
"You need a government to run the country, but people should have control over it and it should work for them.
"Ordinary people don't know their own strength any more. They've been indoctrinated to believe that they're powerless to do anything."

SEX
"You couldn't have a world free from sex, that would be impossible! I'd like to cleanse the world of sexual stereotypes though, because they can be extremely dangerous. It would be quite easy to do if you had control over the media and the images it presents."

PAST TIMES
"I've got a great affection for the '30s, '40s and '50s. There was a certain amount of innocence and a kind of reserved naivety in the way people conducted their lives and relationships. People's lives were very uncomplicated.
"Today everything is questioned so much but it doesn't seem to make people's lives easier. I would like to see a return to that pre-'60s innocence."

PLANNING
"The common sense for the future is to try and preserve as much as we can from the past. So many new buildings are just modern monstrosities -- they offend everyone."

THIS CHARMING MAN
"People aren't used to thinking in a very charming or handsome way. I think words like that can sweep away a lot of the grime because people are becoming so mentally depressed and inverted that they can't think of a positive language any more.
"The language that people use totally erodes the heart, but modern life doesn't give much opportunity for really inflated language. The art of conversation has definitely been destroyed."

DREAM
"Above all the world should be nuclear free. So much is at stake that if we don't get rid of nuclear weapons we're all in an immense amount of danger.
"I'd love to be optimistic about the future, and I do have a lot of faith in human spirit, but Margaret Thatcher did get re-elected..."

The above article was originally published in the January 7, 1984 issue of No. 1 magazine. Reprinted without permission for non-profit use only.