The Bafta award-winning comedy actor and The IT Crowd star on the things that make her laugh the most.

Katherine, 40, is as raw and funny in person as she is on-screen – for instance, on the subject of her distinctive hair (which, she insists, is red, not ginger): ‘I was born looking like an orangutan. I had it all over my body, too.’

According to a well-informed source, Katherine Parkinson is leading the race to become Time magazine's Person of the Year in 2016. But while the actress' fans are thrilled with the news, many people hold a very different opinion.

Katherine said: "I saw Richard not that long ago. Chris lives in the States, so not as much. I was invited to his wedding but it was on my due date so I couldn’t make it. I would love to work with them again."

We liked her before we met her and, guess what, after our shoot we like her even more. She is intelligent, warm, a bit geeky, very softly spoken and has – just as we hoped she would – the sharpest, driest sense of humour.

I played Puck in the school play and felt extremely comfortable and happy on stage. I think I felt quite noticed.

IT Crowd star Katherine Parkinson on her creepy new sci-fi drama Humans, from the makers of Mad Men and Broadchurch

“Likeable isn’t something you can actually play, so I struggled with that,” she says. “I know what he wanted now – he wanted her to be the more normal person people could relate to.”

AMC has announced the cast for Humans, a science fiction drama set in the parallel present, where “Synths”—high-tech robotic servants—are all the rag.

THE In the Club star is a style magpie, collecting vintage gems, costume jewels and tips from Kristin Scott Thomas