Author Anthony Horowitz's Isolation Preservation Kit

My soundtrack

This is where opera comes into its own. Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, Bizet, Rossini – I’m transported to another world.

My binge-worthy boxsets

I’m catching up with the BBC One crime show Giri/Haji – it’s brilliant but at eight episodes too short! I’d recommend The Good Wife, a legal/political drama, if you can find it. Not a duff one among its 156 episodes.

My exercise regime

I walk my dog for an hour every day – as per government guidelines, though the dog would prefer to break the law and go for longer. We’re mainly following the Thames up and down: he’s puzzled by the eerie emptiness.

My comfort food

Who’s that woman sitting opposite me? Why! It’s my wife! How lovely to be enjoying home cooking – salmon, stir fries, lots of soup – in her company.

My reading list

Will I finally make it through War and Peace?  In the meantime, I’m reading Trollope and Gissing. There’s nothing like a 19th century novel for total immersion (and page length).

My new skill challenge

I speak Greek badly and play the piano poorly. I’m trying to improve both.

Nightshade, the latest book in the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz, is out now (Walker Books, £12.99)

We’ve been speaking to your favourite celebrities as they pick their own isolation kits and let us know what’s getting them through lockdown. Check out northern acting powerhouse Christopher Eccleston’s, Line of Duty’s Vicky McClure’s and more.

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