Steve Ball

What’s the best thing about your job?

The freedom and control that comes from being my own boss.

And the worst?

Occasionally having to work away from home for extended periods.

What is your favourite book?

JRR Tolkien’s The Silmarillion.

Do you have an unfulfilled ambition?

To see all of the Wonders of the World.

Choose five words to describe yourself.

Intelligent, funny, friendly, organised, verbal.

What would you do if you won the lottery?

Retire, buy a castle, put money into a trust for my children and split my time between gaming, travelling and doing voluntary work.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

An astronaut.

Who was your childhood hero?

Neil Armstrong.

What is your most treasured possession, excluding family?

My laptop, I run my life with it.

What is your greatest extravagance?

A suit of armour.

If you were invisible, where would you go first, and why?

Apple’s HQ, to see what’s coming next.

Choose four ideal dinner guests, dead or alive.

Stephen Fry, Angelina Jolie, Tim Rice, Leonard Nimoy.

If you could be a famous person for a day, who would it be and why?

The head of the CIA, so I could learn the truth about all the key world events of the last 100 years.

What is your favourite food?

Fresh, warm, crusty white bread with butter and Marmite.

Favourite drink?

Twenty-one-year-old Royal Lochnagar single malt whisky.

Favourite TV character?

Sheldon Cooper (The Big Bang Theory).

Favourite film?

Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy (or The Fellowship of the Ring, if I had to pick just one of the three).

Who would you least like to be stuck in a lift with?

A screaming baby.

What was the first record you ever bought?

The soundtrack from The Jungle Book.

What are your pet hates?

Untidiness, lateness and poor spelling and grammar.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I’d re-grow my hair!

What do you hate spending money on?

Utilities.

Which three items would you take to a desert island?

Solar-powered generator, laptop, satellite uplink.

Happiness is...?

Spending time with family and friends.

What is your most amusing or embarrassing moment?

It’s not printable.