The Graham Norton Show

Juliette Binoche says appearing in Godzilla is a wink to her son, Ronnie Corbett reveals Stanley Kubrick wanted to cast him as an ape, Ricky Gervais talks about Derek and Imelda May sings live in the studio.

Juliette Binoche, talking about receiving an Oscar, says, "My son was playing with it and all the gold was peeling off; the naked Oscar was getting even more naked. It was a very dull and grey colour behind the gold. They replaced it of course but I had to return the old one. I would have liked to keep it - it was cute. My son hasn't touched the new one!"

Asked about her unlikely appearance in the upcoming blockbuster Godzilla, she says, "Are you surprised because I usually do arty films? I have never done one like this before but Gareth Edwards the director wrote me a beautiful letter and also my son loves Godzilla. I had to watch it with him when he was a little boy so I said I would do it for him. It was like a wink to him."

Ricky Gervais, explaining why he likes to take bath-time selfies, says, "It's a hobby! I'm in a nice deep bath and I don't want to waste all that water when washing only takes a couple of minutes. So, while the water is going cold, I've got 10 minutes to take pictures of myself and share it with the world! I discovered it late in life - I could have been doing it for ages!"

Talking about Derek, and asked if it was awkward asking the real care home residents who appear in the show to say some of the things they do, Ricky says, "In the writers' room you are very brave and then you think, 'I've got to ask an old lady to say that line!' But they're great. They're wicked and not one of them has said, 'I can't do that.' I don't know why people assume when you get old you don't have a sense of humour anymore. They know what they are doing. They know they are being shocking and they're brilliant."

On the positive reaction the series has received, he says, "Normally on Twitter it's combative but with Derek it's genuine love from sweet, sincere people saying what it means to them. It was quite shocking at first that everyone was so lovely."

Asked if he immerses himself in a character, Ricky jokes, "No. That's too much work. I write in that I am from Reading and you get the same hair, same accent. It's me!"

And on 'David Brent and Foregone Conclusion' touring, he says, "It is pure fun to have a real band. He really gets into it. And when I say 'he' I mean 'me'!"

Ronnie Corbett, clearly irritated about recent press speculation that he was unwell and likely to retire, says, "It was absolute nonsense. It was very annoying. I got a major apology but not matching the size of the error. It was irresponsible. They sent me some booze and plenty of money which I'm dividing among a number of care homes."

Talking about the success of The Two Ronnies, which regularly attracted audiences of 20 million viewers each week, he says, "We were very fortunate. We had wonderful writers who were a pleasure to work with and the other advantage was making eight complete programmes before even the first one went out. We had complete control of the content."

Scotching rumours that he appeared as one of the apes in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Ronnie says "Stanley Kubrick saw me doing a little spot on Sunday Night at the Palladium and said, 'He would be ideal for one of my apes.' I turned it down!"

Talking about his unfortunate habit of getting locked in lavatories, he says, "I have been trapped in some posh toilets including those in Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace, and at Victor Spinetti's memorial at St Paul's Covent Garden I got locked in the loo. I had to scream and shout and eventually someone threw a screwdriver over the door and luckily I was out in time for my reading!"

Imelda May sings It's Good to be Alive in the studio before joining Graham for a chat. Asked if she is always as up as her songs, she says, "I have my moments but I'm not neurotically happy!"

And finally, to the bemusement of Juliette, Graham pulls the lever on more foolhardy audience members brave enough to sit in the Red Chair.