We ask the Doc Martin star, who plays Morwenna, how she enjoys a night in…

Jessica, 41, lives in London with her husband, Ben Wilson, and their two sons, Frank, six, and Arthur, four.

My ideal night in begins with… A pre-party bath. I can spend such a long time daydreaming in there. Sometimes I even learn my lines in the bath.

I’ll invite along… My best pals. I have an excellent gang of mates from university, plus a few add-ons who are basically like family after all these years.

I’ll be eating… Crab linguine. I really perfected it while I was filming Doc Martin in Cornwall over the years, because I could go and buy delicious fresh crab in Port Isaac.

And drinking… I’m a big fan of a classic margarita.

My best-ever dinner party was… I think the sign of a good dinner party is when people eventually look at the clock and realise hours have gone by without anyone noticing. We’ve had a few of those.

My worst dinner party disaster was… A gang of us rented a cottage in Devon and my friend scalded herself badly getting chocolate puddings out of the oven. It was a very surreal evening after that; everyone suddenly decides they’re an expert first aider after a couple of drinks!

The book on my bedside table is… Perfect

Wives In Ideal Homes by Virginia Nicholson, which is full of accounts of women living in Britain in the 1950s. It’s been invaluable research

for my new play, Home, I’m Darling.

The night will end at… I don’t mind at what time, but I’m definitely guilty of sloping off to bed and leaving my husband to tidy up!

My best hangover cure is… As much sleep as possible and a very cold can of Coke, which you can press on your eyelids and forehead between sips. It really helps.

• Jessica is currently starring in the UK tour of Home, I’m Darling. Visit kenwright.com