Have you ever wondered how great it would be to conjure up a fantasy dinner guest list, liberally drawn from your imagination, and then have each guest magically ghost through your front door at the stroke of 7.30pm for a slap-up meal (which you would have to prepare). Think about it, you could get Aristotle round, give him a glass of fizz and ask him to expand a bit on his statement that 'all paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind'. While you're at it, get Socrates over, ask him if he still thinks the male libido is 'like being chained to a madman'. Maybe invite someone from the Ptolemaic dynasty, find out exactly what books were in the Ancient Library of Alexandria.

You could mix it up a bit, call Oliver Reed, the unpredicatable sometimes explosive, late great bruising British actor. He's bound to liven things up. Or how about Jack Nicholson or Marilyn Monroe? Or you could have guests who are very much alive and with us today: the Sugarbabes, Melvyn Bragg, Stephen Hawking, Simon Cowell, Michelle Obama, Angelina Jolie. And of course - and this is a totally objective observation you understand - no fantasy dinner guest list would be complete without Douglas Adams. Imagine Douglas at one end of the table and Piltdown Man at the other?

• Who would be on your fantasy dinner guest list and why?

• What burning questions have you got for them?

• What would you cook and what drinks would you serve?

• What combination of historical figures and present-day ones would make for an interesting mix?

• Perhaps it's lesser-known folk who would comprise your list. If so, who are they?