Found this old (2008) interview with Simon Pegg while tidying up my bookmarks. It’s well worth a re-read and is mostly Spaced related:

“We weren’t being spoken to. As a viewer, I enjoy being spoken to very specifically. It’s amazing when you connect on a personal level. We said: “Let’s write something’s that specific to our own experience.”"

This above all: to thine own self be true. And never hide behind the drapes.