Mike Scully Yes, even though the script depends on American language and American usage, when we performed live in Edinburgh the laughs came in all the right places. American is everyone's second language now.

Since The Simpsons started, several darker animation shows have come along. Are there things you don't want to do with The Simpsons?

Matt Groening: We won't do what South Park and Beavis and Butthead do. We have a shared vision of where the show should go, there's a consistency of tone and an attempt to honour the characters. Coming here keeps the show alive. Animation takes incredible energy and attention, the more fun things like meeting the people who really love the show help keep it alive that much longer.

Will you do a feature film?

Matt Groening: The business answer is "no deals have been struck"! The creative answer is only if we can figure out how to do something that is not redundant, not the same as the TV show. Every TV episode is a mini-feature. But in the long run, I have no doubt we'll do a movie eventually.