When you see two writers named on a movie, one of them did some drafts and got the boot.
Taking the humour out of Dickens, it's not Dickens any more.
I'm glad nobody has asked me to adapt 'Wuthering Heights' because I think I would make a mess of it. Everybody makes a mess of it. I think the Bronte Sisters are mad.
I prefer love scenes to be shot up close with a lot of focus on eyes and mouths. Otherwise it can feel uncomfortable and voyeuristic.
The BBC fulfils a wonderful cultural function. Maybe the problem is that it feels it needs to be everything to everybody.
Look at Jane Austen. Her characters derive in a reasonably straight line from fairy tales.
I know that a ridiculous number of classic serials have been commissioned, and that reviews show a reaction against them. The critics seem fed up.
I adore doing classic adaptations, but I also feel their frustrations and their limitations.
I'd love to adapt more contemporary novels. But there isn't really enough story and character to make a really satisfying serial, so they tend to be single dramas.
I remain, however, fairly optimistic for the future of period drama because it's just such a popular thing.
Most actors hate readthroughs - they're exposing themselves before they're ready to, and before they've bonded. But I love them because they give us all the first inkling of what the whole show is going to be like, how each part affects every other part, and we won't see that again until it's all edited together.
People in the BBC are always dying to get out of their open-plan offices.
A distinguished producer called Kenith Trodd actually lived in his office for over a year - the cleaners refused to go in because it was such a tip.
I used to have this Mercedes, a dark blue 450SLC, which was the most beautiful car. I'd like to have another unusual, beautiful car.
I'm not one of these people who say how much better American drama is than English. I find it mostly too American, except for The Sopranos, which I think is the best thing.
