If you look at that incredible burst of fantastic characters that emerged in the late 19th century/early 20th century, you can see so many of the fears and hopes of those times embedded in those characters. Even in throwaway bits of contemporary culture you can often find some penetrating insights into the real world around us.

I love films that are made with almost no budget.

I didn't put you in a prison, Evey. I just showed you the bars.

I've always wanted to explore characters of all races, all genders, all ages. It just seems to me to be a natural way to approach any kind of storytelling.

I’ve known a lot of people go mad over the years, and it is more distressing than people dying. People dying is quite natural, people going mad is the complete antithesis of that.

Our masters have not heard the people's voice for generations and it is much, much louder than they care to remember.

The magician to some degree is trying to drive him or herself mad in a controlled setting, within controlled laws.