The BBC fulfils a wonderful cultural function. Maybe the problem is that it feels it needs to be everything to everybody.

The older I get, the more fun it is to write young people. It's just a holiday from what is becoming old age, really.

An adaptation I was working on of Trollope's 'The Pallisers' has been axed by the BBC... I was also going to do Dickens' 'Dombey and Son' but they've asked me to do 'David Copperfield' instead.

I would love it if anyone gave me the job of adapting 'The Great Gatsby,' but nobody ever does.

I always do like to write love stories, even if they end tragically.

Be careful about the advice you give, especially to your children.

Novels often have leisurely openings; a TV drama needs an arresting opening.