I remain, however, fairly optimistic for the future of period drama because it's just such a popular thing.

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.

I suppose I have the tastes of someone who teaches at a university in the provinces.

Plan for each episode to be a satisfying experience, but still leave the audience thinking, 'Oh, my God! Now what?

People like bonnets. I don't think you can under-estimate that.

I got quite cross when I heard about Emma Thompson adapting 'Sense and Sensibility.' It was absolutely childish of me, but I thought, 'I should be doing that. They didn't even ask me.' Some mistake, surely.

As a fairly innocent teenager, growing up in a village in Wales, I just thought, "God, I would like to go and hang about Soho and write great poetry and try to avoid drinking myself to death."