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

My wife likes history and documentaries, but I'm not so keen on them. I generally go and do some work if there's one of those on.

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

The writer in movies is about as low as you can get and you really are a hired hand. You are paid a lot of money to be treated like dirt.

From time to time there is a move to do a little less in the way of period dramas, but people rebel. Audiences say we want them. There is a big hunger for them. I don't think it's sentimentality or nostalgia, it's often that they are simply the best stories.

Look at Jane Austen. Her characters derive in a reasonably straight line from fairy tales.

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