I'm a huge fan of Eighties music.

I never quite toed the line.

All my early school reports from the age of 5 were 'Daniel must learn not to distract others.'

I've never been a fan of directors who clutter a piece with all sorts of crazy preconceptions or weird ideas.

Soap opera seems to be a dirty word, but actually they are the most popular shows we have. People want to know what happens next, people hate the villains and love the lovers. It's good, fun TV. But I wouldn't call 'Downton' a soap opera as such.

The comfort zone is the great enemy to creativity; moving beyond it necessitates intuition, which in turn configures new perspectives and conquers fears.

It's the challenge of trying to evoke any kind of sympathy for a role that ordinarily we would say, "Oh, this is a bad guy" and dismiss him.