At home I have a Tibetan terrier. I'm still not sure if he's a genius or very thick. It's a fine line.

After World War II, the major estates really did collapse.

I think any film that asks its audience a degree of tolerance and acceptance of those less fortunate than themselves isn't a bad thing from whatever culture you're in or from whatever part of any political spectrum.

Homosexuality has been around since humanity began and different societies at different times have reacted in a different manner.

I've often been the guy who doesn't get the girl.

A typical Christmas is me shucking oysters. I love them and I always get them in at Christmas.

You have no idea what's going to happen [in Downton Abbey] until you get the script. We roughly knew a couple of the key points that were going to happen, but when I got the last episode, I turned to the last page to check that I was still alive.