The older you get, the more you realise how happenstance... has helped to determine your path through life.

The Maigret stories are all very different in terms of the content and the way that the stories are told. They're not what I would call formulaic.

[Maigret] is more internal. I think if we made more of these I might let him out a bit.

What directors of television drama constantly tell you is 'Don't act it. Don't try. Don't emphasise that word'. Whereas with someone like Blackadder, even though he's a relatively low key character in a way, he did relish the lines that he had and the words that he was given, with a lot of inflection.

The arts community still has a long lasting cynicism of the importance, or the artistic value, of comedy. Comedy is just farting about for money.

But I always feel that whatever I do, I could do better. I suppose it is perfectionism.

I'm not a naturally funny man. I find that I can only be funny, if I become someone else.