Shakespeare speaks for the human heart but Dickens speaks for the social man and for injustices.

My mother wanted me to be a teacher. She had this vision of me walking across the quadrangle in an Oxford college wearing my academic gown.

I've come to this conclusion: What makes a great actor is great need. A huge need of acting.

Everything that we have gone through, are going through, and will go through is there in Shakespeare. It is all of human life.

I went to Queen's University Belfast and stayed nine months, then I ran away to be an actor.

Jesus is absolutely at the centre of Western civilisation and part of my fascination with him is, why? What is it about this particular man and his story?

When the BBC decided to bring Doctor Who back as a feature film a few years ago, one national newspaper ran a poll to ask its readers who should be the new Doctor, and I topped it.