I'm absolutely delighted if people think of me as a reliable purveyor of quality period stuff.

Be careful about the advice you give, especially to your children.

I was getting rewarded for writing well, from about the age of five or six. A teacher would say, "Look what Andrew has written," and I thought, "Maybe I could be a writer."

People like bonnets. I don't think you can under-estimate that.

I used to have this Mercedes, a dark blue 450SLC, which was the most beautiful car. I'd like to have another unusual, beautiful car.

When you see two writers named on a movie, one of them did some drafts and got the boot.

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

I prefer love scenes to be shot up close with a lot of focus on eyes and mouths. Otherwise it can feel uncomfortable and voyeuristic.

As a fairly innocent teenager, growing up in a village in Wales, I just thought, "God, I would like to go and hang about Soho and write great poetry and try to avoid drinking myself to death."

I suppose I have the tastes of someone who teaches at a university in the provinces.

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

Realize that everything connects to everything else.

Every single cell in the human body replaces itself over a period of seven years. That means there's not even the smallest part of you now that was part of you seven years ago.

Some people go to priests others to poetry I to my friends.

I don't have to jump up and smile just because TV wants me to.

I would like to write a Book which would drive men mad, which would be like an open door leading them where they would never have consented to go, in short, a door that opens onto reality.

I like to work spontaneously.

It's not the wickedness of the pagan that breaks my heart. It's the compromise of the Christian that grieves my soul.

Be the exception to the rule. It's the surest way to become exceptional.

Here's my strategy on the Cold War: we win, they lose.