I wanted to write a story that demanded the viewer's attention.

I never really saw myself as writing science fiction anyway.

Something like The Haunting is not worth the slightest consideration from me.

People who believe in flying saucers are the scrapings from the bottom.

You get to Hollywood and you are in the land of big money where they don't like to see only one screenwriter's name. It's much better if you've got four or five.

I don't judge other people's work and I don't see enough of it either.

I made a rule for myself that the only television things I would do would be my own stories.

All stories should have some honesty and truth in them, otherwise you're just playing about.

I reckon I closed down at least two films companies, one of which was in Ealing in the mid 1950s.

Big Brother sounded like a silly stunt and that's what it is.

I'm in my 80s and not a keen television fan.

A plague upon it when thieves cannot be true one to another!

Christmas is a poor excuse every 25th of December to pick a man's pockets.

Success is just a war of attrition. Sure, there's an element of talent you should probably possess, but if you stick around long enough, eventually something is going to happen.

Is this the life you really want? Or is it just the fantasy of it?

If you're a Republican who's a threat to the Democrats, of course you are a racist. That's the definition of a racist, nowadays.

The strongest passion is fear.

Gratitude and treachery are merely the two extremities of the same procession. You have seen all of it that is worth staying for when the band and the gaudy officials have gone by.

I've raised my daughter with no television.

In history, the moments during which reason and reconciliation prevail are short and fleeting.

Success is a very hideous thing. Its false resemblance to merit deceives men.