[on Lewis (2006)] It was coming up with the idea of a prototype Morse - the Hathaway character - that I think has made it.

It always staggers me when series don't use their sidekicks. I don't meant to slight them in any way, but Frost and Midsomer Murders, although they have got ongoing sidekicks, didn't seem to develop them as much as we always have.

I'm not interested in more money for the sake of it. You're aware that if you're nicking all the budget, somebody else is getting threepence ha'penny, or the production values aren't going to be so high.

[on John Thaw] John had a wonderful sense of humor which is belied sometimes by journalists' impression of him as irascible. He loathed the whole celebrity circuit. In between takes he was like an Irish storyteller in a bar - he wouldn't tell jokes, just stories and you would find yourself rolling around and crying with laughter. He was a wonderful mimic, particularly of people on the set rather than famous people.