I think Morse’s thing about being a poor policeman but a good detective is a very good description of him.

As a boy I believed I could make myself invisible. I’m not sure that I ever could, but I certainly had the ability to pass unnoticed.

When he’s solved that particular clue, then he’s back to reality and he doesn’t like it. I think that’s why he drinks more than most.

I’ve been doing Tai Chi on and off for 20 years. The fundamentals of all martial arts are the same.

A boy is naturally full of humor.

What I wanted more than anything was a long career.

I think sadly that Morse thinks that he can exist on his own and he only realises at the end that he can’t and never really has been able to. I feel sorry for him.

At this point, it’s either for fun or it’s for money. I don’t take movies that I don’t really like.

You can’t say to someone with a brain like Morse, This is the way you do it, regardless of the circumstances; this is the way it is done.

I’ve never wanted to become a politician, an interior decorator, I’ve never wanted to speculate and make a load of money. I just wanted this.

I love new writing, new blood, modern works by unknown writers.

The very first film I ever saw was during the war. My mother took me, I must have been about 4, and that was Beau Geste, with Gary Cooper.

With our limited funds we can only do a limited campaign.

I was involved in school plays, but when I left school I did a couple of odd jobs as a baker’s apprentice and then as a fruit market porter in Manchester.

From the very first movie I ever made to the current time, there have been times between action and cut when I’ve sensed some kind of new dimension that I haven’t been familiar with before.