Andrew Davies Quotes

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.

My wife likes history and documentaries, but I'm not so keen on them. I generally go and do some work if there's one of those on.

I'm not one of these people who say how much better American drama is than English. I find it mostly too American, except for The Sopranos, which I think is the best thing.

The BBC fulfils a wonderful cultural function. Maybe the problem is that it feels it needs to be everything to everybody.

Taking the humour out of Dickens, it's not Dickens any more.

I adore doing classic adaptations, but I also feel their frustrations and their limitations.

I always do like to write love stories, even if they end tragically.

I know that a ridiculous number of classic serials have been commissioned, and that reviews show a reaction against them. The critics seem fed up.

Look at Jane Austen. Her characters derive in a reasonably straight line from fairy tales.

I'd love to adapt more contemporary novels. But there isn't really enough story and character to make a really satisfying serial, so they tend to be single dramas.

People in the BBC are always dying to get out of their open-plan offices.

Othello' is the most domestic of Shakespeare's tragedies and the one that's likely to strike a personal note with a lot of people watching it.

Plan for each episode to be a satisfying experience, but still leave the audience thinking, 'Oh, my God! Now what?

Rebecca Eaton has made an enormous contribution to the cultural life of America, and, more than that, she is one of the most fun people I know.

You're stuck with being yourself, so the important thing is to find people who like that.

I'm glad nobody has asked me to adapt 'Wuthering Heights' because I think I would make a mess of it. Everybody makes a mess of it. I think the Bronte Sisters are mad.

A distinguished producer called Kenith Trodd actually lived in his office for over a year - the cleaners refused to go in because it was such a tip.

The older I get, the more fun it is to write young people. It's just a holiday from what is becoming old age, really.

The writer in movies is about as low as you can get and you really are a hired hand. You are paid a lot of money to be treated like dirt.

'Affinity' is beautiful and intense, with no laughs. It's a rather delicate and emotional love story, with a spooky element.

The joy of writing drama is putting yourself into different people's heads.

An adaptation I was working on of Trollope's 'The Pallisers' has been axed by the BBC... I was also going to do Dickens' 'Dombey and Son' but they've asked me to do 'David Copperfield' instead.

I would love it if anyone gave me the job of adapting 'The Great Gatsby,' but nobody ever does.

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

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

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

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

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

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