Everyone loves a slice of period-drama-pie, but I think the success of Upstairs Downstairs is really down to the wonderful format that Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins created.

I was really attracted to doing Game of Thrones because I thought the character of Meera was absolutely amazing.

My parents are big Shakespeare fans.

There's no point starting something you don't intend to finish.

I was really attracted to doing 'Game of Thrones' because I thought the character of Meera was absolutely amazing.

Love must be as beautiful as spring flowers and as bright as the morning sun.

Be assertive, in speech and in conduct.

Assuming what people want is about as controlled as using fireworks to start a fire.

I don’t much care for all this talk of God washing away all my dirt. I like a bit of grit around the edges. It gives me character and does a passable job of faking depth, from a distance.

Subatomic particles have no meaning as isolated entities, but can only be understood as interconnections between the preparation of an experiment and the subsequent measurement.

What I do is really helping people in maximizing their income and to live the lives they want to live. I effect they're families, I effect their beliefs about themselves and it gives me so much joy

The Conservative Party is a tax cutting party or it is nothing.

Nor do I regret that I have lived, since I have so lived that I think I was not born in vain, and I quit life as if it were an inn, not a home.

Connect deeply with others. Our humanity is the one thing that we all have in common.

With silly stuff, it's seventy-five percent confidence. I always tell people that it's because I'm nervous about getting that next laugh and I need to hear it. I always want to condense a joke