British drama can compete with America creatively. But the two systems are very different.
I love 'Call the Midwife'; it's an absolute gem of a programme. Filming the Christmas special and then the second series felt like going back to a boarding school that you really love and is full of friends.
Anyone suffering Downton Abbey withdrawal symptoms will find an instant tonic.
I am a huge 'Downton Abbey' fan - huge!
British period drama is always seen as kind of perfect and beautiful and lovely, but I don't think subcultures have been shone a light on like 'Peaky Blinders' has done.
England is a mecca for actors who want to do the classics.
There are a few writers that one has a relationship with that means, basically, you do whatever they say. One is Caryl Churchill, and the other is David Hare.
'Downton' is one of the best jobs in the world, and I'm looking forward to the next series for Maggie Smith's wicked sense of humour.
I'll greatly miss 'Poldark' when it finishes.
I don't really watch shows as a regular routine any more, but I loved 'Happy Valley'. Yes it was depressing, but at least I knew it would all be over in six episodes.
The Americans think British T.V. shows are amazing, and everybody references 'Downton Abbey', and, in my genre, 'Doctor Who', which everyone is crazy for. People are always asking me and are always disappointed that I haven't been in it.
I would love to do a British period drama.
'An Inspector Calls' is a British classic, and I am thrilled to be working on this beautiful screen adaptation with Aisling Walsh.
'Spooks' was very much of its time and rather unique, so I was more than happy to be in that as a long-runner - because I think we won't have that sort of show again. I think it was really, really unusual.
I'm obsessed with 'Call The Midwife.'
I'm from Norway, but I always felt like I'd grown up with British culture. We had everything from the BBC on our TV, so British drama seems very close to home.
If these theatres didn't exist, the tradition of British theatre would cease to exist.
You have no idea what's going to happen [in Downton Abbey] until you get the script. We roughly knew a couple of the key points that were going to happen, but when I got the last episode, I turned to the last page to check that I was still alive.
I love British television. I love the irony, I love the authenticity and I love the roles I get put up for.
When you watch 'Save Me,' you want to be there. Even if you haven't grown up on an estate like this, you want to go to that pub and meet these people.
I had a great time doing 'Torchwood,' I really did.
I remember seeing the movie 'To Sir With Love' when I was a little girl.
Why do British people make such good TV? It's so annoying. Stop it. Is it because they have free health care? Uggh.
There's more to come. Series 4 [of Peaky Blinders] is coming soon. But I'm proud of making my hometown, which is considered to be completely unfashionable, slightly fashionable. People actually know where it is now.
'Cardiac Arrest' was the first British drama to use a lot of medical jargon. 'ER' began the following year and was the first American drama to do that.
