I'd love to retire somewhere like Winchester, where you have one foot on the pavement but a sense of being in the country as well..

In the age of the camera phone it's a bit weird when you're sitting having dinner in a restaurant and people think they're being very subtle taking a….

Homosexuality has been around since humanity began and different societies at different times have reacted in a different manner..

Am I athletic? In my dreams..

I certainly couldn't run a big country house, nor could I organize the greatest show on earth..

I've had people come up to me in the past and say they enjoyed whatever show I've been in..

To go to the White House is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. In fact, the building is not that big..

For the last episode [of Downton Abbey], you'll need some handkerchiefs. I needed handkerchiefs reading it. It wasn't because it necessarily moved me….

The press mainly want to destroy a program by revealing what's coming up. For some reason, soaps like doing that..

We were all expecting to finish [Downton Abbey] after Series 1, actually. And then, it got extended to Series 3, and that's when two of our much love….

When you are in the eye of the storm, you are often not aware of the whiplash around you..

Certain stories that you want to see resolve in certain ways are, and some aren't, but that's life..

I have an excellent internal compass..

In Britain, the press want to kill a show by revealing what's coming up and spoiling the pleasure..

After World War II, the major estates really did collapse..

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 ha….

I've often been the guy who doesn't get the girl..

At 19, you know everything; by the time you're 40, you haven't got a clue..

I always try to look for the best in most places..

I had girlfriends, but settling down was the last thing on my mind..

It's never happened to me before, in my career, and never will again. It's a one-off experience. It's a rare treat to have a cast together for six ye….