The American obsession with 'Downton' amuses me slightly because it's such a fiction. I've always been questioned about my historical veracity, and 'Downton' just flies past, when it's completely made up. — Michael Hirst Copy Share Image
Everything in 'The Tudors' is initially based on my historical research, and the fact is that the most unlikely scenes were the ones which were probably most based on reality. I prefer to be as real as possible, and there… — Michael Hirst Copy Share Image
The key for me with historical characters is they're interesting because they're human beings. A little bit of Hemingway goes a long way here,… — Michael Hirst Copy Share Image
For 'Vikings,' we have to do so much outside shooting, and it's normally - I think with American shows, it'll be 60 or 70… — Michael Hirst Copy Share Image
You have to create characters - certainly in series TV - who people engage with. They don't have to be nice; you don't have… — Michael Hirst Copy Share Image
'Downton Abbey' is just one cliche after another, and it is a really, really poor piece of drama. But that's only me talking. That's… — Michael Hirst Copy Share Image
People love cliches. If you can give people cliches, that's very good TV, then. — Michael Hirst Copy Share Image
With 'The Tudors,' I had a huge amount of material, I mean so many books and so much stuff about what they really said.… — Michael Hirst Copy Share Image
I couldn't give 'Vikings' away - I mean, I love these people. And I'm not sure anyone else writing it would necessarily have the… — Michael Hirst Copy Share Image
The Vikings certainly didn't write anything about themselves; it was not a literate, but rather a pagan, culture. So what we get was written… — Michael Hirst Copy Share Image
When I did 'The Tudors,' there was massive information available and a ready-made market. — Michael Hirst Copy Share Image
My instinct is to absolutely recoil when talking about writing in a mechanistic way. Nothing could be dumber than writing a film or TV… — Michael Hirst Copy Share Image
I've found that using historical material and being rooted in historical material is liberating because I always think to myself, 'Well, this actually happened,… — Michael Hirst Copy Share Image
People offer me loads of stuff, and some of it I like, but I just can't do it because I can't write it all.… — Michael Hirst Copy Share Image
