The key for me with historical characters is they're interesting because they're human beings. A little bit of Hemingway goes a long… — Michael Hirst Also 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… — Michael Hirst Almost Copy Share Image
You have to create characters - certainly in series TV - who people engage with. They don't have to be nice; you… — Michael Hirst Agree 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… — Michael Hirst Abbey Copy Share Image
People love cliches. If you can give people cliches, that's very good TV, then. — Michael Hirst Cliches 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… — Michael Hirst About 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… — Michael Hirst Anyone 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… — Michael Hirst About Copy Share Image
When I did 'The Tudors,' there was massive information available and a ready-made market. — Michael Hirst Available 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… — Michael Hirst About 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… — Michael Hirst Actually 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… — Michael Hirst Because Copy Share Image
The American obsession with 'Downton' amuses me slightly because it's such a fiction. I've always been questioned about my historical veracity, and… — Michael Hirst About Copy Share Image
I wasn't setting out to write a documentary; if I had, I would have done it in a completely different way. I… — Michael Hirst America Copy Share Image
With 'Vikings,' I had the task of making these people interesting and, to a point, sympathetic. — Michael Hirst Had Copy Share Image
Nobody knows what really happened in any historical period. There are some periods where we know more than others, though. — Michael Hirst Any Copy Share Image
Of course I had written a film about Elizabeth I, and I loved the Tudor period, and I think at the time… — Michael Hirst About 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… — Michael Hirst Based Copy Share Image
Once I engage in something, I really engage in it, and I love the process of reading and researching because I come… — Michael Hirst Academic Copy Share Image
When you're making a TV drama, the showrunner is God, and so however onerous and difficult and consuming that responsibility is, you're… — Michael Hirst About Copy Share Image
I think comedy is the hardest actual form of writing there is. — Michael Hirst Comedy Copy Share Image
When you're a screenwriter working on a film, you're not really even welcome on set, even if you know... When I wrote… — Michael Hirst Because Copy Share Image
I felt that a lot of Viking culture had been caricatured and misconstrued. After all, they were far more democratic than the… — Michael Hirst After Copy Share Image
I got interested in the Vikings, and then you realize that there isn't much to be read about them because they did… — Michael Hirst About Copy Share Image
