I have always cited the decision by director Stephen Frears to shoot 'Mrs. Henderson Presents' before my script of 'The Queen' as the reason for my taking the plunge as a playwright.

If you have distance from the events, then your story can work as an analogy or parable rather than its literal narrative.

As any showrunner will tell you, it is crushing work. It is around the clock. It is like a monastic commitment that you make.

By nature of the job, most actors are striking, remarkable, and alpha.

I don't think of the crown as this glamorous thing. It's this murderous, bejeweled thing, the crown.

The film 'The Queen' came about with a producer saying to me that he wanted me to write about the circumstances behind Diana's death. I think he was hoping that I would come up with some journalistic scoop that would identify an MI5 covert plot.

I don't think I'm an unhappy person. It's just an intensity, not a depressive thing. It's just not having enough layers of skin. It's exhausting.

If you don't belong somewhere, that outsider status you have gives you perspective. Of course, another word for outsider is 'exile,' and that's not fun at all.

I am not a politics wonk. I like the idea of my writing reflecting more about who I am or other people.

I watch drama on DVD because I can't stand ad breaks.

People bang on all the time about whether what I've done is the truth or not. Well, to me, history is just a series of elaborate fictions.

There are people who are bound journalistically to a code of ethics that means they can't quote something that isn't sourced, whereas what I do is entirely unsourced. I effectively fictionalise history and yet somehow aim at a greater truth.

No family is complete without an embarrassing uncle.

I'm always thinking about stories and ideas, and I have a few I'd like to actively pursue, but as much as I love them, I love the process of creation, and I want to go on and create things for myself, and create new things.

I think nobody knows more about comic book characters than Seth Green. I thought I knew a lot, and he leaves me in the dust.

Everybody looks back on what they studied and what they grew up with.

In 'Batman Beyond,' Terry McGinnis has the responsibility of protecting Gotham City, as well as maintaining a home and social life. He's also got a single mom and a pesky younger brother, which young kids will relate to.

Batman's got this whole cloaked 'man of mystery' thing around him and represents a wish fulfillment. He's more driven than Superman yet is also very human.

I like artists to have some freedom.

Nobody loves a good 'Batman' story more than I do.

I always think of the Joker as the ultimate bully. Nothing he says is funny except to him.

If your child has something creative they really want to do, it's up to you, their parent, to help make that happen.

One of the things I've learned from animation is that some guys are really good at writing, some guys are really good at design, some guys are really good at directing. It's almost like working in a band - not everybody plays every instrument.

'Batman' is pretty much real world-centric.