I'm Not A Naturally Funny Man. I

The Character [maigret] Is Bound To Change And Develop, And I Wouldn't Like To Claim That We Are Perfectly Formed Straight Out Of The Box. I Think It's What I'd Call An 'optimistic Start'. As You Know, For Me, No Glass Is Anything Other Than Half Empty, So I Apologise For My Reticence In Terms Of Promoting This Programme.

[maigret] Is More Internal. I Think If We Made More Of These I Might Let Him Out A Bit.

It's A Bit Disconcerting Being Treated Like Madonna.

Itv And The Production Company Contacted Me And Asked If I Fancied Playing The Role [of Maigret]. It Took Me A Long Time To Decide To Do It. In Fact, I Decided Not To. I Thought About It For Some Weeks, And Thought 'perhaps Not' And It Went Away For A While, And Then It Sort Of Came Back. They Said 'are You Sure You Don't Want To Play Him?', So I Thought About It For A Lot Longer Again, And Eventually Decided That I Would.

The Decision To Do It [play Maigret] Was Related To The Fact That The Character Is A Very Ordinary Man, And Generally Speaking I Haven't Played Very Many Ordinary Men.