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I had a mother who was very emotionally demanding, wanting to be the centre of attention. As they say in EastEnders, she thought it was all about 'er. I spent a lot of time trying to work out what was going on.

Andrew Davies

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Andrew Davies
Age: 88
Born: 1936
Born: September 30
Screenwriter
Writer
Rhiwbeina
Andrew Wynford Davies
Spent
Attention
Mother
Eastenders
Thought
Demanding
Trying
Emotionally
Going
Centre
Work
Time
Wanting

More quotes by Andrew Davies

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I'm absolutely delighted if people think of me as a reliable purveyor of quality period stuff.
Andrew Davies
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An adaptation I was working on of Trollope's 'The Pallisers' has been axed by the BBC... I was also going to do Dickens' 'Dombey and Son' but they've asked me to do 'David Copperfield' instead.
Andrew Davies
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When you see two writers named on a movie, one of them did some drafts and got the boot.
Andrew Davies
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From time to time there is a move to do a little less in the way of period dramas, but people rebel. Audiences say we want them. There is a big hunger for them. I don't think it's sentimentality or nostalgia, it's often that they are simply the best stories.
Andrew Davies
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Most actors hate readthroughs - they're exposing themselves before they're ready to, and before they've bonded. But I love them because they give us all the first inkling of what the whole show is going to be like, how each part affects every other part, and we won't see that again until it's all edited together.
Andrew Davies
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As a fairly innocent teenager, growing up in a village in Wales, I just thought, God, I would like to go and hang about Soho and write great poetry and try to avoid drinking myself to death.
Andrew Davies
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I was getting rewarded for writing well, from about the age of five or six. A teacher would say, Look what Andrew has written, and I thought, Maybe I could be a writer.
Andrew Davies
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The older I get, the more fun it is to write young people. It's just a holiday from what is becoming old age, really.
Andrew Davies
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I suppose I have the tastes of someone who teaches at a university in the provinces.
Andrew Davies
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Novels often have leisurely openings a TV drama needs an arresting opening.
Andrew Davies
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I got quite cross when I heard about Emma Thompson adapting 'Sense and Sensibility.' It was absolutely childish of me, but I thought, 'I should be doing that. They didn't even ask me.' Some mistake, surely.
Andrew Davies
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I had a very high opinion of my father's judgement of things and he said, You better get a job that pays the bills because a writer doesn't make any money. If possible, get a job that allows you to write in your spare time.
Andrew Davies
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Plan for each episode to be a satisfying experience, but still leave the audience thinking, 'Oh, my God! Now what?
Andrew Davies
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I remain, however, fairly optimistic for the future of period drama because it's just such a popular thing.
Andrew Davies
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I'm glad nobody has asked me to adapt 'Wuthering Heights' because I think I would make a mess of it. Everybody makes a mess of it. I think the Bronte Sisters are mad.
Andrew Davies
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Look at Jane Austen. Her characters derive in a reasonably straight line from fairy tales.
Andrew Davies
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I prefer love scenes to be shot up close with a lot of focus on eyes and mouths. Otherwise it can feel uncomfortable and voyeuristic.
Andrew Davies
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The writer in movies is about as low as you can get and you really are a hired hand. You are paid a lot of money to be treated like dirt.
Andrew Davies
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One of the things I've always thought is a drag in so many period adaptations is that they are always buttoned up to the neck in so many clothes all the time. I'm always looking for excuses to get them out of their clothes.
Andrew Davies
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I adore doing classic adaptations, but I also feel their frustrations and their limitations.
Andrew Davies