Kevin Whately

“I'm very good at being out of work.”

“I don't like two-dimensional characters who are obviously villains from the moment they walk on stage.”

“I still remember going to a smart restaurant in Los Angeles, and the maitre d' knew my name and showed me straight to a table even though we hadn't booked. I get stopped for autographs by people from Sweden on the tops of mountains.”

“Oxford has a slightly mythical rep, particularly for people who haven't been there.”

“My family have been around Northumberland for five generations.”

“You get pigeonholed. Some people are film stars, and some are theatre stars who do one-off telly. Somehow, I get into long-running series.”

“In TV, you just have to decide the night before exactly how you're going to say it and stick with that. You can't kick it around; you haven't got time.”

“With your own children, you love them immediately - and with grandchildren, it's exactly the same.”

“Put me on telly, and I think I have a relaxation on camera that makes an audience relax, too. It's not a conscious thing. Cameras don't bother me, whereas other people try to perform to them.”

“People are very appreciative, and I'm always thrilled at how long the 'Morse' films have lasted. They seem to have an afterlife that goes on and on for decades, which is touching.”

“The real reason I love Bamburgh is that it's the only place in the world where I ever truly relax.”

“I know actors who court personal publicity because they believe no publicity is bad publicity.”

“I never have liked detective dramas. I try to watch all of them to see what's going on, but I don't like them.”

“Dementia is often regarded as an embarrassing condition that should be hushed up and not spoken about. But I feel passionately that more needs to be done to raise awareness, which is why I became an ambassador for the Alzheimer's Society.”

“Being a grandparent is whole new phase in your life.”

“Walking is my main method of relaxation. I don't go over my lines or try to solve the world's problems, I just enjoy the scenery and the wildlife.”

“With all the lines I have to learn for TV scripts, I don't think I have any problems with forgetfulness - that's brain exercise enough for me.”

“With something like cancer, there is a feeling that you can fight it in some way or control your response to it, but with dementia there is the fear of losing control of your mind and your life.”

“I love taking the boat to the Farne Islands, a few miles offshore. It has a National Trust bird sanctuary with seals and every sort of seabird you can imagine.”

“Being in Oxford can be a bit like being on holiday - there's plenty of time spent in the pub.”