I don't know why British actors are getting big parts in American TV shows. Maybe it's because we're cheap. [on "The Wire" (2002)] The show provokes a kind of obsessive following. Those who love it kind of cherish the fact that it's not quite as world-renowned as "The Sopranos" (1999). It's like being in a secret club. If you turn on American TV, there's a huge choice of nothing you want to see and, unfortunately, I think that's the case here now as well. I love costume drama, no-one does it like the BBC - no-one has the money to do it, first of all and, secondly, Americans don't have the history to do it. So we do it brilliantly but if you talk to any BBC producers, they abhor the fact... they're dying to do "The Wire" (2002) and hate doing "Cranford" (2007) . I thought "Cranford" (2007) was incredible but we don't seem to be able to do contemporary stuff.