I got interested in the Vikings, and then you realize that there isn’t much to be read about them because they did not write their history. It was written by hostile witnesses, by Christian monks and so on. From what I could see and understand, I was really excited about it. I loved their culture and loved their gods. Michael Hirst Read Quote
For ‘Vikings,’ we have to do so much outside shooting, and it’s normally – I think with American shows, it’ll be 60 or 70 percent inside and a little bit outside, but with us, it’s almost 70 percent outside, and that’s huge and really difficult. Michael Hirst Read Quote
The Vikings certainly didn’t write anything about themselves; it was not a literate, but rather a pagan, culture. So what we get was written later by Christian monks. But there were occasional reportings and recordings of people who had traded usually with the Vikings. Michael Hirst Read Quote
The key for me with historical characters is they’re interesting because they’re human beings. A little bit of Hemingway goes a long way here, but journalists and writers should honestly look at their material and have a real interest, a real passion in what they want to write, and they should also have a lot of knowledge as well. Michael Hirst Read Quote
I’m very bad at delegating writing responsibilities, because I’ve never been able to do it; I’ve never had any help or looked for any help. Michael Hirst Read Quote
People love cliches. If you can give people cliches, that’s very good TV, then. Michael Hirst Read Quote
Once I engage in something, I really engage in it, and I love the process of reading and researching because I come from an academic background. Michael Hirst Read Quote
The American obsession with ‘Downton’ amuses me slightly because it’s such a fiction. I’ve always been questioned about my historical veracity, and ‘Downton’ just flies past, when it’s completely made up. Michael Hirst Read Quote
With ‘The Tudors,’ I had a huge amount of material, I mean so many books and so much stuff about what they really said. So, in a way it was kind of trying to strip it out and find the stories inside all this material. Michael Hirst Read Quote
