00:04Series 5 opens in 1924 and we've got a Labour government in Britain, led by Ramsey MacDonald.
00:11And so for Robert this is tantamount to communism. We're about to have enemies at the gates.
00:20I always take myself back to my experience of reading the very first script six years ago,
00:26which was I couldn't put it down and by the end of that first episode I've been introduced to 15,
00:3116 characters.
00:32I could see them vividly in my head. This is before any of them were cast.
00:35I could see them in my head and I wanted to know what happened to them next.
00:39And I think that has translated onto the screen and that's what audiences are experiencing.
00:43They like spending time with these people and if they don't particularly like one character or one storyline,
00:48another one will be along in about 42 seconds because it's very fast-paced in terms of, you know,
00:53pages and pages of dialogue. So it's got that soap element of cutting between stories,
00:59with the sort of quick pace of something like The West Wing, I don't know.
01:03That's one of Julian's favourite shows, with these elements of soap and with very high production values.
01:08And it is sumptuous and the girls do look amazing in all their costumes.
01:13And it is, you know, it's an interesting era. We don't pretend to be some sort of social historical document,
01:18but it's nice to dip your toe back into a world that's not so far away from us. It's only
01:23a generation, you know, before us.
01:30Well, you know, we're a big family now and I was saying to Gareth the other day actually,
01:35you know, it's pretty lucky that after five years we're still best friends, you know.
01:39We all get on extremely well. But having said that, we are like sharks in a shark pool.
01:43We've eaten all the meat. So when fresh meat arrives in the form of Anna Chancellor or Richard E. Grant,
01:49it's great. We all sort of dive on them and devour them because they're new to the experience.
01:53And we've been very, very lucky with the calibre of our guest artists and the people who want to come
01:59and play with us.
01:59And it's great. So, you know, long may we attract those sorts of people.
02:08Well, I mean, you know, Julian did dance through the war years consciously quite quickly.
02:13We went from 16 to end of 1919. So that covered three years.
02:16And the others have slowed right down. So this year, this series covers, I think, pretty much one year.
02:21We always try to be slightly vague about time. Otherwise, you know, you're in for a whole load of disasters.
02:27I should probably be in a wheelchair by now. So, yeah, I mean, I don't know how far it can
02:35go on.
02:35You know, because it is this unique thing of being written by one person.
02:39I think he'll know when the time is right to draw it to a whole, draw all the threads together.
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