Kevin Whately quotes:

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.

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.

I catch an old 'Morse' on ITV3. I've never thought I looked particularly like my son. He's taller than me and blond. But when I see Lewis walk into a room with John Thaw, it's like my son has just come onto the screen. That's very strange indeed!

My mum Mary was always a bright, confident and fiercely independent lady.

Before my mother's diagnosis with Alzheimer's, I had heard of the disease, but hadn't known anyone who had suffered from it.

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.

You can't converse with Alzheimer's sufferers in the way you do with others; the dialogue tends to go round in circles.

From the time you are a tiny baby, a parent's love is usually unconditional. Whatever you do, your parents think you are the tops, but when their memory goes, you stop recouping the love you've put in.

Oxford is a funny place, as it is a mixture of town and gown. You have the students at the main university and at Oxford Brookes, but there is also a big working-class community.

When I get some time off, I like to go back to my roots in the North East. My family have been around Northumberland for five generations.

I suppose it's a sentimental thing, but I wouldn't want to do more 'Lewis' than we did 'Morse' because I do still think of it as an offshoot.

I'm not interested in more money for the sake of it. You're aware that if you're nicking all the budget, somebody else is getting threepence ha'penny, or the production values aren't going to be so high.

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.

McQueen is an astonishing film maker. He uses really unusual shots and builds incredible dramatic tension.

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

I wish people would take more care of the countryside.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

When I have time, I really enjoy cooking.

My family have been around Northumberland for five generations.

I'm not interested in more money for the sake of it.

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

When you get to the end of a TV series, you feel totally out of sorts as an actor. You feel unfit; your voice box has collapsed on you because you've spent all day muttering into a microphone that's two inches from your head, and you feel desperate to spread your wings and do a bit of real thesping.

I initially thought 'Lewis' was a terrible idea. The character had very much been Morse's work donkey and sounding board. But I was persuaded to do it, thinking if it was a flop, at least ITV would stop asking me. But the pilot took off, so we got back on this moving train, and we've never looked back.

I am lucky in that I have never been depressed in my life, but this is the one thing which has really affected me: the loss of my mother as I knew her.

I honestly don't think I sought fame. It wasn't something I courted or wanted, particularly.

You just suddenly think that there's something quite childish about acting. Basically, it's pretending, isn't it? It's good fun and I enjoy it, but it's a funny way of making a living, particularly when you make a very good wage, as I've been fortunate enough to do.

I only really like to watch things like 'Time Team.' I'd rather be out walking the dog. It's all reality TV, which, as an actor, I detest.

I read the papers like everybody else, so I don't complain about what they print.

I'm not very relaxed; I always need to be doing something.

I'm fascinated by politicians, because I suspect the huge majority of them go into it full of ideas and for the best possible reasons but end up being hijacked.

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.

I wanted to be a stage actor but I got stuck on television. It took a couple of years to get used to.

I'm very good at being out of work.

I've been going to Bamburgh for holidays since I was a child.

People think I'm thick because of the characters I play. I think I'm brighter than the characters. Well, I hope I am.

The more telly you do, the more it feels like a factory.