Quotes from Robson Green

Mrs Wheeler at Dudley Middle School, where I went from 10 to 13, also saw I had the ability to perform and entertain people.

I loved science. Bunsen burners - I couldn't wait for an explosion!

I always wanted to be an actor and wanted to sing and dance, I wanted to do lots of things, but at school I got ridiculed for it and bullied because of it.

The Tyne is at the bottom of my garden. When the river came up 16ft, 7ft of that went through my home. There wasnt only salmon in the Tyne - my three-piece suite was in there too. I had to be rescued. It was a year-and-a-half before we could move back in.

Acting was never part of the plan - at one point I wanted to be an RAF pilot, but I wasnt made of the right stuff.

I went for officer training to be a fighter pilot, but never got past the aptitude test. So I decided to put on makeup and ponce about in front of a camera.

We lived in Dudley, near Cramlington, surrounded by five pits: my father would wash outside in a tin bath. He was the hardest man in the village.

If I say Im living with tribes on the bank of a river to fish, Im doing it. I dont wash or shave, I end up quite smelly and growing a beard but inside you have immense inner peace.

I have a Category 4 Pyrotechnics licence and I do firework displays.

Im proud to be a 50 per cent tax-payer, very proud of it.

I have serious medical support when Im filming 'Grantchester'. Theyre super-cautious with me - and all I do is lift a blooming magnifying glass.

I dont like being classed as a celebrity. Im a normal actor whos survived. I find the people at those parties are just there to be seen rather than to engage. That isnt me.

When I'm acting, I'm pretending to be someone else, but when I fish, I'm just Robson.

I talk about myself too much - but isnt that the definition of an actor?

I get up at five in the morning if the schedule demands it and with all my lines learned.

Confidence is something I hope to instill in my son, Taylor, who is studying classical civilisation at Exeter University and is a brilliant hockey player. His mum and I have parted, but I have nothing but admiration for her.

Uncle Matheson and my father would frequently argue long into the night about politics. Like me, he was all about socialism, togetherness and investing in people, whereas Matheson, to this day, holds very strong conservative views.

In television - not film, and not factual, nothing else - within television, likeability is everything, and relatability is everything.

Weve got a police system who protect us, weve got firemen who put out fires. Weve got defence, man. Thats what tax is for.

I get to be a real adventurer with my fishing work. The acting work is free, I always say I get paid for the waiting around.

Ultimate Catch' is probably the ultimate angling experience. I go further than ever in pursuit of a fish Ive always wanted to catch - the golden dorado. It lives in the middle of nowhere in Bolivia.

In Surrey, we're surrounded by countryside and wildlife. And I love my garden. My father was never more at peace than when he was in his garden. I've inherited his green fingers.

I get recognised everywhere in Thailand.

I don't come from a theatrical background, but my mum and dad had fantastic taste in cinema and TV and I loved watching what they watched.