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"I’ve wanted to make this for around 30-40 years, I’ve been dying to do it! I was in a version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream when I was 11 years old, playing Bottom. I loved it and it really opened my eyes to what drama is. We had such a laugh and I’ve loved the play ever since then, it’s the perfect play. For years I’ve thought, one day I will do it on television, I will do it with an all-star cast, and I will do it for everyone."

"The one thing I would like people to take away from this is a love of Shakespeare. My own love of Shakespeare has nourished me for decades and it’s vital. We’ve got great actors and great CGI that people will enjoy, but I hope there will be people out there who watch it and think “Oh, isn’t Shakespeare marvellous”, or even better they might be like me and think “I could make my version of that.” It encourages creativity that you can take any Shakespeare play and do what you want to it and it will still survive. So that’s what I want to instil. It can sometimes be hard to drag people to Shakespeare and it can be hard to read, but it can be brought to life beautifully and that’s what I want to do."

"I was approached by Russell T Davies – who I actually worked with years ago, when I was weeny, in a children’s programme he produced - but I’d never worked with him as a grown up actor. So I met him for a cup of tea and he was so enthusiastic, he had so much passion and his heart was really in it and I just couldn’t say no. It’s fun, mischievous and has a lot of heart in it."

"It’s sense of joy, fun and colourfulness. It’s got a fantastic cast – from all walks of the business - and it’s packed full of Russell T Davies – so what’s not to like?! It’s inventive, fun, clever and accessible. And I think that’s what Shakespeare’s got to be, especially if you want to get young people or people who usually get turned off by Shakespeare to engage with it, you’ve got to inject some fun and soul into it."

"He’s one of The Mechanicals, a group of workers that are putting on a play, and the play isn’t great! In this version Russell was very keen that Bottom was warm and loveable, rather than irritating and egotistical, so I’ve tried to bring out those qualities. He’s sociable and has a childlike enthusiasm, but is maybe a little more cerebral than he comes across. That’s my take on it, anyway!"

"It’s one of his funnier plays, the stuff between the lovers is classic farce. I think that has weathered better than some of The Mechanicals’ scenes, actually, which are more reliant on puns and wordplay and references that were contemporary at the time."

"I play Oberon, the king of the fairies. I have a real love for Shakespeare so I went back to my drama school training. I also read through the whole play and wrote down all the things other characters said about Oberon and what Oberon said about himself, to give myself a good understanding of how he is perceived and the kind of person he is. I then imagined myself in the world of the fairies, so I could inhabit it on screen and make up a whole life history."

"I love working with Shakespeare and the language. When you act in a Shakespeare play, I almost feel you can hear Shakespeare speaking to you through the dialogue, telling you how to play the character. In the tempo, the speed, how he changes from verse to prose, it’s almost like working with Shakespeare himself. It’s a strange thing to say but any actors who have worked on Shakespeare will know what I’m saying."