Armando Iannucci

Never underestimate the intelligence of the audience; make good programmes, and they will come.

There is still an element of the BBC that feels it is somehow wrong, or it will be open to criticism, if it makes more money.

Joe Biden is that special combination of someone who is very talented and influential, but when he starts speaking, there's inevitably going to be headlines written about something he said.

When I'm making something, I've always felt in charge and therefore able to call the shots. But what you've got to do is stop that turning into arrogance or despotism!

I am an optimist even though I am told everything I do is negative and cynical.

Governments, whether right or left, have become commissioners-in-chief, nudging and cajoling networks into preferred business models without the slightest sensitivity or awareness of what the public wants or the TV industry is capable of.

The last thing I want to do is use my comedy as a partisan tool or as a method for preaching.

When you do a movie as opposed to a TV show, it's always tempting to think everything has to be big and exaggerated and spectacular. And in fact, a lot of the funniest comedy films have been very intimate.

The busier you are, the less time you have to make decisions.

I refuse to work evenings or weekends. If a script sees my character meeting for dinner, I put a line through the words and make them meet for lunch.