Martin Shaw

(on being a sex symbol in 2007) Martin: For a start, it's not something that you strive for, it just happens. I never know what to say about it – even in the Seventies, when it may have been more applicable. I find it incomprehensible now, it has to end at some point soon, surely?

(his view on "The Professionals") Martin: The negative is that it disenfranchised my career before it. Prior to The Professionals, my career had been rounded and successful and blessed. But then, because of its success, it was not only as if my career had started there, it was as if that's what I did, so there was no longer the opportunity to do what I had done before. It was as if my personality had been appropriated. It was like being an Action Man doll. No humanity, just a function ... The positive thing is that it's less of an obsessive pop star thing with people. It's more, 'Hey, you're my childhood, I watched you when I was a kid, I had your poster on the wall, I can't believe how great it is to meet you. Wow!

(on why he sometimes considers giving up acting) Martin: When I despair it's about dumbing down: the fact that the measure of excellence in our job nowadays is not how moved I was, how truthful it was, how much I enjoyed it; the measure of excellence is how under budget it was, how quickly it was delivered, what the ratings were.