Screen Q&A with Hattie Morahan

In Eternal Law angels come to Earth disguised as lawyers. You’d certainly never suspect them. I know. You say that and people raise an eyebrow. It’s a really unusual meeting of genres. On the one hand it’s a legal drama but it also has this very strong fantasy element.

Why did the writers decide to film it all in York? They were looking for a place where you’re in the present day but also in touch with history. There is something magical about the city. It doesn’t take much imagination to feel you’re in touch with…

…the Vikings? Yeah.

You come from an acting dynasty. Was it inevitable you would become an actor too? It’s always been part of my life, in the way that whatever your parents do is going to become part of your life. So I think, yes.

I read that you encountered Laurence Olivier at an early age. We used to have these summer parties and there was one year, I think it was on a Sunday, and I hadn’t done my homework so I was forced to go inside and he came in to chat with me and help me with my sums.

Was he any good at maths? It wasn’t very advanced. I was only about eight so it would have been times tables or something.

If only you’d known your future, you could have asked him for acting tips. I should have asked how to play Lady Macbeth.

You’ve appeared in lots of period dramas, like Sense and Sensibility with Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens. What’s the best thing about making them? Oh gosh, they’re such fun to do. Dressing up is always a good part of it. You regress a little bit and it’s like being a kid with a dressing-up box.

Why are shows like Downton so popular? I think people have a latent sense of unease about what the future holds. Even though the time Downton Abbey is set was no less fraught, there’s something comforting, and there’s the voyeuristic fascination that people actually lived like that with servants.

A butler would solve everyone’s problems. Yeah I know. We could all do with an angel, too.