What was your first reaction when you were offered this part?

Shock really, I have to say, because I wasn't even aware that Byron had Scottish roots. But I got on the internet, as you do, and I discovered that he moved to Scotland when he was about 10 and spent a lot of his formative years in Scotland before he went off to Europe, before he did all his writing.

[I was] also very pleased, as well as shocked. I was really happy to be involved, especially with this amazing star cast. I feel a bit of a fool next to them all, but hopefully their brilliance will rub off on me.