The below is from Steve Coogan's autobiography, "Easily Distracted". I love the "I was appalled that he was appalled" bit, and it's indicative not only of "Downton Abbey", but of people in Sweden as well; we only keep our monarchy around because we are insane, correct? To paraphrase Russell Brand, if we were to start over society again, the risk that we'd install a person on a THRONE while wearing a JEWEL-ENCRUSTED CROWN, give them MONEY FOR NOTHING, and simultaneously decry poverty---it just wouldn't happen.

Patriotism is hugely overrated, but sometimes it goes too far the other way and you’re not even allowed to make observations of national characteristics. I love Britain. I love my country in a way that’s not nationalistic or blindly patriotic. The Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games blew me away because everything I love about Britain was there on the screen in front of me. History, the NHS, music, cinema. It celebrated the culture of dissent and embraced the eccentric. It was the first time I consciously thought, ‘Oh yeah, this is my country too.’ I wrote a long letter to Danny Boyle and writer Frank Cottrell Boyce admiring their work; they wrested the flag from blind nationalism and effectively gave us a licence to be patriotic.

Celebrating certain national characteristics has for too long been the preserve of racists, but it really depends on what you’re celebrating. Self-effacement is one of the best things about Britain.

We are very clear about certain things that differentiate us from the Americans: we don’t admire people just because they’ve got money. In America, as long as you’ve got money it doesn’t matter where you’re from. It’s a very Thatcherite stance. At the same time, the old Tory class system in Britain means there is very little social mobility. So you are judged on your character. I’m not a huge fan of period dramas that celebrate the old class system.

Julian Fellowes is the epitome of Middle England values and of that selective revisionism that some people have about our culture and history. Downton Abbey is at best a simplistic fiction of a golden past and at worst a total distortion of facts. It’s the kind of period drama that Alan Partridge would write. I bumped into Julian Fellowes in 2013 and he was aghast that the BBC news had devoted time to discussing Hilary Mantel’s follow-up to Wolf Hall and only two minutes on the baptism of our future king. I was appalled that he was appalled.

I’m fascinated by British attitudes to certain things. We can be very negative, which, at its best, means we’re not easily impressed. And certainly not by money. At its worst it can descend into a debilitating cynicism. In England people judge the fact that I like classic cars; I must be a wanker because I occasionally drive a bright yellow Lotus that makes me feel like James Bond. If the sun shone all the time, we might well be less repressed, less uptight. But we wouldn’t be as funny. When I was growing up, mocking people with humour was a very roundabout but sophisticated way of saying ‘I love you’. It’s a peculiarly British sign of affection.