The Da Vinci Code is a publishing sensation. The world seems to be divided between those who have read it and those who have heard about it and then again between those who think it's a work of genius and those who think its theory is heretical balderdash.

The story, it can be no secret, concerns the Holy Grail — what it is and where it is. The Catholic Church is upset by the suggestion that Jesus Christ was married and that his bloodline survives to this day. As an atheist I am indifferent. As a reader I couldn't stop turning the pages of Dan Brown's book.

Now there is to be a film and with Ron Howard directing and Tom Hanks starring all will be well and exciting too. I am thrilled to be working with them both for the first time. An extra delight is that this Hollywood studio movie is being filmed in Europe and for most of the shooting this summer, I shall be able to live at home in London. I start rehearsing at Shepperton Studios on May 3rd.