Patrick Stewart is having the best time of his life since leaving Hollywood and returning to his native Britain.

Stewart told a reporter at The Huddersfield Daily Examiner that he has "never felt happier" since moving back to the UK, saying, "I missed the career that I'd been building here...I missed the shorthand and the detail of being here, of picking up references, of feeling the fabric of English life around me, in all its subtlety and complexity - and infuriating aspects."

"Don't get me wrong, what happened in the States was absolutely fantastic," Stewart quickly added. "I wouldn't change any of that." But the newly named Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield said that he has been thrilled to return to British theatre and is happy with his new ITV series Eleventh Hour. "If I had fantasised about how I'd like to be spending my time on my return, this past year would have been it," declared Stewart, refusing to discuss his private life but conceding that his romantic relationship with a 25-year-old woman has enhanced it greatly. He said that his earlier heart problems have improved and he works with a personal trainer three times a week to stay in shape.

Still, Stewart finds it surprising that he keeps being cast in roles that make him sound like a scientist, like Captain Picard and Xavier in X-Men as well as his Eleventh Hour character. "It's been hard on me because flying the Enterprise for seven years in Star Trek and sitting in Cerebro in X-Men has lead people to believe that I know what I'm talking about. But I'm still trying to work out how to operate the air conditioning unit on my car," he laughed.

Eleventh Hour debuts on ITV1 on Thursday, January 19th. This interview with Stewart may be found at The Huddersfield Daily Examiner.

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