I did. It was the main reason I watched it - he's a fine, really under-rated, actor. He's one of those people who never play the lead but always do superb work (see also Richard McCabe and the late and lamented Michael Bryant). I thought of him as a light actor but then I saw his Iago and he was...
Quite. My dad died 30 years ago while my sister was travelling in Thailand, it took us two weeks to tell her (and she only found out because I didn't send the money she'd asked for and rang me to find out what was happening). It was not uncommon to go for months without contact, hard to imagine...