Martin Freeman thinks his separation from Amanda Abbington is the most "civilised" he's ever heard of.

Martin Freeman and Amanda Abbington

Martin Freeman and Amanda Abbington

The 45-year-old actor and Amanda, 42, announced in December that their marriage and 16-year relationship had ended earlier in the year, but Martin has insisted that everything is "cool" between himself and Amanda, who starred alongside him in the BBC adaptation of 'Sherlock'.

He shared: "I mean, we're very friendly and it's all lovely and cool.

"Yes, we've not been together for a while. I mean, we did the series not together. You know enough about me to know that I won't talk about it, but I'm all right, yes. I mean, we're honest to God doing it [separating] in about as civilised a manner as I've ever heard of, you know."

Despite their separation, Martin will always retain a love for Amanda - with whom he has two children, son Joe and daughter Grace - and he remains a fan of Amanda's acting talents.

He told Radio Times magazine: "I love Amanda's work. I think she's brilliant as an actor and she's brilliant as a woman and, yes, I love her. I will always love Amanda, but, yes, we're ... you know, that's what's happened. It's just one of those things. It happens, doesn't it? But we're cool."

Amanda has echoed Martin's talk of an amicable split and has stated they will "remain best friends" in spite of their break-up.

She previously shared: "Martin and I remain best friends and love each other, and it was entirely amicable. There was no hostility, really, we just said that we couldn't live together anymore, so we put everything in place, he moved out to a flat in north London, I stayed at home and we've started a new chapter.

"It is sad and it is upsetting, because you think you're going to be with someone forever, but you either do that or you break up, and we both came to the decision that splitting was best for us."