Curious: did he believe that the people he saw onscreen were the same ones living in the set? (There would have to have been an impossible number of people in the set, even allowing for their tiny size.) Or did he accept that the people onscreen were pixels but just thought the system was controlled by the little people inside?
Sorry, far too long ago for me to remember the details. I’m fairly sure I did ask, but don’t remember the answer. He was very unwell (I didn’t know how unwell until that conversation) and probably didn’t explain what he meant in a way that would make sense to anyone who didn’t live in his head.