a motor drive circuit comprises a motor having a plurality of phases , a switching circuit comprising a plurality of electrical switches , a motor current controller that generates voltage demand signals to be passed to a drive circuit for the switches that in turn generate pulse width modulated switching signals for the switching circuit that cause the switches to selectively connect the phases to a power supply so as to cause current to flow through the phases of the motor , and a motor torque controller that produces a demand signal that is fed to an input of the current controller , the motor current controller responding to an error signal that is at least partially dependent on the value of the demand signal . the torque controller in use updates the demand signal at a first sample rate . the motor drive circuit further comprises a downsampling circuit that in use modifies the demand signal under certain operating conditions so that the demand signal is only updated at a second sample rate that is lower than the first rate .