William Goldman was an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He first came to prominence in the 1950s as a novelist before turning to screenwriting. Among other accolades, Goldman won two Academy Awards in both writing categories: first for Best Original Screenplay for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and then for Best Adapted Screenplay for All the President's Men (1976).
Matthew Keith Hall, known professionally as Harry Hill, is an English comedian, presenter and writer. He pursued a career in stand-up following years working as a medical doctor, developing an offbeat, energetic performance style that fused elements of surrealism, observational comedy, slapstick, satire and music. When performing, he usually wears browline glasses and a dress shirt with a distinctive oversized collar and cuffs.
The Famous Five is a series of children's adventure novels and short stories written by English author Enid Blyton. The first book, Five on a Treasure Island, was published in 1942. The novels feature the adventures of a group of young children – Julian, Dick, Anne, George and their dog Timmy.
Richard Keith Herring is an English stand-up comedian and writer whose early work includes the comedy double act Lee and Herring. He is described by The British Theatre Guide as "one of the leading hidden masters of modern British comedy".
The Stand is a post-apocalyptic dark fantasy novel written by American author Stephen King and first published in 1978 by Doubleday. The plot centers on a deadly pandemic of weaponized influenza and its aftermath, in which the few surviving humans gather into factions that are each led by a personification of either good or evil and seem fated to clash with each other. King started writing the story in February 1975, seeking to create an epic in the spirit of The Lord of the Rings. The book was difficult for him to write because of the large number of characters and storylines.
Frank Herbert Muir was an English comedy writer, radio and television personality, and raconteur. His writing and performing partnership with Denis Norden endured for most of their careers. Together they wrote BBC Radio's Take It from Here for over 10 years, and then appeared on BBC radio quizzes My Word! and My Music for another 35. Muir became Assistant Head of Light Entertainment at the BBC in the 1960s, and was then London Weekend Television's founding Head of Entertainment. His many writing credits include editorship of The Oxford Book of Humorous Prose, as well as the What-a-Mess books that were later turned into an animated TV series.
Pet Sematary is a 1983 horror novel by American writer Stephen King. The novel was nominated for a World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1984, and adapted into two films: one in 1989 and another in 2019. In November 2013, PS Publishing released Pet Sematary in a limited 30th-anniversary edition.
A Wrinkle in Time is a young adult science fantasy novel written by American author Madeleine L'Engle. First published in 1962, the book won the Newbery Medal, the Sequoyah Book Award and the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, and was runner-up for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. The main characters – Meg Murry, Charles Wallace Murry, and Calvin O'Keefe – embark on a journey through space and time, from galaxy to galaxy, as they endeavor to rescue the Murrys' father and fight The Black Thing that has intruded into several worlds.
David Edward Williams, known professionally as David Walliams, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series Little Britain (2003–2006) and Come Fly With Me (2010–2011). From 2012 to 2022, Walliams was a judge on the television talent show competition Britain's Got Talent on ITV. He is also a writer of children's books, having sold more than 37 million copies worldwide.
James and the Giant Peach is a children's novel written in 1961 by British author Roald Dahl. The first edition, published by Alfred Knopf, featured illustrations by Nancy Ekholm Burkert. There have been re-illustrated versions of it over the years, done by Michael Simeon, Emma Chichester Clark, Lane Smith and Quentin Blake. It was adapted into a film of the same name in 1996 which was directed by Henry Selick, and a musical in 2010.
Jon "Jo" Nesbø is a Norwegian writer, musician, and former football player and reporter. More than 3 million copies of his novels had been sold in Norway as of March 2014, and he had sold over 50 million copies worldwide by 2021, making him the most successful Norwegian author of all time. His work has been translated into more than 50 languages.
Stephen James Mangan is an English actor, comedian, presenter and writer. He has played Guy Secretan in Green Wing, Dan Moody in I'm Alan Partridge, Seán Lincoln in Episodes, Bigwig in Watership Down, Postman Pat in Postman Pat: The Movie, Richard Pitt in Hang Ups, Andrew in Bliss (2018), and Nathan Stern in The Split (2018–2022).
Roger Harry Michell was a British theatre, television and film director. He was best known for directing films such as Notting Hill and Venus, as well as the 1995 made-for-television film Persuasion.
William James Smith is an English stand-up comedian, screenwriter, novelist, actor and producer. He is known for being part of the writing team of the BBC sitcom The Thick of It and its American HBO counterpart Veep (2012–16). Additionally, he starred as Phil Smith in the former. He is also the creator and showrunner of the Apple TV+ drama thriller Slow Horses (2022–).
Harry and the Wrinklies is a British children's drama series based on a novel of the same name by Alan Temperley. It was produced for three series by STV and aired on CITV from 11 May 2000 to 12 December 2002. The show starred Nick Robinson in the role of Harry.
Jack Thorne FRSL is a British playwright, television writer, screenwriter, and producer.
Horrid Henry: The Movie is a 2011 British 3D comedy film directed by Nick Moore and produced by Allan Niblo, Rupert Preston, Mike Watts, and Lucinda Whiteley, who wrote it. In the film, Henry and the Purple Hand Gang fight to prevent the closure of their school by an evil private school headmaster. It is based on the fictional character Horrid Henry from the children's book series of the same name by Francesca Simon. The film itself takes place before series 3 of the TV series.
Archibald Macpherson is a Scottish football commentator and author. He has been commentating on Scottish football, on radio and television, for over four decades.
Dirk Gently is a British comic science fiction detective television series based on characters from the novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams. The series was created by Howard Overman and stars Stephen Mangan as holistic detective Dirk Gently and Darren Boyd as his sidekick Richard MacDuff. Recurring actors include Helen Baxendale as MacDuff's girlfriend Susan Harmison, Jason Watkins as Dirk's nemesis DI Gilks and Lisa Jackson as Dirk's receptionist Janice Pearce. Unlike most detective series Dirk Gently features broadly comic touches and even some science fiction themes such as time travel and artificial intelligence.
The pilot episode of Dirk Gently is the first broadcast episode of the BBC Four television series inspired by Douglas Adams's novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. First broadcast on 16 December 2010 and repeated throughout the Christmas period, it was written by Howard Overman and stars Stephen Mangan as holistic detective Dirk Gently and Darren Boyd as his sidekick Richard Macduff. Recurring actors include Helen Baxendale as Susan Harmison, Jason Watkins as DI Gilks and Lisa Jackson as Janice Pearce.
