Simon Farquhar

Last updated

Simon Alexander Farquhar is a British writer and broadcaster.

Contents

His early one-act plays were staged at the Aberdeen Arts Centre, until a radio script set in Cullen, Candy Floss Kisses , was picked up by actor and producer Martin Jarvis and commissioned for BBC Radio 4. This was followed by another Cullen-based drama, Elevenses with Twiggy , set during the dying days of the Sixties and featuring a cameo performance by Twiggy herself. [1]

His first full-length stage play, the Aberdeen-based Rainbow Kiss , opened at the Royal Court in April 2006. The production starred Joseph McFadden and Dawn Steele and was directed by Richard Wilson, as part of the theatre's 50th anniversary season. [2] [3] [4] Rainbow Kiss opened in New York in Spring 2008, directed by Will Frears and produced by The Play Company.

In October 2006 he was invited to take part in the Old Vic 24 Hour Plays Celebrity Gala. The annual fund-raising event sees six writers asked to each choose from a pool of available actors and each write a ten-minute play for them overnight which is then learned and performed the following evening on the Old Vic stage. The result was Dream Me a Winter starring Tamzin Outhwaite and Patricia Hodge. [5]

He regularly writes for The Guardian, The Independent and The Times. He has also written many articles and appeared on television and radio as a television historian. [1] In 2007 he wrote and presented the documentary Razor Sharp: The Story of Peter McDougall , the Scottish television dramatist, and in 2015, A Sympathetic Eye for BBC Radio 4. His book Play for Today: The First Year 1970-1971 was published in 2021.

His book A Dangerous Place: The Story of the Railway Murders (2016) tells the story of the crimes of John Duffy and David Mulcahy, and is a memoir of his father, one of the police officers who led the case in the 1980s. It was shortlisted for the 2017 CWA Gold Dagger Award for Non-Fiction.

In 2017 he wrote "Wassail Play", which was performed at the Theatre Royal, Dumfries.

A Desperate Business: The Murder of Muriel McKay was published in 2022. It told the story of the 1969 failed attempt to kidnap the wife of Rupert Murdoch, and the continuing mystery of what happened to Muriel McKay, kidnapped in error and never found. The book was the result of three years of investigating the story, accessing previously unseen files, and interviewing surviving witnesses, including Nizamodeen Hosein, one of the two brothers convicted of the murder of Muriel McKay.

Radio

Stage

Books

Journalism

Related Research Articles

Samantha Jane Bond is an English actress, who is best known for playing Miss Moneypenny in four James Bond films during the Pierce Brosnan era, and for her role on Downton Abbey as the wealthy widow Lady Rosamund Painswick, sister of Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham. She is also known for originating the role of "Miz Liz" Probert in the Rumpole of the Bailey series. Bond is a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. In her television career, she is known for her role as "Auntie Angela" in the sitcom Outnumbered and the villain Mrs Wormwood in the CBBC Doctor Who spin-off, The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Jim Norton is an Irish stage, film and television character actor, known for his work in the theatre, most notably in Conor McPherson's The Seafarer, and on television as Bishop Brennan in the sitcom Father Ted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Allam</span> British actor

Roger William Allam is a British actor, who has performed on stage, in film, on television and radio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Laurie</span> Scottish actor (1897–1980)

John Paton Laurie was a Scottish stage, film, and television actor. He appeared in scores of feature films with directors including Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Powell and Laurence Olivier, generally playing memorable small or supporting roles. As a stage actor, he was cast in Shakespearean roles and was a speaker of verse, especially of Robert Burns. He is perhaps best remembered for his role in the sitcom Dad's Army (1968–1977) as Private Frazer, a member of the Home Guard.

Joseph McFadden is a Scottish actor, best known for his roles in The Crow Road,Sex, Chips & Rock n' Roll, Heartbeat and Holby City. He won the 2017 series of the BBC One series Strictly Come Dancing with professional dance partner Katya Jones.

David John Threlfall is an English stage, film and television actor and director. He is best known for playing Frank Gallagher in Channel 4's series Shameless. He has also directed several episodes of the show. In April 2014, he portrayed comedian Tommy Cooper in a television film entitled Tommy Cooper: Not Like That, Like This. In 2014, he starred alongside Jude Law in the thriller Black Sea. In 2022, he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Play for his performance in the Martin McDonagh play Hangmen.

John Michael Frederick Castle is an English actor. He is best known for his film and television work, most notably playing Bill in Michelangelo Antonioni's Blowup (1966) and Geoffrey in The Lion in Winter (1968). His other significant credits include Man of La Mancha (1972) and RoboCop 3 (1993).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allan Corduner</span> British actor

Allan Corduner is a British actor. Born in Stockholm to a German mother and a Russo-Finnish father, Corduner grew up in a secular Jewish home in London. After earning a BA (Hons) in English and Drama at Bristol University he trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He has worked extensively on stage, TV, and film, both in the UK and in the United States. His voice is familiar from many BBC radio plays, audio books and TV documentaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joanna McCallum</span> English film actress

Joanna McCallum is an English theatre, film and television actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christine Finn</span> English actress (1929–2007)

Christine L. T. Finn was an English actress, known primarily for her role in the 1950s TV serial Quatermass and the Pit, and, after that, her voice work for the 1960s Thunderbirds television series. She also performed in film, radio and theatre in a career that started in the 1940s and lasted until the mid-1970s.

Fenella Justine Therese Woolgar is an English film, theatre, television and radio actress. She is known for her roles in various films including Bright Young Things (2003) and Victoria and Abdul (2017). She is also well known for TV shows, including Doctor Who, as crime novelist Agatha Christie, Inside Number 9, and Call the Midwife as Sister Hilda.

Rainbow Kiss is a play by Simon Farquhar, a Scottish writer. The script is published by Oberon Books.

Ellie Haddington is a Scottish actress with a career spanning over 40 years.

Joanna M Tope is an English actress. She has appeared in many TV programmes including Emmerdale Farm as Dr. Clare Scott between 1973 and 1977, The Omega Factor as Julia Crane in 1979 and The Tomorrow People as Mrs Boswell.

Dominic Rowan is an English television, film and theatre actor. He played CPS prosecutor Jacob Thorne in the ITV crime drama Law and Order: UK and Tom Mitford in the Channel 4 drama series North Square. Rowan has also had an extensive stage career.

Barnaby Kay is an English actor who has played roles in television, stage, film and performance art. He was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominic Mafham</span> English actor (born 1968)

Dominic Mafham is an English stage, film and television actor. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Errol John</span> Trinidad and Tobago actor and playwright (1924–1988)

Errol John was a Trinidad and Tobago actor and playwright who emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1951.

The WhatsOnStage Awards, founded in 2001 as the Theatregoers' Choice Awards, are a fan-driven set of awards organised by the theatre website WhatsOnStage.com, based on a popular vote recognising performers and productions of English theatre, with an emphasis on London's West End theatre.

Jemma Churchill is an English television, theatre, film and radio actress, best known for her roles as Nanny Lyons in Upstairs Downstairs, and Ms Fellows in Waterloo Road.

References

  1. 1 2 Harriet Devine Playwrights of the Royal Court 1956-2006, London: Faber, 2006
  2. ↑ Charles Spencer "That kitchen sinking feeling", Daily Telegraph, 14 April 2006
  3. ↑ Michael Billington "Rainbow Kiss, Royal Court, London", The Guardian, 12 April 2006
  4. ↑ Paul Taylor "Rainbow Kiss, Royal Court Upstairs, London ", The Independent, 14 April 2006
  5. ↑ "Simon Farquahar", On Air, Wireless Theatre Company
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.