BRIAN SIBLEY : The Works

2012-01-30T00:01:00.002Z

The NEWS...

THE HISTORY OF TITUS GROAN wins Award

Brian's six-part dramatisation of the 'Gormenghast' novels of Mervyn Peake, The History of Titus Groan was received the Best Adaptation Award in the inaugural BBC Audio Awards.

The award was presented by David Tennant. at a ceremony in the BBC Radio Theatre in Broadcasting House on Sunday 29 January,2012.

The judges described this as "a brilliant piece of radio drama. It was a hugely ambitious undertaking to adapt the darkly comic, surreal and visual world of Mervyn Peake's novels for sound and this adaptation is faithful to both the spirit and the landscape of the originals."

GHOSTS, MAGIC and HUMBUG!

Charles Dickens was a conjuror: he produced unforgettable characters and scenes out of thin air and made them an indelible part of national – and world – culture; but he was also a keen amateur magician who amazed his literary friends with his acts of legerdemain.

Dickens has now become inseparably associated with the Christmas season – largely as a result of his 1843 ghost story with a moral, A Christmas Carol.

The British Library is marking Charles Dickens' bicentenary with an exhibition examining the author's particular fascination with spooks and spectres, A Hankering after Ghosts: Charles Dickens and the Supernatural on display until March 2012.

To coincide with the event, Brian Sibley and David Weeks presented two performances of A Christmas Carol and the Conjuror: a divertissement combining a reading by me of Dickens' famous text – as abridged and performed by the author in his Public Readings of 1858 – interspersed with magical interludes from David featuring a cavalcade of mystifying tricks inspired by Scrooge's saga.

THE HISTORY OF TITUS GROAN
AVAILABLE as DOWNLOAD...

Followers of Brian's recent cycle of radio plays (for more details, see below), may care to know that the complete six-hour series can now be purchased and downloaded from AudibleGo

ORDER HERE

From Sunday 10 July, for six weeks, BBC Radio 4 broadcast Brian's dramatisation, The History of Titus Groan, based on Mervyn Peake's trio of novels Titus Groan, Gormenghast and Titus Alone with elements of the recently published Titus Awakes by Maeve Gilmore (see item below).

The cycle of radio plays began with 'Titus Arrives' in which Titus, the 77th Earl of Gormenghast is born to the royal house of Groan and the ruthlessly ambitious kitchen boy, Steerpike, makes a bid for freedom. Here are Carl Prekopp (left), as Steerpike, Hugo Docking, (right), as young Titus and Luke Treadaway, (centre), as the narrator Titus. The series concludes on Sunday 14 August (repeated Saturday 20 at 21:00) with 'Titus Alive', concluding Mervyn Peake's Titus Alone and an episode from Maeve Gilmore's Titus Awakes.

The plays have featured a terrific cast including David Warner, Miranda Richardson, James Fleet, Adrian Scarborough, Paul Rhys, Mark Benton, William Gaunt, Tamsin Greig, Fenella Woolgar, Claudie Blakeley, Maureen Beattie and Gerard Murphy.

Here is Brian with members of the cast on the first day of recording...

The plays are now available for purchase on download.

The series' producer, Jeremy Mortimer, writes about project (with a sound clip of Brian talking about the production) on the BBC Radio 4 Blog.

The History of Titus Groan
by Mervyn Peake dramatised by Brian Sibley
Sundays 15:00-16:00 from 10 July-14 August
Repeated Saturdays 21:00-22:00 from 16 July-20 August

Photos: Islay Bell-Webb and David Hunter

On BBC Radio 4, Thursday 7 July a half-hour documentary, A Hundred Years of Mervyn Peake, explored the life of the artist and writer and, in particular, his connection with the island of Sark and its fictional counterparts in Peake's illustrations to Treasure Island (left), The Hunting of the Snark, Swiss Family Robinson and other works.

The programme is presented by Mervyn's son, Sebastian Peake, and features his brother and sister, Fabian and Clare as well as novelist, Joanne Harris and Gormenghast's dramatist, Brian Sibley.

You can listen to the programme again on BBC iPlayer until 14 July.

Titus Awakes by Maeve Gilmore based on a fragment by Mervyn Peake from Vintage Books (Random House) with an introduction by Brian Sibley

Mervyn Peake's widow, the late Maeve Gilmore, wrote a conclusion to her husband's cycle of novels about Titus Groan. Lost for many years, the book is now finally published to coincide with Mervyn Peake's centenary.

A one-on-one on-line interview with Brian talking with James Norris about his Worlds of Fantasy – from J R R Tolkien to J K Rowling, Lewis Carroll to C S Lewis, Ray Bradbury to Roald Dahl, Charles Dickens to Walt Disney and Winnie-the-Pooh to Wallace and Gromit.

Here's a Hollywood-style teaser...

You will be relieved to know that Brian is playing himself!

JUST OUT...

Brian appears on the Blu-ray 60th Anniversary Edition release of Walt Disney's 1951 animated feature, Alice in Wonderland in a fascinating 76-minute picture-in-picture documentary, Through the Keyhole: A Companion’s Guide to Wonderland.

Also... Don't miss Brian's feature-length audio commentary on the Blu-ray release of Walt Disney's 1940 classic, Fantasia.

In HIS OWN WORDS...

An on-line interview with Brian by Colin Duriez - appears on the Tolkien site, Festival in the Shire, touching various Tolkienesque topics such as the BBC radio serialisation of The Lord of the Rings and the Jackson movie trilogy as well as one or two others besides.

In PERSON...

In a special event in association with the exhibition, The Surreal House at The Barbican Art Gallery Brian Sibley was in conversation 'On the Couch' with award-winning graphic artist, Bryan Talbot, on the subject of Lewis Carroll and surrealism.

As part of the exhibition, Ronald Searle: Graphic Master at The Cartoon Museum, Brian Sibley recently gave a talk...

Collaborative Visions: The Illustrations of Ronald Searle

On the AIR...

Brian Sibley reviews the exhibition, Rude Britannia: British Comic Art, currently on show at Tate Britain on the BBC Radio 2 Arts Show with Claudia Winkleman on Friday 18 June at around 11:30 pm when he will also be heard in conversation with (right) legendary cartoonist, Gerald Scarfe.

BBC Radio 2 recently repeated it's six-part documentary series David Puttnam's Century of Cinema, presented by David Puttnam and Brian Sibley.

Originally broadcast in 1999 to celebrate the first 100 years of cinema, Brian and Lord Puttnam discuss the stars, the studio, the films and the filmmakers who made cinema the most powerful and universal form of popular entertainment.

The series featured interviews with, among many others, movie-icons Robert Redford, Margaret O'Brien, Michael Caine, Angela Lansbury, silent movie star, Anita Paige and, in the last interview before his death, Dirk Bogarde. Legendary names from behind the camera include writer/director Woody Allen, writer Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill), directors Stephen Spielberg, Fred Zimmerman (From Here to Eternity, A Man for All Seasons) and Robert Wise (The Sound of Music, The Day the Earth Stood Still) and, from archive, Alfred Hitchcock and Frank Capra.

To bring the story up to date, a new sixth programme was broadcast at the end of the series covering the ups and downs, triumphs and disasters of the past decade at the movies.

In the PAPERS...

The Lady, 12 May 2009, carried an article by Brian on the work of artist Norman Thelwell, famous for his Punch cartoons featuring little fat ponies and their little fat riders... Read the article here

The May 2009 edition of SFX carried an article by Damien McFerran in their 'Time Machine' column on the 1981 BBC radio dramatisation of The Lord of the Rings based on a lengthy interview with Brian giving the background to the making of the "timeless radio classic". You can read it here

A tribute to Ali Bongo by Brian appears in the May 2009 edition of Genii: The Conjurors' Magazine.

You can read it here

Brian was extensively quoted in a feature article by Alice Jones in The Independent about the creation of Cruella De Vil, 'How Cruella became a De Vil woman'.

And when the film that rocketed Cruella to stardom - Walt Disney's 101 Dalmatians - was added to the studio's Platinum Edition DVD series it featured an appearance by Brian on the accompanying 'extras'
More...

On the BOX...

Brian can also be seen on the extras to just-out 70th Anniversary DVD release, Pinocchio

At the MOVIES...

Brian is currently to be seen in a new documentary film, The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story which examines the career and the strained sibling relationship between songwriting brothers, Richard M Sherman and Robert Sherman.

The Sherman Brothers wrote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Slipper and the Rose and provided songs for countless Disney movies - Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The Jungle Book, Winnie-the-Pooh to name but a few - as well as many of the Disneyland attractions such as 'It's A Small World'.

Here's a trailer for The Boys and you'll hear Brian's voice towards the end.

On the WEB...

Read Brian's entry on Wikipedia

Read Brian on the BBC Today website talking about Mickey Mouse at 80

Several of Brian's photographs of Venice are now appearing on the website of his favourite hotel in the city, Hotel Ala

In addition to those on the Home Page, others will be found on the pages devoted to 'Location' and 'Reservation'.

Now, scroll down here to the Galleries to see even more photos of this incomparable city.

Brian's new book of 50 Favourite Bible Stories (see below) is discussed on the Official Cliff Richard Website and the book gets a nice on-line review at The Good Bookstall

Read Brian's interview on Winnie-the-Pooh's iconic status on ICONS: A Portrait of England

Off the PRESS...

Out of print for several years, Brian's guide to J R R Tolkien's map-making will be republished on 28 May as The Road Goes Ever On and On: The map of Tolkien's Middle-earth.

The revised hardback edition will have new illustrations by John Howe as well as John's colour version of the map in a pocket at the back of the book.

On his web-site, the artist writes: "I did new black-and-white illustrations for the booklet, since I couldn't locate the ones I'd done for the first edition (they were pretty bad; had I located them, I might well have chucked them out and done new drawings anyway)."

You can order your copy here

A new paperback edition of Phantastes, George MacDonald's 1858 novel of the fantastic is published at £7.99 by Paternoster with Arthur Hughes' original illustrations and an introduction and annotations by Nick Page. The book carries endorsements from C S Lewis, W H Auden, G K Chesterton - and Brian Sibley who writes: 'Phantastes is a haunting, provocative and disquieting novel that links the dreams of medieval romance with the new awakenings of the Victorian era and - in opening a long-lost door to the realm of Faerie - stands as a daringly challenging forerunner to the modern fantasy novel.'

OTHER RECENT PUBLICATIONS...

WOW! 366: Mini writes from MASSIVE writers!

Brian is one of the authors represented in this unique anthology that is crammed with fantastic stories, each told in just 366 - that's as many words as there are days in this leap year!

Other contributors include Roddy Doyle, Michael Morpurgo, Charlie Higson, Anne Fine, Jeremy Strong, Nina Bawden, Ian Whybrow, Paul Stewart, Michael Bond, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Tom Fletcher from McFly... and that's just for starters.

Published in paperback at £6.99, all profits go to the NSPCC.

Brian's story has the further distinction of actually being about the number 366! Intrigued? Order now! It's in aid of a fine cause.

50 Favourite Bible Stories retold by Brian, illustrated by the brilliant young artist, Stephen Waterhouse and read on three CDs by Cliff Richard as part of the musical star's celebration of fifty years in show-biz

More...

The Golden Compass: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion Brian's book tells the behind-the-scenes story of The Golden Compass, the first film based on Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy.

More...

And...

Mary Poppins: Anything Can Happen If You Let It This book chronicles the journey of everyone's favourite nanny from page to stage: P L Travers immortal character as she appeared in the original books, in Walt Disney's unforgettable film and, most recently on the Broadway and West End stage...

More...

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The BIOGRAPHY...

The LIFE and TIMES
Brian Sibley's biography: all you've never needed to know!
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The WORKS...

The BOOKS

The BACK-STORY
How (and Why) those books got written
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The BOOK-LIST
All the Sibley tomes and volumes brought to book -- and listed!
More...

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The SHOWS

NEW! The SHOW REPORT
The back-stage, off-air story of Brian Sibley's shows and programmes
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The PRODUCTION NOTES
A full schedule of the Sibley output for stage, radio and television
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The RECORDINGS

The FILM-LIST
Sibley appearances and commentaries on DVD
More...

The TRACK-LIST
Sibley Works on CD and Cassette
More...

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The GALLERIES...

A series of Photo-Essays by Brian Sibley & David Weeks

The VENICE ALBUMS

Venice Observed View...

Snapping the Cliché-Ridden View...

Venice: The Bizarre Bazaar View...

Observed by Venice View...

MORE ALBUMS COMING SOON!

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The FEATURES...

The Bradbury Machine
Sci-Fi legend, Ray Bradbury, talks about his life and books...
More

The Ring Goes Ever On
The Making of the BBC Lord of the Rings
More...

...And Yet Another Partridge in a Pear Tree
The script of Brian's popular Christmas monologue
More...

Meeting Mr Wonka
Memories of encountering Roald Dahl
More...

How I Got Walt Disney's Autograph
A book-collector's dream story
More...

Remembering the Bear Necessities
Recollections of Disney's The Jungle Book
More...

Heaven on Earth
In Praise of Emporios on the Island of Kalymnos
More...

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The BLOGS...

Brian Sibley: the blog
Random Thoughts on the Ups-and-Downs & Round-Abouts
of the Carousel of Life
More...

Brian Sibley's Likely Stories
A Collection of Terrible Tales and
Freaky Fables
More...

Ex Libris: Brian Sibley
Volumes taken at idle moments
from my bookshelves
More...

Window Gazing
A gallery of images looking at, into,
or out of windows...
More...

button's blog: a rabbit's ramblings
memorable photo-moments from his globe-hopping life
More...

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Original images© Brian Sibley and David Weeks, 2008/9
All rights reserved

2008-01-23T21:01:00.019Z

Brian Sibley appears on 'Bonus Features'
to new Dalmatians DVD

101 Dalmatians has long had the status of being one of the Disney's most popular animated feature films although, in 1961, it seemed a radical departure, coming as it did only two years after the ornately decorative Sleeping Beauty.

Dalmatians was the first Disney feature to be animated using the revolutionary Xerox method of transferring the animator's pencil drawings directly onto the celluloid 'cels' that were then painted, placed over the backgrounds and photographed - a frame at a time - to make the moving picture. This process eliminated a costly stage in which every single animation drawing had to be traced by hand onto the cells using different colour inks.

Whilst much of the richness that had characterised the Disney look for twenty years was lost the gains were huge in that it captured of the energy and graphic style of the artists' original drawings and had a 'modern' feel for a contemporary audience.

The choice of Dodie Smith's 20th century children's classic, The One Hundred and One Dalmatians, as a subject was inspired and the new sense of liveliness about the human and canine characterisations combined with the illustrative backgrounds - created through sketchy lines and blocks of colour - made it instantly appealing to a 'sixties audience.

The film's appeal - rooted in its charm and wit, its driving story-line, its heroic doggy hero and heroine and its unforgettable villain, Cruella De Vil - shows no sign of aging and it is a welcome new addition to the Disney 'Platinum Edition' series.

This new two-disc release is an 'all-new digital restoration with enhanced picture and sound', and offers the kids an assortment of virtual games, music videos and pop-up trivia facts; while for the film fans, animation buff and movie history aficionados there are also deleted songs, and several documentary features.

Brian Sibley appears as one of the expert interviewees in 'Redefining the Line: The Making of 101 Dalmatians' and 'Cruella deVil: Drawn to be Bad', as well as narrating "Sincerely Yours, Walt Disney", a dramatised presentation that chronicles (for the first time) the correspondence between filmmaker Walt Disney and novelist Dodie Smith.

Read a review on TOON ZONE

Read Brian quoted in THE INDEPENDENT article, 'How Cruella became a De Vil woman'

101 Dalmatians Platinum Edition DVD - with free cuddly Dalmatian (just the one!) - is released on 3rd March...

See Brian on the 'extras' to these other Disney DVDs...

* Read my feature article:
Remembering the Bear Necessities

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2008-01-23T21:00:00.013Z

Everyone knows - even if they're not a card-carrying believer - that the Bible is full of memorable stories and my latest book, 50 Favourite Bible Stories, is a collection of some of the very best!

'Adam and Eve', 'Noah's Ark', 'The Ten Commandments', 'David and Goliath' and 'Jonah and the Whale': they're all here, along with 20 other stories from the Old Testament and twenty-five more from the New Testament, including may of the best known parables of Jesus --- all superbly illustrated by STEPHEN WATERHOUSE.

The book, published by Lion Hudson at £14.95 (or, depending on where you buy it, less), is part of CLIFF RICHARD's celebration of 50 years in show-biz and contains three CDs with all the stories narrated by Cliff himself.

The book - which would make a great Easter present for children, grandchildren and God-children - can be pre-ordered now from Waterstone's or Amazon.

Above right: Jonah saved from a watery grave!
© Stephen Waterhouse, 2008

Here's Cliff reading the opening story in the collection at the book's launch at Westminster Central Hall on Thursday 8th May, 2008...

Read (as a pdf) The Great Flood
and The Storm on the Lake

Read Cliff on 50 Favourite Bible Stories

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2008-01-23T20:30:00.010Z

RECENTLY PUBLISHED...

The Golden Compass: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion is, as the title makes plain, a companion guide to The Golden Compass, the film based on the first of Philip Pullman's trilogy, His Dark Materials and starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig and introducing newcomer, Dakota Blue Richards, as the young heroine of the series, Lyra Belacqua.

Like my previous books on the making of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, this book features interviews with art-directors, make-up and costume designers, special effects wizards and the talented team of craftspeople who created the film's amazing props required to realise Pullman's imaginary universe: spirit projectors, spy-flies and the alethiometer - the curious truth-divining device that has become the icon image associated with book and film.

It also background material on Pullman's books and the world they describe, a conversation with screen-writer/director Chris Weitz and features what was Dakota Blue Richards' very first interview about the film that has already established her as a future star.

The hardback book is published by Scholastic at £14.99 ($14.99), but most on-line stores are selling it for almost half-that price, which - whilst not being too wonderful for the author's royalties - is at least great for the book-buying public!

Also now available...
The Golden Compass on DVD as theatrical and 'extended' editions, and in VHS and Blu-ray formats:

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2008-01-23T20:29:00.006Z

RECENTLY PUBLISHED...

Mary Poppins: Anything Can Happen If You Let It is a celebration of that unforgettable magical nanny who was created by P L Travers, immortalised by Julie Andrews in Walt Disney's 1964 Oscar-winning musical fantasy and who recently flew onto the stage in London's West End and New York's Broadway on her very particular umbrella with the parrot-head handle!

In collaboration with New York writer, MICHAEL LASSELL, I tell the story behind the writing of the original book and its sequels, the making of the much-loved film (considered by many to be the crowning achievement of Walt Disney's career), and the long and tangled tale of Mary Poppins' journey into musical theatreland.

Published by Hyperion/Disney Editions at $50, this lavishly illustrated, sumptuously bound, triptych-shaped volume has an accompanying portfolio of set- and costume- designs by Tony Award-winner Bob Crowley and another of glossy, full-colour photographs which take the form of a visual synopsis following the story of the show, scene-by-scene and number-by-number.

Read Jim Hill's review of Mary Poppins: Anything Can Happen If You Let It at Jim Hill Media

➠ FULL LIST of all BOOKS

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2008-01-23T19:30:00.014Z

MY LIFE & TIMES...

THE SHORT VERSION

"The play's the thing," said Hamlet, so I'll begin with my stage productions, which include, most recently, a dramatisation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, staged by Flat Pack Productions at Greenwich Playhouse to considerable critical praise.

My interpretation of Dickens' "ghost story of Christmas" received two previous amateur outings, staged by The Lansbury Players who also took on my epic dramatisation of J R R Tolkien's The Hobbit.

Other shows include To Sea in a Sieve, a musical drama, based on the life and writings of the nonsense poet Edward Lear, created with composer Dave Hewson and performed at the Edinburgh Festival and at the Westminster Theatre in London with myself in the title-role and Polly March as Everyone Else!

Alphabeasts was a light-hearted musical entertainment drawn from the verses of that modern master of nonsense verse, Dick King-Smith, and staged at the King’s Head, London, with Sue Bloomfield and myself performing the songs, accompanied by composer, Dave Hewson.

There were more high jinx in England Our England, a revue created and performed with Polly March and Tony Miall to inaugurate the St James Theatre in Valetta, Malta; while, on a rather more sombre note, The Autumn People was a concert work on the theme of the dark carnival written for narrator, singers and musicians (once again with a score by Dave Hewson), premiered at The British Music Information Centre.

Among my critically-acclaimed radio dramatizations is the BBC’s legendary serialization of Tolkien's sprawling tale of the hobbits, warriors and wizards of Middle-earth The Lord of the Rings with Ian Holm as Frodo, Michael Hordern as Gandalf, Robert Stephens as Aragorn, John Le Mesurier as Bilbo, Peter Woodthorpe as Gollum and Bill Nighy as Sam.

The series still lives on, twenty-five years later, as CD and cassette collections and, rather wonderfully, has achieved the status of a radio classic.

Another BBC radio serial - almost as gargantuan as Rings - was C S Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia (all seven books from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to The Last Battle) which featured a cast that included Tom Wilkinson, Richard Griffiths, Timothy Spall, Maurice Denham, Martin Jarvis, Fiona Shaw, Sylvester McCoy, John Sessions and Stephen Thorne as Aslan. The Narnian Chronicles are also available on CD.

However, it was to be my two 90-minute radio plays based on Mervyn Peake's Titus Groan and Gormenghast starring Sting, Freddie Jones, Bernard Hepton, David Warner, Eleanor Bron, Judy Parfitt, Maurice Denham and Sheila Hancock that won me a prestigious Sony Gold Radio Award.

Other dramatisations and serials include include two seasons of Tales of the Bizarre based on the stories of my friend, Ray Bradbury; James Thurber’s The Wonderful O; J B Priestley’s The Thirty-First of June; Laurens Van Der Post’s The Night of the New Moon and E T A Hoffman’s The Nutcracker and the Mouse-King.

I've had the privilege of working with some amazing actors including Jack Dee in Roald Dahl’s much-loved Danny, the Champion of the World, Wendy Hiller in P L Travers’ The Fox at the Manger; Jean Anderson in Frank Baker’s Miss Hargreaves; Patricia Routledge in Lucy M. Boston’s The Children of Green Knowe; Michael York and Simon Ward in Jeffrey Archer’s A Matter of Honour and Anton Rodgers, Alec McCowen and Anna Massey in my version of John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress.

And, while I'm name-dropping, I might mention that scripts for radio revues and entertainments have been performed by Thora Hird, Penelope Keith, Dora Bryan, Peter Goodwright, Una Stubbs, Leslie Phillips, Jeremy Lloyd, Beryl Reid and others.

My dozens of radio features have ranged across a wide diversity of subjects from the history of the weekend to an account of the "naughty 'nineties" and from Middle-earth to LEGOland.

Among my many documentary series for radio have been the BBC’s millennium history of the movies, A Century of Cinema, co-presented with David Puttnam; a celebration of film music, The Sound of Movies; a tribute to Judy Garland, No Place Like Home; a history of the Disney Studio, 'Aint No Mickey Mouse Business; , To Be It’s Magic!; and the story of soap-operas, To be Continued...

I wrote the words for Jeff Wayne's concept album, Spartacus, performed by Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones and made script contributions to various TV shows and several animated films, including the Oscar-winning film, The Wrong Trousers. I am especially proud of my screenplay for an animated version of Moby-Dick featuring the voice of Rod Steiger as the doomed Captain Ahab.

In addition to writing for radio, I began to be heard on radio: firstly as a reviewer and then one of the regular presenters of the BBC's legendary arts programme, Kaleidoscope. I have also presented BBC TV's First Light, Radio 4's film programme, Talking Pictures, and the World Service arts show, Meridian; as well as hosting the film and theatrical quizzes Screen Test and Break a Leg. And, in addition to all of that, I have contributed to such shows as Night Waves, The Green Room, The Afternoon Shift and occasionally provide entertainment reviews to Radio 2's Sunday Supplement.

My most recent book include Mary Poppins: Anything Can Happen if You Let It (a celebration of Miss Poppins on the page, on the screen and on the stage); The Golden Compass: The Official Movie Companion and Peter Jackson: A Film-maker’s Journey, the authorized biography of the New Zealand film director who - like me - has had something of an obsession with The Lord of the Rings.

Other books include Shadowlands - The True Story of C. S. Lewis and Joy Davidman; (heard last year on BBC Radio 2, read by the late Ian Richardson); The Land of Narnia; The Book of Guinness Advertising; A Christmas Carol - The Unsung Story; The Thomas The Tank Engine Man - The Story of the Reverend Awdry and His Really Useful Engines and Three Cheers for Pooh!

I collaborated with fellow film historian, Richard Holliss, to write The Disney Studio Story; Mickey Mouse: His Life and Times and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - The Making of a Classic Film. Other film books include the award-winning The Lord of the Rings - The Making of the Movie Trilogy; Chicken Run: Hatching the Movie, and the best-selling Cracking Animation which he wrote in collaboration with Peter Lord, co-founder of Aardman Animations.

My latest book (to be published by Lion in March) is 50 Favourite Bible Stories, illustrated by Stephen Waterhouse and narrated on three CDs by chosen by Cliff Richard as part of his celebration of fifty years in show-biz.

Read my feature on the making of the BBC Radio's The Lord of the Rings: The Ring Goes Ever On

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2008-01-23T18:30:00.025Z

MY LIFE & TIMES

First Steps

Part of the post-war 'baby boom', I was born, on 14 July 1949, in Clapham, South London, and grew up in nearby Wandsworth - not a million miles from where I've now ended up living.

I lived (with my Dad, an architectural draughtsman, and my Mum, a housewife) in the ground floor flat of an Edwardian (or was it Victorian?) house at 16 Cicada Road, but not knowing what a 'Cicarda' was, we called it 'Cicayda Road'!

There weren't many books in that house (Dad's income didn't run to luxuries), but I somehow inherited a second-hand copy of a large, red-covered book that was packed with short stories, poems and puzzles that became, for a time, my inseperable companion.

Serialized throughout the volume, every few dozen pages, was Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The story made a powerful impact and Lewis Carroll was probably the first author to lay siege to my imagination.

Enter: Mr Edward Bear

A few doors away, lived a kindly lady named Mrs Bertoletti with a great many children's books belonging to her own youngsters, who had, long since, grown up and moved away. Mrs Bertoletti - to whom I shall always be indebted - passed us the 'Christopher Robin' and 'Winnie-the-Pooh' books (first editions, I dare say they were) on Extended Loan.

The rhymes and stories were read to me until (like the real Christopher Robin before me and many other children since) I could quote them verbatim.

Those verses about 'Sir Brian, Sir Brian' (my name!) who was "as brave as a lion" and all those funny Sayings and Hums of Pooh and his friends in the 100 Aker Wood were soon part of our daily conversation.

Then, the loan came to an end and the books went back. Years passed and I all but forgot about dear old Pooh. But, as you will see, he did forget me...

Meanwhile, when I was five years old, we left London for a more rural life in Chislehurst, Kent, where I spent my formative years in reasonable happiness and enjoyed a lazy and fairly undistinguished academic career: beginning at a cosseting little C of E primary school.

That's me, on the right (before I got my specs!) in my school cap which the stupid school photographer hand-tinted using the wrong colours!

Failing the 11+ I found myself at a very decent Sec Mod, where I learned to hate numbers and love words! As a result, I scooped an 'A' Level in English (the first boy in the school to sit an academic 'A' level, and after just one year's study) while, at the same time, struggling with my third attempt to get a CSE in Arithmetic!

I was sixteen when the Winnie-the Pooh books were published in paperback for the first time and was reunited with Mr Milne's Bear of Very Little Brain. Soon afterwards - and following a distinguished career as the author of sundry satirical school revues - I wrote my first play: The Lost Childhood, a free adaptation (made with a shameful disregard for the laws of copyright) of some of those Pooh stories I loved so much.

It was all fearfully 'sixties stuff, with Christopher Robin's toys being represented as eccentric humans, rather in the style of Jonathan Miller notorious television version of Alice in Wonderland.

I played a young-looking A A Milne and a very gloomy Eeyore, seen here (on a Vanity Fair-style photo shoot on Chislehurst common!) with my 'co-stars': Brian Denton (Pooh), David Boulton (Rabbit), Ian Carter (Christopher Robin) and Robert Hendry (Piglet)...

I must say, they were all terribly tolerant of their obsessive author/director --- the audience, however, was somewhat less so!

Fully Booked

All my pocket money went on books; those I couldn't buy for myself, I borrowed from the local library. Apart from renewing my acquaintance with A A Milne, I was being reunited with Lewis Carroll (and discovered his alter ego, Charles Dodgson) and forged new friendships that were to become lifelong companions: Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, Kenneth Grahame, C S Lewis, J R R Tolkien, P L Travers and T H White.

I also fell under the spell of writers and versifiers from the Other-Side-of-the-Pond, among them James Thurber, Ogden Nash, Walt Whitman and especially Ray Bradbury, to whom I once sent a dizzy fan-letter that began a thirty year correspondence.

This is just one of the typically zany greetings I've received from Ray over the years.

Youthful Dreams

While at school, I also developed a passion for art and acting and misguidedly entertained ambitions to become either an illustrator and cartoonist or an actor and film star - or all four!

After numerous rejection slips from the Joke Department at Punch magazine and a string of failed auditions with most of the major drama schools, I eventually settled for a rather less imaginative career in local government. This was followed - when the red-tape finally got too restrictive - by a sojourn with a finance company in London, who never seemed to notice that I couldn't actually add up!

Throughout these years I kept my real interests alive by writing stories and poems for my own amusement, doodling cartoons for friends, editing a zany, photocopied magazine with a colleague in a London Borough of Bromley post-room (that was our editorial office, above left) and took part in local amateur dramatics, usually cast as love-sick juveniles - roles that didn't come easy to a lad in the 'sixties hesitantly coming to terms with being gay!

The Bear and the Bull

I got a bit hooked on Teddy Bears (beginning with my rediscovery of that childhood infatuation with Winnie-the-Pooh) and was soon corresponding with Pooh's illustrator, E H Shepard, who made me a drawing of my favourite character, Eeyore, and with Daphne Milne (the author's widow), who gave me various snaps of Christopher Robin and his friends.

Read an interview with me about Winnie-the-Pooh on ICONS: A Portrait of England

Around this time, I also got to know Michael Bond, the author of the Paddington books and Peter Bull, actor (Dr Strangelove, Tom Jones etc) and teddy-bear guru, who became a dear, loyal, encouraging friend both in my search to find what I was supposed to do in life and my quest to understand myself...

Pooh himself, by this time, had been 'abducted' by Walt Disney; but I didn't really mind as much as perhaps I ought to have done because I, too, was enslaved by the magic of Disney animation: frantically collecting anything and everything connected with the studio and its films.

My prize possession was - and still is - a copy of a book entitled The Story of Walt Disney, autographed (above right) by the man himself. Read the full account of how I acquired this Disney Gem.

Disney Dayze

As well as seeing every Disney film (some many times over), I spent all my free time in libraries poring over books and periodicals until I became a kind of Junior Walking Encyclopedia on the subject of Disney and animation.

I corresponded and, eventually, became friends with a number of veteran artists who had created the legendary Disney characters including Marc Davis (responsible for, among others, Tinkerbell and Cruella de Vil) as well as some of the actors who had given them their voices, such as Clarence Nash (Donald Duck) and the late Adriana Caselotti who was Snow White - both in and out of the movie!

Another Disney actress - unique in that she voiced two Disney heroines - is Kathryn Beaumont Levine who spoke and sang for both Alice (in Wonderland) and Wendy (in Never Land). I first met Kathy when I interviewed her for a BBC radio series entitled Disney's Women and she and her husband, Allan, quickly became very dear friends.

There we are (above) at the launch of a new DVD for Peter Pan in what was my first - and very probably my last - appearance in Hello magazine!

Click image to enlarge - and spot the unfortunate misprint!

Thinking it over, it was probably seeing a re-release of Disney's Alice in Wonderland that re-awakened my interest in Lewis Carroll's original.

Wanderings in Wonderland

My long-held interest in Wonderland's enigmatic creator eventually led to my joining The Lewis Carroll Society, where I founded and edited a newsletter, Bandersnatch (and its later supplement, By the Tum Tum Tree): an experience which taught me just about all I've ever learned about journalism!

I even got to publish some of my own doodles...

I also started giving talks, harnessing both my growing literary knowledge and my minimal acting skills.

My first genuine lecture (to the Lewis Carroll Society in 1974) was accompanied by a privately-printed booklet, Microscopes and Megaloscopes (about Alice at the movies); it was limited to 100 signed and numbered copies and is now, mercifully, probably the scarcest of all my publications!

It was these activities that eventually resulted in my stumbling into my present career, with a little help from, once again, that Silly Old Bear!

Three Cheers for Pooh!

In 1976, I was invited to give a talk to the Children's Books History Society on the occasion of Winnie-the-Pooh's 50th birthday. One of the guests was the aforementioned Peter Bull, who suggested to the BBC that I write it up as a radio programme for him to present.

I did and he did.

And with that thirty-minute feature, Three Cheers for Pooh (a title I would later to give to one of my books) I took my first hesitant steps towards a career as a writer of radio programmes that eventually led to that of being a writer and presenter.

After a year of covertly writing scripts secreted in office files and taking leave in order to record them, the finance company for whom I worked was taken over by an American rival and, I was made redundant. Clutching £1000 redundancy money - thank you Uncle Sam! - I embarked on the interest-filled, but utterly insecure, life of the freelance.

A Journey of Unending Surprises

It is difficult to pick any one achievement from the ensuing years as being most important or significant, but others would undoubtedly spotlight my involvement in the BBC's celebrated radio serialisation of J R R Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, which, in turn, led to so much else.

Read my feature on the making of the BBC Radio's The Lord of the Rings: The Ring Goes Ever On

In fact, I've done more things - and more unusual things - than I would have ever imagined possible: reviewing radio (and writing obituaries) for The Times; hosting a couple of radio quiz shows; presenting two live arts programmes a week; chairing a committee of the Society of Authors; serving as a judge on the Sony Radio Awards and winning a Sony Radio Award!

I've written sketches for Thora Hird, Disneytime scripts for Sarah Greene and Dannii Minogue (hands up who remembers Disneytime!) and, this year, a book of bible stories to be read by Cliff Richard.

I preached a sermon in Magdalene College, Cambridge; went to Moscow to work with a Russian animator on an acclaimed film versio of Moby Dick; chased Peter Jackson halfway round the world and back whilst trying to write his biography; and delved into the secret archives of The Magic Circle in order to write their visitor's companion The House of 10,000 Secrets.

Finally, I almost got into 'the charts' as a result of writing the narration - the small-print-credits unflatteringly calls it it 'text' - for Jeff Wayne's ill-fated and long-forgotten concept-album, Spartacus. If you ever come across Catherine Zeta Jones' single, For All Time, you discover that the 'B' side features Sir Anthony Hopkins reading my words to musical accompaniment by J Wayne!

And now...

Today, I share my life with magician David Weeks, who has been my companion for going-on eighteen years and who (since October 2007) is now my Civil Partner...

We live - in a flat heaped and stacked with books and hung with pictures - along with an intrepid little rabbit, named Buttons, who - as a world-traveller - has had numerous exploits and can be encountered in person on button's blog.

Photo: © Mandy Davis, 2007

2008-01-23T18:29:00.220Z

A Full List of Sibley Publications

(Click on TITLES to go directly to Amazon.com)

NEW!
50 Favourite Bible Stories
Illustrated by Stephen Waterhouse
Lion Hudson, 2008

NEW!
Mary Poppins: Anything Can Happen If You Let It
with Michael Lassell,
Hyperion, 2007

NEW!
The Golden Compass: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion
Scholastic, 2007

Peter Jackson: A Film-maker's Journey
HarperCollins, 2006

The Maps of Tolkien's Middle-earth
Illustrated by John Howe
HarperCollins, 2003

The Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy
HarperCollins, 2002

The Lord of the Rings: Official Movie Guide
HarperCollins, 2001

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings - Insiders' Guide
HarperCollins, 2001

Three Cheers for Pooh: A Celebration of the Best Bear in All the World
Egmont, 2001; NEW Edition, 2006

Chicken Run: Hatching the Movie
Abrams/Boxtree, 2000

Cracking Animation: The Aardman Book of 3-D Animation with Peter Lord & Nick Park
Thames & Hudson (UK) / Abrams (USA
as Creating 3-D Animation), 1999

The Map of Tolkien's Beleriand and the Lands to the North Illustrated by John Howe
HarperCollins, 1999

A Treasury of Narnia
with Alison Sage
HarperCollins, 1999

Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers - Storyboard Collection
with Nick Park, BBC Books, 1998

Wallace and Gromit: A Close Shave - Storyboard Collection
with Nick Park, BBC Books, 1997

The Frightful Food Feud
Illustrated by Rosslyn Moran
Lion Hudson, 1996

There and Back Again: The Map of The Hobbit
Illustrated by John Howe
HarperCollins, 1995

The Map of Tolkien's Middle-Earth
Illustrated by John Howe
HarperCollins, 1995

A Christmas Carol - The Unsung Story
Lion Hudson, 1994

The Thomas the Tank Engine Man: The Reverend Awdry & His Really Useful Engines
Egmont, 1994

A Really Useful Book-List: A Bibliography of the Rev W V Awdry
Privately Printed, 1994 [No longer available]

The Land of Narnia: Brian Sibley Explores the World of C S Lewis
Illustrated by Pauline Baynes
HarperCollins, 1989

The Disney Studio Story
with Richard Holliss
Octopus (UK)/ Crown (US), 1988

Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs & The Making of the Classic Film
with Richard Holliss
Hyperion, 1987

Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: His Life and Times with Richard Holliss
Harper & Row, 1986

The Book of Guinness Advertising
Guinness Books, 1985

Shadowlands: The True Story of C S Lewis and Joy Davidman
Hodder & Stoughton (UK) / Revell (USA as C S Lewis Through the Shadowlands, where it received the Gold Medallion Book Award), 1985

The Picture-Strip Bible: New Testament
with John Pickering
Scripture Union, 1978

A A Milne - A Handlist of his Writings for Children
Privately Printed, 1976 [No longer available]

Microscopes and Megaloscopes; or Alice in Pictures-that-move and Pictures-that-stand-still
Privately Printed, 1974 [No longer available]

The following are books that I have edited...

The Wisdom of C S Lewis
Lion Hudson, 2000

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Illustrated with Victorian Lantern Slides
Abrams, 1988

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll, Illustrated by David Hall
Methuen (UK) / Simon & Schuster (USA), 1986

The Pooh Book of Quotations
Words by A A Milne; Illustrated by Ernest Shepard
Methuen, 1984

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Illustrated by Mervyn Peake
Methuen, 1983

The Pooh Sketchbook
Illustrated by E H Shepard
Methuen, 1982

And here are some titles to which I have contributed essays, introductions or forewords...

The Lord of the Rings: Popular Culture in Global Context
Edited by Ernest Mathijs, Foreword Brian Sibley
Wallflower Press, 2006

Empires of the Imagination: A Critical Survey of Fantasy Cinema from Georges Méliès to The Lord of the Rings
by Alec Worley, Introduction Brian Sibley
McFarland, 2005

The C S Lewis Chronicles: The Indispensable Biography of the Creator of Narnia
by Colin Duriez, Foreword by Brian Sibley
Blue Bridge, 2005

A Field Guide to Narnia
by Colin Duriez, Foreword by Brian Sibley
Sutton, 2005

The Complete Chronicles of Narnia by C S Lewis
Introduction by Brian Sibley
HarperCollins, 2000

The J R R Tolkien Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to His Life, Writings, and World of Middle-earth
by Colin Duriez, Foreword by Brian Sibley
Baker Books, 2000

Walt Disney and Europe: European Influences on the Animated Feature Films of Walt Disney
by Robin Allan, Preface by Brian Sibley
John Libby, 1999

A Lively Oracle: A Centennial Celebration of P L Travers, Magical Creator of Mary Poppins
Edited by Ellen Dooling Draper and Jenny Koralek, contains two essays by Brian Sibley
Larson, 1999

Mary Poppins
by P L Travers, Afterword by Brian Sibley
Collins, 1998

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Introduction by Brian Sibley
Methuen, 1998

The Complete Thomas the Tank Engine Stories by W Awdry
Afterword by Brian Sibley
Egmont, 1995

➠ Read about MY LIFE & TIMES

➠ Read more about Sibley books in THE BACK-STORY

➠ Read more about Sibley on radio, TV and stage in THE SHOW REPORT

➠ FULL LIST of all AUDIO RECORDINGS

➠ FULL LIST of all DVD APPEARANCES

➠ HOME & MENU

2008-01-23T18:29:00.219Z

THE STORIES BEHIND THE SIBLEY BOOKS

What small (if sometimes tragic) events can shape our destinies!

So it has been with me ever since an unforgettable day in childhood when I was taken to a newsreel-theatre where I saw my first Mickey Mouse cartoon. It was entitled The Brave Little Tailor and was made in 1938 - although I hasten to add that was not when I saw it.

At first I was mesmerized, then so terrified by a scene in which a giant pursued Mickey that I screamed the place down and had to be forcibly removed!

The Mouse & I

That one visit to the cinema turn out to be a fulcrum in my life: since I seem to have spent the subsequent fifty years conducting a love-hate relationship with Walt Disney: from seeing Pinocchio six times in one week, as a child, to writing, broadcasting and lecturing about Walt and his works since (as you might laughingly put it) I grew up!

The first book I ever wrote was Disneydust, a full-scale biographical analysis of the Man and the Mouse - a daring project not just because it was written 'on spec' but because books on the American icon had previously always been written by Americans.

Disneydust (a reference to that sparkling pixie-dust seen in so many Disney films) was announced in a publisher's catalogue, but never made it in print, although odd paragraphs subsequently found their way into The Disney Studio Story ,written with my good friend and fellow Disney-fanatic, Richard Holliss.

Continuing to challenge the monopoly of American writers on Disney, Richard and I penned Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs & The Making of the Classic Film ,containing much previously unpublished artwork from Disney's ground-breaking first feature and an introduction by the original voice of Snow White, Adriana Caselotti. We then put together Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: His Life and Times ,a lively little book in celebration of the Disney Studio's most enduring star.

I also edited an edition of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderlan d ,illustrated with fascinating concept art by David Hall for an abandoned Disney film version in the 1930s.

"Cracking books, Gromit!"

More books on animation followed when I wrote about the work of Aardman studio in two books about their famous cheese-loving duo: Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers - Storyboard Collection and, subsequently, A Close Shave - Storyboard Collection .

These two books reproduced the full storyboards drawn by Nick Park for his famous films including scenes and sequences which never made it into production. This was a project clos to my heart as I co-wrote the first treatments for The Wrong Trousers and additional material to the script.

With Peter Lord (the creator of 'Morph' and co-founder of Aardman Animations) I wrote Cracking Animation: The Aardman Book of 3-D Animation - a volume known, rather dryly, in the USA as Creating 3-D Animation: The Aardman Book of Film-Making! A new, updated edition of this book has recently been published.

I continued my Aardman association with Chicken Run: Hatching the Movie ,which can be best described as an in-depth study on how to make a movie featuring hundreds of Plasticine chickens!

Bears and Beer

Some of my books - OK, quite a lot of them! - have long been unavailable, though they can still be found in second-hand bookshops (on-line and in the real world), on eBay and at the occasional boot-sale!

One such is my first-ever published venture: The Pooh Sketchbook ,a collection of Ernest Shepard's original pencil sketches for A A Milne's 'Winnie-the-Pooh' and 'Christopher Robin' books drawn from the artist's bequest to the Victoria & Albert Museum.

An exception - a book that got into print and, somehow, managed to stay there - is The Pooh Book of Quotations ,an anthology Useful Quotes by Pooh & Co on Weather, Food, Birthdays and many other Important Topics, this little book has even found its way into a variety of foreign languages.

The same is true of my 75th birthday celebration of the Bear of Very Little Brain, Three Cheers for Pooh, which, if you happen to be looking for it in Denmark, goes under the rather jolly title of Hurra for Peter Plys!

Five years on, the book was reprinted as - yes, that's right, an 80th birthday tribute!

Having a father who had worked, both in commercial art and, later, as a draughtsman with a brewery, meant that I wrote The Book of Guinness Advertisingas much for him as for anyone else.

The book overflows with much-loved posters from classic Guinness ad-campaigns including slogans like 'Guinness is Good for You' and art work by, among others, Gilroy, Bateman, Whistler, Hoffnung and Emett.

Like Guinness itself, the book was good for me, though customers are warned not to confuse this brew (bottled by Guinness Books in 1985) with a later - some consider inferior - concoction from the same brewhouse and bearing the same label! Always insist on the original!

My Dad's greatest passion was railways, and he was definitely my model reader for The Thomas the Tank Engine Man, a biography of the Reverend W Awdry, the Church of England clergyman who created Thomas, Gordon, Edward, James and all those other Really Useful Engines on the Island of Sodor.

The book was cursed with a muddly, misch-masch cover design that failed to catch the eye of all those fans of Mr Awdry's books. To my mind (but what does an author ever know about selling their books?!) all it needed was a decent portrait of Mr A and a splash of bright colour such as might have been provided by a little blue tank engine! Inside was, I think, rather better than the outside suggests...

"Bah, Humbug!"

An early infatuation with Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol led to a life-long mania with collecting editions of Dickens' remarkable little "ghost story of Christmas". Eventually, I made a radio programme about the book - predictably entitled Humbug! - directed by Glyn Dearman, who, as a child actor, had played Tiny Tim opposite Alastair Sim's Scrooge.

I later wrote A Christmas Carol - The Unsung Story , an account of how (and why) Dickens had come to write his famous story and tracing its subsequent interpretation by illustrators, dramatists, filmmakers and parodists.

My Scrooge-complex is still haunting me and, in recent years, I have been written (revised and rewitten) no less than three versions my own stage dramatisation of what I regard as my all-time favourite book.

I also published a little fable of my own, The Frightful Food Feud , about the monarchs of two adjacent cities, Aralia and Zedonia, who move from being friends and allies to rivals and enemies before mutual difficulties teach them the value of trust and respect... Oh, and it's quite funny!

It began life as a two-part radio play for BBC Schools on the theme, as the sub-title puts it, of "A Little Give and Take" and it ended up as a story-book with delightfully lively, colourful illustrations by Rosslyn Moran.

Beyond the Wardrobe

After reading C S Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, I tried (albeit unsuccessfully) to climb through the back of my parents' wardrobe. Small wonder, then, that I should have ended up writing about Lewis and his enticing other world of Narnia quite as often as I have.

In addition to my BBC radio dramatisations of the seven books that comprise The Chronicles of Narnia, I wrote The Land of Narnia , which had the bonus of containing a series of wonderful new colour pictures by the book's original illustrator - and now a dear friend - Pauline Baynes.

This book was subsequently transmogrified into A Treasury of Narnia , written with Alison Sage, in an attempt to produce a book for a new generation of Narnia fans. Whether the resultant sea-change was worth it, I'll leave others to decide...

A lifetime ago (or so it seems) I wrote a teleplay that would later become (with a different screenwriter) the TV, stage play and film known as Shadowlands.

Notwithstanding this seeming failure, my 'tie-in' book, Shadowlands : The True Story of C S Lewis and Joy Davidman (based on my original research and script), has remained in print - not just in Britain but also in Japan, Germany and the Unites States, where it goes under the title C S Lewis Through the Shadowlands and where it received the Gold Medallion Book Award.

Middle-earth Matters

Alongside writing about C S Lewis, I have also written about Lewis' friend, and fellow fantasy-writer, J R R Tolkien.

Three books with illustrator John Howe, later one of the conceptual artists on the film trilogy, have celebrated the maps created by Tolkien for The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.

These publications were later combined into a single volume, The Maps of Tolkien's Middle-earth , in a cunning slipcase with an open hobbit-hole 'door' and containing an entirely new map of the lost island of Numenor --- of course you can't visit there anymore; but, if you could, this would be just what you needed!

Click to enlarge

The collaboration with John Howe (together with my work on the BBC's radio dramatisation of The Lord of the Rings) led to my writing some of the official books accompanying Peter Jackson's phenomenally successful series of films based on Tolkien's epic...

The first of these books were The Lord of the Rings: Official Movie Guide and a little paperback for younger readers with the decidedly unsnappy title The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings - Insiders' Guide .

These titles were followed by the best of the bunch, The Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy , which won the 2003 SFX Award for 'Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Related Non-Fiction Book'!

A planned third volume to coincide with The Return of the King was eventually abandoned and replaced (after a couple of sojourns in New Zealand and several years of expectation) by Peter Jackson: A Film-maker's Journey ,the official, authorised biography of the Wizard of Wellington recounting his trials and triumphs in bringing Tolkien's book to the cinema screen.

Because Peter Jackson leaped straight into making King Kong, the book took a lot longer to be written and then published than was hoped -- so long, in fact, that the original cover design (above) was no longer appropriate for the radically slimmed-down, new-look PJ!

My experience on writing 'making of...' books has, most recently resulted in The Golden Compass: The Official Illustrated Movie Companionfollowing the making of the fantasy film based on the first volume of Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' trilogy; and Mary Poppins: Anything Can Happen If You Let It,a book, written with Michael Lassell, which follows the story of how the world-famous magical nanny made her way from book, to screen and then on to the Broadway stage.

And soon to be published is my retelling of 50 Favourite Bible Stories ,illustrated with wonderfully vivid and vibrant pictures by Stephen Waterhouse and narrated on three CDs by Cliff Richard...

Photo: © David Weeks, 2008

➠ Read about MY LIFE & TIMES

➠ Read more about Sibley on radio, TV and stage in THE SHOW REPORT

➠ FULL LIST of all BOOKS

➠ FULL LIST of all AUDIO RECORDINGS

➠ FULL LIST of all DVD APPEARANCES

➠ HOME & MENU

2008-01-23T18:29:00.199Z

HOW I GOT WALT DISNEY'S AUTOGRAPH

"How much is it?" I asked, and held my breath.

"Forty pounds," he replied.

It's more than thirty-five years ago now, but I remember the conversation as if it were yesterday.

It was an awful lot of money.

I was just twenty years old and had not long been bitten by the Disney-bug.

My fascination with Disney movies had been suddenly intensified when I borrowed R. D. Feild's book, The Art of Walt Disney from my local library.

Anyway, here was someone who, unlike my Mum, didn't think of 'cartoons' as the kind of kid's stuff you ought to have grown out of by the time your voice breaks.

I wanted a copy of The Art of Walt Disney more than anything else in the world and began scouring the second-hand bookshops, which is how I stumbled on Fred Zentner. He later became The Cinema Bookshop in London’s Great Russell Street, but then he sold film books, stills, posters and other gems - including a copy of The Art of Walt Disney - from the basement of The Atlantis Bookshop, in Museum Street, just round the corner from the British Museum. Once found, I began, bit by bit, buying up Fred's stock of Disneyana.

Then came the day when he placed into my hands a copy of The Story of Walt Disney as told by Walt's daughter, Diane Disney Miller, to Pete Martin.

It was a first edition American hardback, published by Henry Holt & Co (New York) 1956.

It still had its original dustwrapper with a design by Disney studio artist Al Dempster and, what's more, it was ----- SIGNED!

On the half-title page, in green biro, with that distinctive bold handwriting was the inscription: 'Best Wishes Walt Disney'.

It was his very signature - including the little circle over the 'i' in 'Disney' that I emulated in my own signature. This man - whom I had never met but who exercised an obsessive fascination over me - had held this book, opened it and inscribed his name inside.

I wanted it! No, I craved it! But, FORTY POUNDS... Forty pounds for a book? My mother would go bananas! Besides, I couldn't afford it. I didn't have forty pounds. I didn't know when I ever would have forty pounds. But, right there and then, I desired that book with a passion that, call me eccentric if you will, I have scarcely felt about anything since.

But, FORTY POUNDS! That was way beyond my meager means. Then Fred Zentner showed himself to be a man who understood the full anguish of desire, because he made me an offer. If I paid him ten pounds a month for the next four months, he would keep the book for me until I had paid the full forty. Month by month, I made my pilgrimage to The Atlantis Bookshop, looked at the swirling green signature and paid another ten pounds. Then, one day, it was mine.

Fast-forward thirteen years. I am standing in the Archive at the Walt Disney Studio in Burbank, California, talking to Archivist, Dave Smith. I am there researching a television documentary about EPCOT and I mention, in conversation, that the prize of my Disney collection is an autographed copy of The Story of Walt Disney.

Dave Smith laughs and asks a question that almost brings the universe crashing down around my ears.

“Are you sure it's actually signed by Walt Disney?”

“Of course! It says so, in green biro: ‘Best Wishes Walt Disney’!”

“That may be,” he replies, “but many people at the Studio - some of them distinguished animators - signed books and pictures on Disney's behalf.”

I look stunned. But, Dave goes on: “The Disney signatures by these other artists are more like the famous logo signature that appears on Disney movies and merchandise. Walt's personal signature, however, is quite distinctive. Would you like to see a GENUINE Disney signature?'

Nothing could be simpler: within seconds I could know whether or not I owned the real thing. Or, I could leave things as they were. Except, of course, that now I couldn't. Dave Smith had sowed the seed of doubt...

I hesitate for no more than a second. “Yes, let's see a GENUINE Disney autograph…”

Then, relief and joy! “It is just like mine!”

When, a few years later, I got to know Diane Disney Miller, I asked her about the book and she told me that her father used to sign copies for sale in the bookshop at Disneyland, which was very probably where my copy had originally been purchased.

She also explained that whilst The Story of Walt Disney carried her name as author (and, indeed, included several of her own reminiscences) it had been Walt himself who had collaborated directly with Pete Martin on the book. However, her father had decided that it would be better if his life-story were presented as if told by his daughter partly because he felt that to tell it himself might appear arrogant, and partly because he wanted the recently married Diane to earn some money.

A decade passed and I found myself in San Francisco working with Diane in co-presenting a radio series for the BBC about her father. On this occasion, I had carried the treasured volume with me and I asked her to add her signature to the book’s title page.

Diane was modestly reluctant - since, as she had already told me, she didn’t consider herself in any sense the book’s ‘author’. However, she eventually relented and graciously inscribed the book: “For Brian Sibley - a very good friend - Respectfully, Diane Disney Miller”

A few more years down the road, I attended the Los Angeles premiere of the documentary ‘Walt Disney: The Man Behind the Myth’ in which I appeared as an interviewee.

By this time, I had acquired a British edition of The Story of Walt Disney published by Odhams Press (London) in 1958.

At the party afterwards, chatting with Diane and her husband Ron, I produced this volume and asked whether the book’s Non-Author would oblige with another inscription!

Appreciating the joke, she unhesitatingly agreed...

Beneath the printed sub-title - ‘An intimate biography by his daughter, DIANE DISNEY MILLER, as told to Pete Martin’ - she wrote: “Actually, Brian - we know better, don’t we? Warmest, warmest regards, Diane.”

Nowadays, the autograph business is big business: copies of the recent reprint of The Story of Walt Disney with Diane's signature sell for several hundred dollars and someone, in a recent American auction, paid over three thousand dollars for a copy of the original edition signed (also in green biro!) by Walt.

So, all in all, I think that original - and seemingly astronomical - forty pounds of mine was money incredibly well spent!

It is not, however, for any financial value that I treasure these volumes, but for the even more valuable memories and associations that they hold…

➠ HOME & MENU

2008-01-23T18:27:00.038Z

A Full List of DVD Appearances

(Click on TITLES to go directly to Amazon.com)

Films with appearances by Brian Sibley...

Guerrilla Distribution
Madcap 'mocumentary' about the attempts of two auteur filmmakers to film The Lord of the Rings and King Kong before Peter Jackson; featuring Adrian Bowley and Adam van Gelder (2007) Cameo performances by Sir Ian McKellan and Brian Sibley

Ringers - Lord of the Fans
Documentary on The Lord of the Rings fan-base, narrated by Dominic Monaghan and featuring Peter Jackson and cast members of the film trilogy (2005) Contributors include Terry Pratchett, Clive Barker, David Carradine and Brian Sibley

DVDs with Commentaries by Brian Sibley...

Around the World in Eighty Days
Based on Jules Verne's novel and starring David Niven, Shirley McLean, Cantinflas and all-star supporting cast. Directed by Mike Todd (1957)
DVD bonus features include full-length film commentary by Brian Sibley

Animal Farm
George Orwell's political fable animated by Halas and Batchelor with voices by Maurice Denham (1955)
DVD bonus features include full-length film commentary by Brian Sibley

DVDs with 'Extras' featuring interviews with Brian Sibley...

101 Dalmatians Platinum Edition
Walt Disney's 1961 animated masterpiece based on the book by Dodie Smith. Brian is one of the expert interviewees in the special DVD bonus features, 'Redefining the Line: The Making of 101 Dalmatians' and 'Cruella deVil: Drawn to be Bad'. Brian also narrates "Sincerely Yours, Walt Disney", a dramatised presentation chronicling (for the first time) the correspondence between filmmaker Walt Disney and novelist Dodie Smith

The Jungle Book Platinum Edition
Walt Disney's 1967 animated classic based on The Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling. Brian is one of the expert interviewees in the special DVD bonus features, 'The Making of The Jungle Book'

Read Brian's feature article Remembering the Bear Necessities

Mary Poppins Two Disc 40th Anniversary Special Edition
Four decades after the 1966 release of Walt Disney's multi-Oscar-winning film based on the books by P L Travers, this classic of family enetertainment stars Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson and Glynis Johns. Brian is one of the expert interviewees in the special DVD bonus features, 'The Making of Mary Poppins'

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Two Disc Theatrical Edition
The theatrical cut of the first part of Peter Jackson Rings trilogy (2001), based on the books by J R R Tolkien. Brian is one of the expert interviewees on the special DVD bonus features

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Four Disc Extended Edition
The extended cut of the first part of the Rings trilogy. Brian is one of the expert interviewees on the special DVD bonus features

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Four Disc Extended Edition
The extended cut of the second part of the Rings trilogy (2003). Brian is one of the expert interviewees on the special DVD bonus features

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Four Disc Extended Edition
The extended cut of the third part of the Rings trilogy (2004). Brian is one of the expert interviewees on the special DVD bonus features

➠ Read about MY LIFE & TIMES

➠ Read more about Sibley books in THE BACK-STORY

➠ Read more about Sibley on radio, TV and stage in THE SHOW REPORT

➠ FULL LIST of all BOOKS

➠ FULL LIST of all AUDIO RECORDINGS

➠ HOME & MENU

2008-01-23T18:26:00.095Z

A Full List of available CD
and Cassette Recordings

(Click on TITLES to go directly to Amazon.com)

Compact Discs
P L Travers Mary Poppins
Read by Sophie Thompson with 'Bonus Track': Tea with Mary Poppins, written and read by Brian Sibley
BBC Audio Books, 2005

Compact Discs
J R R Tolkien: An Audio Portrait
Written and Presented by Brian Sibley

Audio Cassettes
J R R Tolkien: An Audio Portrait
Written and Presented by Brian Sibley

Compact Discs
J R R Tolkien The Lord of the Rings: The Collector's Edition
Dramatised: Brian Sibley & Michael Bakewell
Cast includes Michael Hordern, Ian Holm, Robert Stephens, John Le Mesurier, Peter Woodthorpe and Bill Nighy.
This is a digitally re-mastered version of the 1983 repeat broadcast of the series as 13 hour-long episodes; with new opening and closing sequences to each part of the trilogy, specially written by Brian Sibley and featuring Ian Holm as Frodo. Plus a CD of Stephen Oliver's musical score and song-settings and - exclusive to this set - a new documentary, Microphones in Middle-earth, presented by Brian Sibley, featuring interviews with the cast and creative talent. 13 CDs, running time: 14 hrs 15 mins
BBC Audio Books, 2003

Compact Discs
J R R Tolkien Tales from the Perilous Realm (Farmer Giles of Ham, Smith of Wootton Major, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Leaf by Niggle)
Dramatised: Brian Sibley
Cast includes: Michael Hordern, Brian Blessed, Nigel Planer, Alfred Molina and Brian Sibley as the Giant
BBC Audio Books, 2002

Audio Cassettes
J R R Tolkien
Tales from the Perilous Realm
Dramatised by Brian Sibley
Cast as above
BBC Audio Books, 2002

Compact Discs
J R R Tolkien The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Dramatised: Brian Sibley & Michael Bakewell
Cast includes Michael Hordern, Ian Holm, Robert Stephens, John Le Mesurier, Peter Woodthorpe and Bill Nighy. Music: Stephen Oliver
This is a digitally re-mastered version of the 1983 repeat broadcast of the series as 13 hour-long episodes; with new opening and closing sequences to each part of the trilogy, specially written by Brian Sibley and featuring Ian Holm as Frodo.
BBC Audio Books, 2002

Compact Discs
J R R Tolkien The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Dramatised: Brian Sibley & Michael Bakewell
Details as Fellowship of the Ring (above)
BBC Audio Books, 2002

Compact Discs
J R R Tolkien The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Dramatised: Brian Sibley & Michael Bakewell
Details as Fellowship of the Ring (above)
BBC Audio Books, 2002

Audio Cassettes
J R R Tolkien The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Dramatised: Brian Sibley & Michael Bakewell
Details as Compact Disc recordings (above)
BBC Audio Books, 2002

Audio Cassettes
J R R Tolkien The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Details as Compact Disc recordings (above)
BBC Audio Books, 2002

Audio Cassettes
J R R Tolkien Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Details as Compact Disc recordings (above)
BBC Audio Books, 2002

Audio Cassettes
J R R Tolkien The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Dramatised: Brian Sibley & Michael Bakewell
Childrens' Edition BBC Audio Books, 2002

Audio Cassettes
J R R Tolkien The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers
Dramatised: Brian Sibley & Michael Bakewell
Childrens' Edition BBC Audio Books, 2002

Audio Cassettes
J R R Tolkien The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Dramatised: Brian Sibley & Michael Bakewell
Childrens' Edition BBC Audio Books, 2002

Audio Cassettes
J R R Tolkien The Lord of the Rings
Dramatised: Brian Sibley & Michael Bakewell
Original boxed set BBC Audio Books, 1991

Compact Discs
C S Lewis The Complete Chronicles of Narnia (Limited Edition Wardrobe)
Dramatised by Brian Sibley
BBC Audio Books, 2004

Compact Discs
C S Lewis The Complete Chronicles of Narnia
Dramatised by Brian Sibley
BBC Audio Books, 2000

Compact Discs
C S Lewis The Magician's Nephew
Dramatised by Brian Sibley
BBC Audio Books, 2000

Compact Discs
C S Lewis The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Dramatised by Brian Sibley
BBC Audio Books, 2000

Compact Discs
C S Lewis Prince Caspian
Dramatised by Brian Sibley
BBC Audio Books, 2000

Compact Discs
C S Lewis The Horse and His Boy
Dramatised by Brian Sibley
BBC Audio Books, 2000

Compact Discs
C S Lewis The Voyage of the 'Dawn Treader'
Dramatised by Brian Sibley
BBC Audio Books, 2000

Compact Discs
C S Lewis The Silver Chair
Dramatised by Brian Sibley
BBC Audio Books, 2000

Compact Discs
C S Lewis The Last Battle
Dramatised by Brian Sibley
BBC Audio Books, 2000

Audio Cassettes
Mervyn Peake Titus Groan & Gormenghast
Dramatised by Brian Sibley
BBC Audio Books, 1999
Winner of two Sony Radio Awards:
'Best Dramatisation' & 'Best Production'

Audio Cassettes
Brian Sibley Shadowlands
(Complete & Unabridged)
Read by David Suchet
Chivers Audio, 1996

Audio Cassettes
Brian Sibley Shadowlands (Abridged)
Read by Joss Ackland
HarperCollins Audio, 1995

Compact Discs
Jeff Wayne's Spartacus
Anthony Hopkins & Catherine Zeta Jones
Music: Jeff Wayne; Narrative: Brian Sibley
Columbia Records, 1992

➠ Read about MY LIFE & TIMES

➠ Read more about Sibley books in THE BACK-STORY

➠ Read more about Sibley on radio, TV and stage in THE SHOW REPORT

➠ FULL LIST of all BOOKS

➠ FULL LIST of all DVD APPEARANCES

➠ HOME & MENU

2008-01-21T17:56:00.071Z

SHOW REPORT

Sibley on Radio, Television and Stage

From my very first radio programme for the BBC, I've been amazingly fortunate in being able to write and broadcast about so many topics that were already personal passions...

That initial offering was Three Cheers for Pooh and it took me weeks to get over seeing my name in the Radio Times...

Click image to enlarge

Broadcast in 1976 (the year of Pooh's 50th birthday) the programme featured veteran actor (and radio's 'Voice of Pooh') Norman Shelley and two late, and much-loved chums, Peter Bull and a hugely talented musician and performer, Antony Miall.

Wonderland, Never Land and Other Places

Following the Pooh programme, the BBC commissioned The Tune's My Own Invention, a feature on Lewis Carroll and the songs in Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-glass. Once again I worked with Tony Miall and, between us, we spoke and sang for a good dozen Carrollian characters. A particular favourite was 'Speak Roughly to Your Little Boy' with Tony as the Duchess and myself as both the pepper-sneezing Cook and the pig-baby!

Next, I wrote and presented The Boy and the Shadow, a dramatised feature about J M Barrie and the creation of Peter Pan, with Tony as the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. These early programmes established the style for many of those that were to follow, although I was soon branching off on, sometimes, surprising tangents.

I won't bore you with a full - or even abridged - catalogue of the over 100 documentaries and features that I've written and presented for the BBC (I will eventually be listing them elsewhere on The Works - for the seriously curious!) but suffice it to say that subjects have ranged from Mickey Mouse to Dracula and Just William to Jack the Ripper.

The diversity of topics covered in my programmes includes the invention of the weekend, the creation of LEGO, an account of the "naughty 'nineties", the history of the crossword puxzzle (that one was entitled Never A Cross Word) and the film careers of Robin Hood and Sherlock Holmes. I also charted the life of Jim Henson (and his frogs and pigs) to that an 18th century servant girl named Mary Toft - the so-called 'Rabbit Woman of Godalming' - who claimed to have been delivered of several live rabbits!

Christmas Cracker

An early success was a humorous Christmas monologue entitled ...And Yet Another Partridge in a Pear Tree, performed by Penelope Keith (right) and first broadcast on Christmas morning 1977. It was only the second programme I ever submitted to the BBC and I was fortunate to have Penelope Keith (then at the height of her fame as Margot Leadbetter in the TV sit-com, The Good Life) play Miss Cynthia Bracegirdle, the luckless recipient of all the presents listed in the well-known 'Twelve Days of Christmas' song...

It was, I later discovered, not exactly a new joke and it has been re-worked by others since, but it had the distinctive twist of following the cumulative list in the lyrics, thus providing the recipient not with one partridge in a pear tree, two turtle doves, three French hens and so on, but with twelve partridges, twenty-two turtle doves, thirty French hens and so forth.

This programme - almost a monologue - was repeated several years running and I still get letters from people remembering it and asking if a recording of this programme is available. Sadly, the BBC has never released it commercially, although it does get usually get aired most Decembers - somewhere in the world.

I also repeatedly get asked for copies of the script and, since several inaccurate and incomplete transcripts are circulating on the net, I've decided it's time to post the full script; so, click here to read this sensationally shocking seasonal saga!

Incidentally, I'm happy for amateur performances of the piece to take place - though I'd appreciate being told where and when they're happening - and enquiries concerning the rights for professional performances should be directed to the Webmaster@briansibley.com.

Behind the Mike

Reviews for BBC Radio 4's former daily arts programme, Kaleidoscope, eventually led to my becoming one of the show's regular presenters for several years. Other engagements behind the microphone include three years of hosting the BBC World Service arts programme, Meridian, a weekly Radio 4 film programme, Talking Pictures, and the movie and theatre quizzes, Screen Test and Break a Leg.

And, in addition to all of that, I have contributed to such shows as Night Waves, The Green Room, The Afternoon Shift and am still occasionally providing entertainment reviews for Radio 2's Sunday Supplement.

Profile interviews for radio over the years have included Julie Andrews (left) who presided over the teacups in her Dorchester apartment (and actually asked "Shall I be mother?"), Roger Rabbit's co-star, Bob Hoskins, veteran film director Fred Zimmermann, musicians James Galway (he of the golden flute) and master flamenco guitarist, Paco Peña as well as writers, P L Travers, Ray Bradbury and (on no less than three occasions) 'Discworld' novelist, Terry Pratchett.

The list of interviewees while working on the various arts programmes includes numerous British film stars including David Hemmings, Terrence Stamp and Simon Callow.

On several occasions I got to speak with the lovely Peter Cushing who, years earlier, when I was a film-crazy youngster, invited me to visit him on set at Pinewood Studio where he gave me the full star-treatment. A dear, sweet, talented man...

There was also an unforgettable encounter with Roald Dahl - creator of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda and the BFG, that (very nearly) came close to ranking as the worst interview of my career...

Click here to read about Meeting Mr Wonka.

Mouse Tales

With Ain't No Mickey Mouse Business (a series on the corporate face of Disney) I began an association with the amazingly prolific and talented producer, Malcolm Prince.

We went on to make Disney's Women, which was co-presented with Walt's daughter, Diane Disney Miller, and which explored the role of women in Disney's life (his mother, wife and daughters) and in his films from Snow White to Cruella De Vil.

A later series, Ain't No Mickey Mouse Music (you can't keep a good title down!), explored Disney's musical heritage from the primitive soundtrack to the first sound cartoon, Steamboat Willie in 1928 through the scores to films like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio to modern day Disney hits such as Tarzan and Toy Story.

Also, at a time when the studio was celebrating the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney's birth, we made Never Miss an Angle, taking a searching look at the international mega-corporation that bears his name.

Another hundredth anniversary - that of motion pictures - provided Malcolm and I with one of our most ambitious series, David Puttnam's Century of Cinema co-hosted by Lord Puttnam and myself and featuring a guest-list that included Angela Lansbury, Michael Caine, Robert Redford, Richard Attenborough and - in the last interview before his death - Dirk Bogarde.

Our most recent collaboration was No Place Like Home, a reassessment of the legend and legacy of Judy Garland.

Other series have included (right) The Sound of Movies (on film music and its composers); Unconsidered Trifles (on collectors of unusual collections); Arty-Facts, a series on famous paintings from Leonardo's Mona Lisa - via Hokusai's Wave and Munch's Scream - to Warhol's Marilyn Monroe; a history of soap-operas To be Continued... and It's Magic!, a chronicle of conjuring and illusion, that featured magic performed by my partner, David Weeks, and which earned me my membership of The Magic Circle.

A documentary feature about the Reverend W Awdry for Radio 4 entitled The Thomas the Tank Engine Man began a long friendship with the creator of Thomas, Gordon, Edward, James and all those other Really Useful Engines and led to my being invited to write Mr Awdry's biography which - because I couldn't think of a better title - was also called The Thomas the Tank Engine Man!

As a devoted fan of Jeff Wayne's iconic concept album The War of the Worlds, I was thrilled to be asked to provide the narrative for his next venture, Spartacus.

As it turned out, however, the album wasn't quite the success everyone had hoped for - even with the vocal talents of Sir Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones, but I still get goose-bumps when I listen to Sir Anthony as Marcus Crassus reading my description of the Roman amphitheatre filled with ravaging animals and battling gladiators. It is my own small Ben Hur moment!

Small Screen / Big Screen

Occasional, diverse work for television has included three seasons as the host of First Light, BBC TV's former Sunday-morning 'God-slot'; an 'Everyman' documentary, Waltopia, on the creation of EPCOT Center; and a Christmas-night epilogue-film, I Hate Christmas, Too, featuring the ghost of a First World War soldier on Brighton pier.

I made script contributions to various TV shows and films, including Wallace and Gromit's Oscar-winning film, The Wrong Trousers as well as writing the screenplays for the S4C/BBC animated films based on a brace of whale-tales. Jonah featured the voice of John Alderton as the Old Testament prophet (and the voice of God), while Moby Dick crackled with a gloriously wild vocal performance from Rod Steiger as the doomed Captain Ahab.

A foray into writing for the big screen came in the 1980's when, with the co-operation of my friend the late P L Travers, creator of Mary Poppins, I wrote the screenplay for Mary Poppins Comes Back, a movie-musical sequel to the classic Disney film - as yet unmade.

Play Time

My first play was The Lost Childhood, written when I was a 16-year-old schoolboy and loosely based on A A Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh stories but with the characters played as if they were somewhat dotty humans rather than animals.

That's me as Mr Milne (left) in the prologue to the play with Ian Carter as a mature-for-his age Christopher Robin!

The overture for this little curiosity was written by fellow pupil, David Hewson. Years later (by which time David was a highly successful professional composer), we collaborated on various projects, beginning with To Sea in a Sieve.

A musical play about the Victorian painter and nonsense poet, Edward Lear, it was performed with me as Mr Lear and the sensational actress, Polly March playing everybody else (from Queen Victoria to a parrot!) firstly at the Edinburgh Festival and, subsequently, at the Westminster Theatre in London.

Dave Hewson and I went on to create various concert pieces including a dark Bradburyesque celebration of carnivals, The Autumn People, and a light-hearted musical romp, Alphabeasts, based on Dick King-Smith's alphabetical bestiary, which we performed with Sue Broomfield at London's Kings Head Theatre.

In addition, Dave composed hauntingly evocative music for two of my radio dramatisations, Miss Hargreaves and The Fox at the Manger, that I hope, one day, will find their way into permanent recorded form.

Another show, this time created in collaboration with Tony Miall (with whom I worked on several of my early radio programmes) and the aforementioned Ms March, was an original revue, England, Our England, which featured as the inaugural production at the St James' Cavalier Theatre in Valletta, Malta.

A stage dramatisation of J R R Tolkien's The Hobbit was written for an exceptionally talented amateur theatre company, The Lansbury Players, with whom I appeared as the play's pipe-puffing professorial narrator.

The Hobbit had a hugely successful open-air production in 2001, the year in which - courtesy of Peter Jackson - Tolkien and his tales of Middle-earth became a major media event! The show was later reprised at the former Emery Theatre.

I was also responsible for an earlier Lansbury Players' production in the form of a new dramatisation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

Dickens' seasonal fable has been a favourite book since I was quite a young child and has repeatedly featured in my career: I wrote and presented a radio feature entitled Humbug! in celebration of the story and, a few years later, compiled a book about the writing of Dickens' "ghost story of Christmas": its inspiration, its impact and its multifarious interpretation, over 165 years, by authors, artists, parodists, playwrights and filmmakers.

My dramatisation has been revived twice, most recently in December 2007 when a new version was staged at the Greenwhich Playhouse by the professional company, Flat Pack Productions to considerable critical acclaim.

Talking Books

My seventy-something radio plays and dramatisations include several works of fantastic fiction such as E T A Hoffman's classic, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, J B Priestley's modern-day medieval romp, The 31st of June, P L Travers' Christmas fantasy The Fox at the Manger in a production starring Dame Wendy Hiller and Frank Baker's Miss Hargreaves with Jean Anderson in the title role.

Serialisations have ranged from Jeffrey Archer's thriller A Matter of Honour starring Simon Ward and Michael York, via John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress with Anton Rogers, Anna Massey and Alec McCowen, to Sir Laurens van der Post's polemical memoir of WWII, The Night of the New Moon, narrated by the author.

Other dramatisations have included Roald Dahl's Danny, the Champion of the World featuring Jack Dee, Andrew Sachs and David Hemmings, two season's of Ray Bradbury's Tales of the Bizarre, including such chilling stories as The Jar (below left) and Lucy M Boston's much-loved story The Children of the Green Knowe (below right) starring Patricia Routledge.

And, while I'm name-dropping, I might mention that scripts for radio revues and entertainments have been performed by Thora Hird, Penelope Keith, Dora Bryan, Peter Goodwright, Una Stubbs, Leslie Phillips, Jeremy Lloyd, Beryl Reid and others.

Ring Cycles

My first radio dramatisation, written quite early in my radio career, was The Wonderful O, a 45-minute play based on James Thurber's magical tale about words and the power of language. Not long afterwards
I was (rather surprisingly) commissioned to structure and co-adapt the BBC's epic serialisation of J R R Tolkien's sprawling tale of the hobbits, warriors and wizards of Middle-earth The Lord of the Rings.

The series, has since achieved something of a cult status and over twenty years on is still talked about as piece of classic radio drama. Initially broadcast across half a year, The Lord of the Rings starred Ian Holm as Frodo Baggins - long before he got the film role of Frodo's uncle, Bilbo - Michael Hordern as Gandalf, Robert Stephens as Aragorn, John Le Mesurier as Bilbo, Peter Woodthorpe as Gollum and William (now 'Bill') Nighy as Sam.

If you're interested in knowing more about the radio version of The Lord of the Rings, click here to read my article The Ring Goes Ever On...

Unlike most radio broadcasts, which are lost in the ether, The Lord of the Rings serialisation survives on compact disc and audio-cassette and is available in various shapes and sizes; and the Tolkien completist may care to check out a double cd/cassette album, J R R Tolkien: An Audio Portrait (right), which is based on an 'Archive Hour' broadcast made for Radio 4 and which contains many intriguing insights into the Master of Middle-earth, drawn from the BBC's archive recordings of Tolkien and others.

Also still in existence is a collection of Tolkien's short stories which I dramatised under the title Tales of the Perilous Realm, with a cast headed by Michael Hordern, Brian Blessed, Alfred Molina and Nigel Planer. Included are Farmer Giles of Ham (with Mr Blessed as the Farmer and yours truly as the Giant!) and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, which artfully works in Frodo's encounter with Old Tom that had failed to make it into the original BBC Rings!

From Narnia to Gormenghast

My other major radio serialisation was C S Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia from The Magician's Nephew via The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to The Last Battle: seven stories with starry casts that included Sylvester McCoy, Bernard Cribbins, Frances Tomelty, Martin Jarvis, Fiona Shaw, Maurice Denham, Timothy Spall, Richard Griffiths and Stephen Thorne (whom fans will remember was Treebeard in the radio Rings) as Aslan the Lion.

And those whose taste in fantasy inhabits the weird and dark places of the imagination will understand why my radio treatment of Mervyn Peake's Titus Groan and Gormenghast holds a special place in my affections.

Peake's fantastical tale of ritual and revenge was brought to life by a glittering cast led by Freddie Jones, Bernard Hepton, Eleanor Bron, David Warner, Sheila Hancock and Stratford Johns and starred Sting (an obsessive fan of the books) as the villainous Steerpike.

The presence of the former Police-man in this duet of ninety-minute plays ensured phenomenal press coverage and the plays were handsomely rewarded with two Sony Radio Awards: 'Best Production' for the director, Glyn Dearman and 'Best Dramatisation' for myself.

Looking back, I can't help but think what an extraordinary and surprising journey I've taken since I set out from Pooh Corner all those years ago...

➠ Read about MY LIFE & TIMES

➠ Read more about Sibley books in THE BACK-STORY

➠ FULL LIST of all BOOKS

➠ FULL LIST of all AUDIO RECORDINGS

➠ FULL LIST of all MY DVD APPEARANCES

➠ HOME & MENU

2008-01-21T17:55:00.015Z

A full list of all my shows and broadcasts

THEATRE

A Christmas Carol
A new dramatization of the book by Charles Dickens
Produced by Flat Pack Productions
Greenwich Playhouse, December 2007-January 2008

The Hobbit
A new dramatization of the book by J R R Tolkien
First staged by Lansbury Players, 2000

England Our England
Compiled and performed Brian Sibley Polly March & Tony Miall
First performed to inaugurate the St James Centre Theatre in Valetta, Malta, 2000

Alphabeasts
Dramatised from verses by Dick King-Smith
With music by David Hewson
First performed at The King's Head, London, 1993, with Brian Sibley, Sue Broomfield and Dave Hewson

The Autumn People
A concert work for narrator, singers and musicians with words by Brian Sibley and music by David Hewson.
First performed at The British Music Information Centre, October 1990

The Man and the Snake
A piece for electronic music and narrator by Brian Sibley and David Hewson
based on a short story by Ambrose Bierce, 1990

To Sea in a Sieve - The Life and Dreams of Edward Lear
With music by David Hewson
First performed at the 1989 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, with Brian Sibley, Polly March and Stephen Daltry
Transferred to The First Floor Theatre at The Westminster Theatre, London, April - May 1990 with Brian Sibley, Polly March and Dave Hewson

RADIO PLAYS & LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT

It's Too Late Now
With Alex McCowan
(45-min play, BBC Radio 4)

C S Lewis, Northern Irishman
With Anton Rodgers
(45-min play, BBC Belfast)

Hit the Heights! A 'Twenties Revue for Christmas
With Elisabeth Welch, John Moffatt, Una Stubbs
(90-min seasonal entertainment; R4)

Parodies Lost
(30-min episode in six part series; R4)

The Last in the Present Series
All parts played by Brian Sibley
(30-min episode in six part series, R5)

Thora Hird's ‘Special Occasion’ (R4)
With Thora Hird, Jeanette Scott, Jeffrey Holland, Peter Goodwright

A Birthday at Bethlehem
With Thora Hird and Peter Goodwright
(45-min Christmas Special; R4)

While Shepherds Watched
(20-min play for BBC Schools Radio)

The Phonenix
(20-min play for Schools Radio)

A Little Give and Take
(2 x 20-min plays for Schools Radio)

Priestland’s Progress
(6 x 10-min inserts for R4 series)

Three Charades for Christmas
(3 x 15-min plays; R4)

...And Yet Another Partridge in a Pear-Tree!
With Penelope Keith and Timothy Bateson
(20-min entertainment R4/WS)

RADIO DRAMATISATIONS

The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan
With Anton Rodgers, Neil Dudgeon, Anna Massey, Alec McCowan
(3 x 60-min episodes; R4)

Danny, the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
With Jack Dee, David Hemmings, Andrew Sachs
(2 x 60-min episodes; R4)

The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston
With Patricia Routledge
(90 min-play; R4)

Great Murder Trials
(3 x 30-min dramatised documentaries; R2)

More Tales of the Bizarre by Ray Bradbury
(3 x 30-min plays: The Scythe; The Wind and Jack-in-the-Box; R4)

Tales of the Bizarre by Ray Bradbury
(3 x 30-min plays: Night Call Collect; The Jar and The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl; R4)

The Next in Line by Ray Bradbury
(‘Fear On Four’, 30-min play; R4)

The Nutcracker and the Mouse-King by E. T. A. Hoffmann
(4 x 30-min episodes; R5)

The Fox at the Manger by P. L. Travers
With Wendy Hiller and Alec McCowan
(45-min play; R4)

Miss Hargreaves by Frank Baker
With Jean Anderson and Clive Swift
(90-min play; R4)

The Woodland Gospels by Jeremy Lloyd
With Jeremy Lloyd, Dora Bryan and Leslie Phillips
(60-min Christmas Special; R4)

The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde
(20-min play for BBC Schools Radio)

The Gifts of the Magi by O. Henry
(20-min play for BBC Schools Radio)

The Night of the New Moon by Laurens Van Der Post
With Laurens Van Der Post
(60-min play; R4)

The Little World of Don Camillo by Giovanni Guareschi
(15 x 10-min episodes; R2)

The Thirty-First of June by J. B. Priestley
With Peter Woodthorpe and John Rye
(90-min play; R4)

A Matter of Honour by Jeffrey Archer
With Simon Ward and Michael York
(7 x 30-min episodes; Radio 4)

Tales of the Perilous Realm by J R R Tolkien
Farmer Giles of Ham; Smith of Wootton Major; Leaf by Niggle and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
With Michael Hordern, Nigel Planer, Brian Blessed, Alfred Molina, Paul Copley, Ian Hogg, James Grout
(6 x 30-min episodes; Radio 4)

The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
With Maurice Denham, Stephen Thorne, Richard Griffiths, Tom Wilkinson, Timothy Spall, Martin Jarvis, Fiona Shaw, John Sessions, Sylvester McCoy
The Magician’s Nephew and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
(10 x 25-min episodes; Radio 4/WS)
The Horse and His Boy; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the 'Dawn Treader'; The Silver Chair and The Last Battle
(20 x 30-min episodes; Radio 4)

Titus Groan and Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
With Sting, Bernard Hepton, Judy Parfitt, David Warner, Eleanor Bron, Sheila Hancock, Jill Lidstone, Cyril Shaps, Stratford Johns and Freddie Jones
(2 x 90-min ‘Play of the Week’, Radio 4)
Winner of 1985 Sony Radio Awards: 'Best Dramatisation' and 'Best Production'

The Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkien
With Ian Holm, Michael Hordern, Robert Stephens, John Le Mesurier, Peter Woodthorpe, Bill Nighy and Gerard Murphy
Series prepared for radio in 26 x 30-min episodes by Brian Sibley;
Dramatized by Brian Sibley and Michael Bakewell [13 episodes each]
(BBC R4/WS)

The Wonderful O by James Thurber
(45-min play; R4)

ABRIDGMENTS

Shadowlands by Brian Sibley
Read by Ian Richardson
(8 x 15-min episodes; R2)

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
Read by Michael Hordern
(13 x 15-min episodes; WS)

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Read by Frank Duncan
(6 x 15-min episodes; Piccadilly Radio)

RADIO FEATURES

(BBC radio programmes of 30/45/60 minutes, which - unless otherwise stated - were written and presented by Brian Sibley)

Showman and Starmaker - A Tribute to Bill Cotton
Presented by Paul O'Grady
(2 x 60-min programmes, BBC Radio 2, 2008)

'Ain't No Mickey Mouse Music - The Songs and Music of Disney
(4 x 30-min series, BBC Radio 2, 2006)

No Place Like Home - A Judy Garland Story
(3 x 60-min series, R2, 2005)

The Sound of Movies - Music in the Cinema
(4 x 60-min series, 2002, R2)

David Puttnam’s Century of Cinema
Co-presented with Lord Puttnam
(6 x 60-min series for the millennium; R2, 2000)

Arty-Facts - The Stories behind the Paintings
(2 series of 6 x 15-min featurettes; BBC World Service)

Starring Julie - A Conversation with Julie Andrews (R2)

Disney’s Women - The Story of Walt’s Heroines
Co-presented with Diane Disney Miller
(4 x 30-min series; R2)

To Be Continued…
Soap Operas of the World (8 x 15-min series; WS)

Master of Flamenco - A Conversation with Paco Pena (WS)

Our Roving Reporter - Profile of Fyfe Robertson (Radio 4)

Fred Zinnemann - A Tribute (WS)

'Are You There, Harry Houdini?' (WS)

Honest To Bob! A Conversation with Bob Hoskins (WS)

The World of Terry Pratchett (WS)

Sounds Like Disney - Forgotten Disney Songs
(120-min music special; R2)

Magic Moments! Ninety Years of The Magic Circle (R2)

'Ain't No Mickey Mouse Business - The Corporate World of Disney
(6 x 30-mins series, WS)

The Man with the Golden Flute - A Master Class with James Galway (R4/WS)

Pig Brother! George Orwell’s Animal Farm (WS)

The History of ‘Le Weekend’ (R4)

The Interesting Times of Terry Pratchett (R4)

Unconsidered Trifles - Conversations with Curious Collectors
(8 x 15-min series; WS)

It’s Magic! A History of Conjuring
(6 x 30-min series; WS)

Prince of Thieves - The Lives and Legends of Robin Hood (R4)

Of Muppets and Men - A Tribute To Jim Henson (WS)

The Undying Myth - Bram Stoker and Dracula (WS)

The Decadent Decade - The Naughty 'Nineties (WS)

A Taste of Dandelion Wine - Profile of Ray Bradbury (WS)

A Hundred Years of Elegance - The Savoy Hotel Centenary (WS)

Practically Perfect in Every Way - Profile of P L Travers (WS)

The Mouse that Walt Built - Mickey at Sixty (WS)

Roald’s Marvellous Medicine - A Conversation with Roald Dahl (WS)

Jack from Hell! The Terrible Legacy of Jack the Ripper (WS)

The Magic-Picture Show - The Museum of the Moving Image (WS)

The World According to Walt - Walt Disney World’s 15th Anniversary (WS)

Back to Baker Street! The Sherlock Holmes Mystique (WS)

A Treasury of Childhood - The Bethnal Green Museum (WS)

The Fairest One of All - Snow White at Fifty (WS)

The Brick that Created a World - The Story of Lego (R4/WS)

Humbug! Charles Dickens and A Christmas Carol (R4/WS)

Not That it Matters - A Life of A A Milne (R4)

Miss Crompton and Master Brown - The Story of 'Just William' (BBC WS)

The Thomas the Tank Engine Man - Profile of Rev W Awdry (R4)

Utopia Unlimited - An Exploration of Walt Disney World’s Epcot Center (R4)

The Coming Tide: The Life and Poetry of Brian Alexander
Presented by Prof Christopher Ricks
(An April Fools Day Special, R3)

Many a Cross-Word - The Chequered History of the Crossword Puzzle
Presented by John Wells (R4)

The Rabbit-Woman of Godalming - The Story of Mary Toft (R4)

Raikes’ Progress - Robert Raikes and the Sunday School Movement (R4)

Quest for the Jabberwock (Radio 3)

Sinner, Saint, Hero, Wretch - The Strange Case of Ambrose Bierce (R3)

A Mouse for All Seasons - Mickey Mouse at Fifty
Presented by Pete Murray (R4)

The Boy and the Shadow - Mr Barrie and Peter Pan (R4)

The Tune’s My Own Invention - Music in Wonderland
Co-presented with Anthony Miall (R4)

Three Cheers for Pooh! Fifty Years of a Bear of Little Brain
Presented by Peter Bull (R4/WS)

RADIO ANTHOLOGIES

The Lion and the Unicorn - A Heraldic Device (R4)

Talk of the Devil! A Halloween Toast to Satan (R3)

When is a Door Not a Door? An Open-and-Shut Celebration (R4)

Peace, Perfect Peace - Celebrating the League of Nations (R4)

FEATURES FOR SCHOOLS RADIO

(Written & Presented by Brian Sibley)

Henry Purcell and his Music

James Ritty and the Cash-Register

William Booth and the Salvation Army

Robert Raikes and the Sunday Schools

Father Damien and the Fight Against Leprosy

John Groom and Homes for the Disabled

Followers of Jesus
(2 x 20-min programmes)

The Story of Joseph
(2 x 20-min programmes)

The Bible: How and Why?
(5 x 20-min series)

RECORDINGS

Spartacus Narration for Jeff Wayne’s concept-album (1992)
With Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones

FILM & TELEVISION

Soundtrack commentaries on DVD releases of feature films:
Animal Farm and Around the World in 80 Days

Moby Dick Screenplay for 30-minute animated film
With Rod Steiger
(S4C/BBC, 1998)

Jonah Screenplay for 30-minute animated film
With John Alderton
(S4C/BBC, 1996)

I Hate Christmas, Too
Screenplay for 'Epilogue' Film, Christmas Night (BBC1, 1997)

Waltopia: Disney's Greatest Dream?
(‘Everyman’, BBC1; 1982)

Mary Poppins Comes Back
Film commissioned by the Walt Disney Studio, 1981

The Wrong Trousers
Scripting for Oscar-Winning animated film (BBC2)

Shadowlands
Research Consultant (BBC1)

The Light of the World
Narration for John Halas animated film (ITV)

Doombeach
Lyrics for Children's Film Unit production (C4)

PRESENTING & BROADCASTING (Television & Radio)

The Strand
Regular reviewer from 2009 (World Service)

Sunday Supplement [formerly Michael Parkinson's Sunday Supplement]
Regular Entertainment Reviewer 2006-2008 (R2)

eFiles
Presenter, 2000 (WS)

Talking Pictures
(Presenter, weekly 1999/2000, R4)

Screen Test
(Quizmaster, 1997/98, R4)

Meridian, Live!
(Regularl Presenter from 1985; Weekly Presenter 1996-1999, WS)

On Screen
(‘Guest Presenter’, 1996-1999, WS)

First Light
(Presenter - weekly series, three seasons: 1996/97, BBC1)

Afternoon Shift
(‘Guest Presenter’, 1995-1997, R4)

Kaleidoscope
(Weekly Presenter, 1990-1995, R4)

Break a Leg!
(Quizmaster, 1984-1986, WS)

Contributor to:

(Television) The South Bank Show; Bookmark; Food and Drink; Pebble Mill At One; Newsnight; Nationwide; Did You See?; The Late Show

(Radio) Quote...Unquote...; Woman's Hour; Today; Night Waves; Bookshelf; Outlook; Society Today; A Good Read; Sunday; Good Books; Slightly Foxed; You and Yours; Novel Idea; Starsound Extra; The Green Room

ACTING CREDITS

Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol
Dramatised by Brian Sibley
with the Lansbury Players, 1999 and 2001

J R R Tolkien in The Hobbit
Dramatised by Brian Sibley
with the Lansbury Players, 2000

Co-Performer (with Polly March and Tony Miall) in England, Our England
St James Centre Theatre in Valetta, Malta, 2000

Co-Performer (with Sue Broomfield and Dave Hewson ) in Alphabeasts
King's Head, London, 1993

Narrator for The Man and the Snake by Brian Sibley and David Hewson, 1990

Narrator for Not Wanted On Voyage by Richard Arnell and David Hewson, 1990

Edward Lear in To Sea in a Sieve by Brian Sibley with music by Dave Hewson
(Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 1989; Westminster Theatre, 1990)

Mikhail in Vassa-Zheleznova by Maxim Gorky
(Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 1989)

The Entire Cast of The Last of the Present Series by Brian Sibley (R5)

The Giant in Tales of the Perilous Realm by J R R Tolkien
Dramatised by Brian Sibley (R4)

Various characters in Not That it Matters by Brian Sibley (R4)

Brian Alexander in The Coming Tide by Brian Sibley (R3)

The Vicar of Gloucester in Raikes’ Progress (R4)

Various characters in The Tune’s My Own Invention (R4)

➠ Read about MY LIFE & TIMES

➠ Read more about Sibley on radio, TV and stage in THE SHOW REPORT

➠Read about the Sibley books in BACK STORY

➠ FULL LIST of all BOOKS

➠ FULL LIST of all AUDIO RECORDINGS

➠ FULL LIST of all DVD APPEARANCES

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2008-01-21T17:55:00.002Z

ON THE AIRWAVES

This page (listing my broadcast work) is under construction

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2008-01-20T10:21:00.005Z

...AND YET ANOTHER PARTRIDGE
IN A PEAR TREE

A Cautionary Tale for Christmas Showing
that it is Better to Give than to Receive

by
Brian Sibley

My very dearest Algy,

How can I begin to thank you for your charming Christmas gift? What luxury! My very own pear tree, with that dear little pheasant in it - or is it supposed to be a partridge? You really are a foolish boy! Actually, the birdie isn't wildly attractive, but the pear tree should be lovely - when pears are in season again.

Thank you, my darling.

All my love - forever.

Your ownest affectionate,

Cynthia

My dearest Algy,

You are quite impossible, my love. The turtle doves are adorable! They're already cooing away like anything; and, I must say, their amorous behavior leaves very little to the imagination. But I expect they will settle down in time.

Thank you, my sweeting.

Affectionately yours,

Cynthia

PS: I almost forgot to thank you for the second partridge-in-pear-tree thing: it balances up the other side of the fireplace so nicely.

Dearest Algernon,

You know, poppet, you are simply going too, too far! Your latest gift has just been delivered: what an imaginative boy you are to think of sending me something as unusual as three French hens.

I'm only sorry that I hadn't told you that I am allergic to eggs. Never mind I can always sell some to the neighbours who, incidentally, have been much entertained by the sight of the postman struggling along each morning with the pear trees.

Much love,

Cynthia

Dear Algernon,

I suppose it's silly of me, but I am seriously beginning to wonder whether you aren't trying to get me to start an aviary. Your four 'colly birds' have just arrived and could, more aptly, be described as 'call-y birds', since that is what they seem to do best! Perhaps you could let me know whether colly birds are in the laying business or whether they are intended for human consumption; Mrs Beeton is, I find, surprisingly silent on the matter.

I can honestly say, Algernon, that I'd always thought birds were rather pleasant little creatures,
until you gave me this opportunity of observing them at such close quarters.

Love,

Cynthia

PS: I do hope you got a reasonable discount on all the pear trees.

Algernon,

Thank you for your latest gift of five curtain rings, a somewhat curious present but, nevertheless, a refreshing change from all those very pretty, but somewhat noisy, birds you will keep sending me.

I doubt if I should have bought so large a turkey for Christmas had I known what you had in mind. Could we ease up a bit on the fowl, do you think?

Cordially,

Cynthia

Dear Algernon Fotherington-Smythe,

I see we are back with the birds again! Your six geese a-laying have just arrived, and are happily doing so for all they're worth. I rather thought I'd mentioned to you how it was with me and eggs...

Thank you for putting me right about the curtain rings - I never could tell the difference between brass and gold. Of course, I am very pleased that you should have thought of sending me another five, just so that I have one for every finger. But as I now have more hens, doves and partridges than I rightly know how to cope with, and as they aren't too fussy about personal hygiene, I seldom seem to have my hands out of a bucket of water long enough to try them on! Yours, Cynthia B

Dear Mr Fotherington-Smythe,

I have just succeeded in accommodating your seven swans a-swimming in my bath - which was no mean achievement when one considers the number of pear trees on the landing! Regrettably, the geese got to the rings before I could, so that's probably the last we've seen of them - would I could say the same for the geese! I must now ask you to desist from sending me any more of these well-intentioned but slightly impracticable gifts. Cynthia Bracegirdle PS: I hadn't realised just how messy moulting partridges can be, or how badly they seem to get on in captivity with other birds.

Mr Fotherington-Smythe,

Fresh milk is one thing, eight enormous Friesians in the drawing room is something else altogether!

True, the milkmaids have a certain rustic charm, but you wouldn't believe how much they eat. You may also care to note that my bath has only so much room in it for swans with a seemingly insatiable urge to be a-swimming, and it will definitely not hold fourteen of them! Take that from one who has tried!

Please call a halt to this absurd behavior.

Miss Cynthia Bracegirdle

Mr Smythe!

Thanks to your weird sense of humor, my house is now in utter chaos! As if it wasn't bad enough having sixteen cows producing milk by the gallon, we now have nine 'ladies' - as you amusingly call them - dancing here, there and everywhere, one of whom seems to be working out a somewhat extraordinary routine involving several doves and a goose!

The most charitable view I can take of your actions is that you are out of your tiny mind.

Enough's enough!

PACK IT IN!!

Miss C Bracegirdle

PS: Fortunately, one of the partridges has just drowned itself in a bucket of milk.

Unspeakable wretch!

Your misguided generosity has apparently now led you to suppose that I could find some use for ten Lords a-leaping. They might lend a hand with cleaning up all the rancid milk and bird-lime - if they'd only stop leaping around after the dancing girls for five minutes!

I understand the entire neighborhood is now up in arms about it all and the Residents' Association has sent a petition to the local Member of Parliament.

Thumping on the front door at this precise moment are no less that two dozen representatives from various government bodies and from the Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to hens, doves, geese, swans, cows, partridges and, for all I know, pear trees! And the bizarre inter-breeding amongst the birds is to be the subject of an article by a leading ornithologist in the next issue of Bird Monthly!

The recent outbreaks of crop-blight, fowl-pest and foot-and-mouth disease have now reached epidemic proportions; and if the antics I witnessed behind the pear trees this afternoon are anything to go by, several of the milkmaids should soon find themselves in, what polite society calls, an interesting condition.

For your information, I have now reached the end of my tether - which is more than can be said for those damn cows of yours!

C Bracegirdle (Miss)

CRETINOUS TOAD!!

Have you got even the remotest idea what eleven pipers piping sounds like at two o'clock in the morning? Of course, it only adds very slightly to the hideous cacophony of noise that I must now daily endure. I swear there's more mooing, cooing, honking, clucking and calling here than in the zoological gardens. If there were any room left, I might seriously consider opening the place to the public.

Your latest shipment of lords, ladies and livestock is now settled into the furore and by the same post came received a letter advising of a visit which the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries intends to make this afternoon - supposing he can get in the door that is!

One good thing at least is that the latest influx of birds have put the cows off giving milk; I can hear them now - uprooting the pear trees in the orchard I once called a living room!

My landlord has taken out an eviction order against me, as he claims, somewhat surprisingly, that the terms of my lease do not cover utilisation of the premises as a menagerie, dancing school, smallholding or annex of the House of Lords.

C B

PS: Please be advised that all future correspondence between us will be handled by my solicitors, Messrs Grabble, Twister and Fleecem.

Graball, Twister and Fleecem
Chancey Chambers
Suet-under-Writ
(Off the Eastbourne Road)
Sussex

Dear Mr Smith,

Re: Miss Cynthia Bracegirdle, deceased

We are the executors of the estate of the above-named deceased, and are writing to acknowledge receipt of your recent delivery of twelve drummers drumming.

You will no doubt be distressed to learn that, shortly after the arrival of these gentlemen, our client, in what must be described as a somewhat deranged state of mind, travelled to Eastbourne and threw herself off the top of Beachy Head.

Before taking this step, however, she left instructions with ourselves for the adding of a codicil to her Last Will and Testament, under which you become her sole beneficiary and legatee.

I am, therefore, arranging for the following items to be delivered to you later this day:

12 drummers drumming
22 pipers piping
30 lords a-leaping
36 ladies dancing
40 maids a-milking
42 swans a-swimming
42 geese a-laying
40 gold rings
36 colly birds
30 French hens
22 turtle doves
and 11 partridges with 12 accompanying pear trees.

With our sincere congratulations on your inheritance and assuring you of our best attention at all times,

Yours faithfully,

Graball, Twister and Fleecem

...And Yet Another Partridge in a Pear Tree was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Christmas Day 1977 and starred PENELOPE KEITH as Cynthia Bracegirdle with TIMOTHY BATESON as Mr Graball. The programme was directed by JOHN THEOCHARIS.

I hereby sanction amateur performances of this work (although please let me know where and when they're being performed); enquiries concerning the rights for professional performances, however, should be addressed to me c/o the Webmaster@briansibley.com.

The illustrations are taken from photographs of the fabulous 2007 Christmas window displays at the Piccadilly emporium of Messrs Fortnum and Mason.

Text and images: © Brian Sibley, 2007

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