Kneale wrote original scripts and successfully adapted works by writers such as George Orwell, John Osborne, H. G. Wells and Susan Hill. As most here will know, the 1963 TV play was wiped long ago. 3. Complete biography of Nigel Kneale ». We used the second day to do stuff in Manchester and we mucked about with the resources slightly. Suffice it to say that in terms of its setting alone, The Road is remarkable as it’s Kneale’s only original period piece. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Many of his works contain SF and horror elements, though he fiercely resisted being labelled as "a science fiction writer". Nigel Kneale was a Manx television playwright who had first come to prominence in the nineteen-fifties thanks to his three Quatermass serials and his controversial adaptation of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, all of which were produced by the BBC.Going freelance in the nineteen-sixties, Kneale had produced scripts for Associated Television and for Hammer Films. If you’ve ever longed to experience The Road, this is your chance. This Halloween season, though, The Road is rising again at long last, in the form of a new BBC Radio 4 adaptation written by Toby Hadoke. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser. Because we were recreating something lost, I felt we had a duty to preserve much of what was lost.”, For many We Are Cult readers, The Road will need no introduction and the uninitiated are advised to stay that way until they hear the new radio version. Thanks. Nigel Kneale is remembered locally for being the Island's most successful radio, television and film script writer, and more broadly for writing groundbreaking screenplays for the cult 1950s BBCTV science fiction series, Quatermass. Nigel Kneale himself said that this novelization was his favorite of the three versions of the fourth Quatermass story and it is easy to see why. Thomas Nigel Kneale was born in Barrow-in-Furness on 28 April 1922. Directed by Christopher Morahan. Ghostwatch was a big deal for the BBC on Hallowe’en 1992. STANDS4 LLC, 2020. Like this feature? Kneale was born Thomas Nigel Kneale in Barrow-in-Furness, England. He was most active in television, joining BBC Television in 1951; his final script was transmitted on ITV in 1997. ‘The Mark of the Bell Witch’ Haunts the Holidays, BFI announce Marlene Dietrich at Universal 1940-1942, Yule Be Entertained: ‘I Was Bored On Christmas Day’. The other plays are The Stone Tapes and The Road. He wrote professionally for more than 50 years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award, and was twice nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British Screenplay. Quote. Actually it really helped with the clarity of it and to slightly dilute the ‘terrified yokel’ stuff that might seem a bit of a push with the sort of characterisation we’re more used to nowadays. Excerpt: Nigel Kneale (18 April 1922 - 29 October 2006) was a British screenwriter from the Isle of Man. 11:30 am Nigel Kneale on Quatermass and BBC TV production techniques in the 1950s. “The Road is a piece that’s known because of this brilliant genre concept, but actually what most of the play is about is two very well-drawn characters sparring with each other against the backdrop of a haunting. Non-profit. ... 3 TV Plays, a book made particularly desirable by its inclusion of the script for 1963’s The Road, which even … ❉ The Road will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 at 2.30pm on Saturday 27 October and available via BBC iPlayer shortly after. With telly in those days, you could have quite big casts. Toby Hadoke’s adaptation of the lost Nigel Kneale classic drama, The Road, is being replayed on BBC Radio 4 this weekend – a great listen for Doctor Who fans and not just because Mark Gatiss plays one of the lead roles. Nigel Kneale. Star Wars: The Future of a Galaxy, Far, Far Away…, RPM Records Go ‘Right Back Where We Started From’, ‘Absolute Beginners’: The Story Of David Bowie’s Last Big Hit, The Sensible Gray Cells: ‘Get Back Into The World’. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Nigel Kneale. OUTSIDE TASKERLANDS HOUSE — DAY . By proceeding, you're agreeing to this. Blumhouse horror VIGIL on DVD 4th January 2021! This is widely considered to be a lost TV masterpiece by the legendary Nigel Kneale. Get listed in the most prominent screenplays collection on the web! Anyways, the script for The Road is available as a PDF on the out of print BFI DVD of The Stone Tape. Writing extensively for both film and TV, Nigel Kneale is one of the most important and radical British screenwriters of the last century.His work has haunted several generations of British viewers. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Starring John Phillips, James Maxwell and Ann Bell Contributors. Active in television, film, radio drama and prose fiction, he wrote professionally for over fifty years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award and was twice … The late Nigel Kneale is considered to be the Island’s most successful radio, television and film scriptwriter, subsequently immortalised by his creation of the cult BBC TV science fiction series Quatermass during the 1950s. I’ve done a bit more ‘haunting in the woods’ stuff to introduce it more like a traditional ghost story. “He was very good at character and this is a character piece,” Hadoke says. I’ve added in a sort of sub-plot, but large bits of the dialogue and all the characters are the same. So desperate to see The Road that they got hold of the script and spent a few. This is widely considered to be a lost TV masterpiece by the legendary Nigel Kneale. Ghostwatch was a big deal for the BBC on Hallowe’en 1992. A script still exists, but sometime after the show was broadcast in 1963 the BBC wiped the videotape. Thomas Nigel Kneale was born at Barrow-in-Furness on April 18 1922. This Halloween season, though, The Road is rising again at long last, in the form of a new BBC Radio 4 adaptation written by Toby Hadoke. Then they had to OK me as the writer and then they had to OK the script, so every time there’s a potential hurdle, and usually a potential hurdle is a hurdle for a reason and you fall over it. Kneale is also the author of the Quatermass plays which were originally intended for the BBC but first aired on ITV in the late 1970s. by Nigel Kneale. and was enthralled. The setting is a remote village in 1768, as well as the nearby woods. Some of the characters are so well-drawn and some of the lines are so brilliant that I think it would be an act of monumental arrogance on my part to change them.”, Sometimes there’s a risk that Kneale’s reputation as a great ideas writer can obscure the fact that he knew exactly what he was doing with characters and dialogue too. These cookies do not store any personal information. Background. ❉ One of the great missing masterpieces of British television, The Road is rising again at long last, in the form of a new BBC Radio 4 adaptation written by Toby Hadoke. Kneale brings out strong characterizations in this prose version that even expands on little seen supporting characters and he is able to expand on the world and events seen in it as well. I certainly didn’t expect The Road to be the one, but I’m very happy it was. He was married to Judith Kerr. He was born in Dalton in Furness in 1922, but Kneale does that so well and you don’t need Hadoke to mess with it.”, Around eighteen months ago, having received acclaim for his own original radio dramas, Hadoke put in a pitch to Radio 4 to adapt Kneale’s script. The creator of Quatermass , Kneale’s work is angry, literate and passionately invested in the human condition while remaining totally aware of … He was a writer and actor, known for The Entertainer (1960), Look Back in Anger (1959) and Quatermass and the Pit (1967). https://homemcr.org/film/listening-event-nigel-kneales-the-road/. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. He was married to Judith Kerr. So desperate to see The Road that they got hold of the script and spent a few. ", Update this biography » Thomas Nigel Kneale (18 April 1922 – 29 October 2006) was a British screenwriter. Why not buy us a cup of coffee? https://www.scripts.com/writer/nigel_kneale/5667. Both genuinely chilling and unsettling masterpieces. Give Gift; Back to Top; Post by felixdembinski on Aug 12, 2010 17:40:43 GMT. In 2000, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Horror Writers Association. It was just one of a number of proposed adaptations, including a collaboration with regular Doctor Who writer Peter Harness. Edit Submit Cancel We have produced a Style Guide to help editors follow a standard format when editing a listing. BBC Television, 29 September 1963 21.00. “It was a chancey pitch that I got away with,” Hadoke says. So I kept expecting it to fail because none of it was straightforward. by Nigel Kneale . This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Thomas Nigel Kneale (18 April 1922 – 29 October 2006) was a British screenwriter.He wrote professionally for more than 50 years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award, and was twice nominated for the British Film Award for Best Screenplay.