Raymond Chandler

Chandler’s lonely, wise-cracking hero, Philip Marlowe, has become the very epitome of the fictional private eye. This film special, shot in California and London, includes interviews with contemporary thriller writers, Chandler’s biographer, Robert Mitchum – who has played Marlowe in two films – and others who knew or worked with him. It evokes his enduring portrait of Los Angeles and tells the story of his extraordinary life through dramatised excerpts from his letters.

V.s Naipaul

West Indian author, V. S. Naipaul, acclaimed for books such as A House for Mr. Biswas and In a Free State, talks in interview about his writing, in particular his autobiographically-based novel, The Enigma of Arrival. He contrasts the inspiration he found for this work in the English countryside, where he now lives, with the Caribbean, African and Indian influences that dominate his fiction and travel titles. The programme is illustrated with readings from his work.

Saul Bellow

In this programme, the Nobel Prize-winning author gives a rare television interview and talks in depth about his novel, The Dean’s December. An attack on the physical and spiritual decline of modern city life, the book was inspired by Bellow’s experience of his native Chicago.

Norman Mailer

This programme on one of America’s most important contemporary writers focuses on his major documentary novel, The Executioner’s Song. This tells the story of Gary Gilmore, who died before a firing squad in Utah, in 1977. Mailer’s research into the lives of those involved in the case resulted in a thrilling book which also contains an important statement about modern America. Mailer talks in interview about his work.

Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl (1916-90) wrote books which children around the world find irresistible and which constantly ride high in the hardback and paperback children’s lists. Made with Dahl in 1986, Jack Bond’s film takes the viewer on an amazing journey, entering the writer’s magical world and revealing his extraordinary fantasies.

Sir Ian Mckellen

This film diary spans a year in the life of the acclaimed British actor/director Sir lan McKellen and shows a formidable theatrical talent at work. He is seen preparing for major roles in Chekov’s Wild Honey and Shakespeare’s Corialanus, as well as setting up a company of his own at the Royal National Theatre and playing opposite Meryl Streep in the feature film Plenty.

The Theatre of Comedy

Farce has always been a vital ingredient of British theatre and one of the successes in the genre was Ray Cooney’s Theatre of Comedy Company. This programme looks at the chemistry of farce. It takes the form of a studio workshop, with Cooney and some of his leading actors performing and discussing extracts from his plays, including Run for Your Wife.

Stephen Spender

A prominent member of the generation of writers who emerged after the First World War, British poet Stephen Spender (1909-95) has often been described as the conscience of the thirties, the turbulent decade which saw the rise of Hitler, Franco and Fascism. Returning to the places which influenced his early life and work, he talks about his political and artistic concerns during that period and recollects his friendships with contemporaries, including W. H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood.