Kenneth Royce
Encyclopedia
Kenneth Royce Gandley (1920 – 1997) was an English thriller writer who also wrote under name Ken Royce, and the pseudonym
Oliver Jacks.
Ken Royce was born in Croydon, UK in 1920 and began writing at school. He would buy cheap exercise books and sell them fully illustrated for twice the price.
During World War !! he served with "various regiments" and reached the rank of Captain. He ran his own travel business and made full use of it to gather background for his books.
He was married and lived in Buckinghamshire, UK. He died in 1997.
He wrote 36 thriller novels between 1959 and 1997 under his own name (including The Third Arm, The Stalin Account, Fall-Out, 10,000 Days and Channel Assault), and three as Jacks. His best known works were his novels featuring semi-reformed cat burglar William 'Spider' Scott, an XYY Man
, whose extra 'Y' chromosome (in the erroneous-but-conventional wisdom of the time) gave him a pre-disposition towards criminality. After attempting to 'go straight', he finds his talents are in demand not only from the criminal underworld, but also the secret service, and he is co-opted into dangerous undercover work (usually through blackmail, the temptations of money, or through his interest being piqued).
Royce wrote eight books featuring Scott:
A television series of The XYY Man
in 1976-7 (adapting the early books) created a popular appetite for the character, and also that of his nemesis, Detective Sergeant George Bulman, a relatively minor character in the original books, but brought to life on the screen by the memorable performance of Don Henderson
. After the run of Spider Scott programmes ended, Bulman had many television adventures not based on Royce's work (the series Strangers
, 1978-82, and Bulman
, 1985-7). The popularity of these probably contributed to Royce choosing to make Scott and Bulman unlikely allies and joint leads from The Crypto Man through No Way Back, while he wrote more Bulman novels towards the end of his life, including The Judas Trail (1996) and Shadows (1996).
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Oliver Jacks.
Ken Royce was born in Croydon, UK in 1920 and began writing at school. He would buy cheap exercise books and sell them fully illustrated for twice the price.
During World War !! he served with "various regiments" and reached the rank of Captain. He ran his own travel business and made full use of it to gather background for his books.
He was married and lived in Buckinghamshire, UK. He died in 1997.
He wrote 36 thriller novels between 1959 and 1997 under his own name (including The Third Arm, The Stalin Account, Fall-Out, 10,000 Days and Channel Assault), and three as Jacks. His best known works were his novels featuring semi-reformed cat burglar William 'Spider' Scott, an XYY Man
The XYY Man
The XYY Man began life as a series of novels by Kenneth Royce, featuring the character of William 'Spider' Scott, a one-time cat-burglar who leaves prison aiming to go straight but finds his talents still to be very much in demand by both the criminal underworld and the British secret service...
, whose extra 'Y' chromosome (in the erroneous-but-conventional wisdom of the time) gave him a pre-disposition towards criminality. After attempting to 'go straight', he finds his talents are in demand not only from the criminal underworld, but also the secret service, and he is co-opted into dangerous undercover work (usually through blackmail, the temptations of money, or through his interest being piqued).
Royce wrote eight books featuring Scott:
- The XYY Man (1970)
- Concrete Boot (1971)
- The Miniatures Frame (1972)
- Spider Underground (The Masterpiece Affair) (1973)
- Trap Spider (1974)
- The Crypto Man (1984)
- The Mosley Receipt (1985).
- No Way Back, aka Hashimi's Revenge (1986 - a direct sequel to The Mosley Receipt).
A television series of The XYY Man
The XYY Man
The XYY Man began life as a series of novels by Kenneth Royce, featuring the character of William 'Spider' Scott, a one-time cat-burglar who leaves prison aiming to go straight but finds his talents still to be very much in demand by both the criminal underworld and the British secret service...
in 1976-7 (adapting the early books) created a popular appetite for the character, and also that of his nemesis, Detective Sergeant George Bulman, a relatively minor character in the original books, but brought to life on the screen by the memorable performance of Don Henderson
Don Henderson
Don Henderson was an English actor whose film and TV work covered many years but is best remembered for his role as the fictional detective George Bulman...
. After the run of Spider Scott programmes ended, Bulman had many television adventures not based on Royce's work (the series Strangers
Strangers (TV series)
Strangers was a UK police drama that appeared on ITV between 1978 and 1982.After the success of the TV series The XYY Man, adapted from books by Kenneth Royce, Granada TV devised a new series to feature the regular characters of Detective Sergeant George Bulman and his assistant Detective...
, 1978-82, and Bulman
Bulman
Bulman was a Granada TV series which ran from 1985-1987 and followed the fortunes of the major character from the earlier XYY Man and Strangers series....
, 1985-7). The popularity of these probably contributed to Royce choosing to make Scott and Bulman unlikely allies and joint leads from The Crypto Man through No Way Back, while he wrote more Bulman novels towards the end of his life, including The Judas Trail (1996) and Shadows (1996).