Mark Billingham
Encyclopedia
Mark Philip David Billingham (born 2 July 1961) is an English novelist whose series of "Tom Thorne" crime novels
are best-sellers in that particular genre. He is also a television screenwriter and has become a familiar face as an actor and comic.
and grew up in the city's suburb of Moseley
. He attended the King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys grammar school
in nearby King's Heath, and lived in that general area "right the way through university". After graduating with a degree in drama, he stayed in Birmingham and helped form a socialist theatre company (Bread & Circuses). Bread & Circuses toured with a number of shows in schools, colleges, arts centres and the street. In the mid-1980s he moved from Birmingham to London as a "jobbing actor", taking minor roles in episodes of TV shows Dempsey & Makepeace
, Juliet Bravo
, Boon
, and The Bill
. After finding himself playing a variety of "bad guy roles such as a soccer hooligan, drug addict, a nasty copper, a racist copper, or a bent copper", he became somewhat disenchanted with acting, perceiving that the emphasis was not on talent, but on looks.
Around 1987 he decided to pursue a career in comedy, in part because:
At the time, breaking into stand-up was not as difficult as it would later become, nor was there the modern infrastructure and chain businesses. Billingham cites his own route as a simple progression from 5-minute, unpaid "try-out" spots to (if one was deemed worthy) 10-, 20- and 30-minute paid slots. As he stated, "within a year, you could be playing The Comedy Store
". Indeed, Billingham has headlined at The Comedy Store on many occasions, where he also appears regularly as a Master of Ceremonies
.
Despite feeling rather ambivalent towards "serious" roles, Billingham still found considerable success by merging his careers as actor and comic to work in comedy shows. He was the human face on the puppet-representation-of-celebrities series Spitting Image
, and "the taller half" of top double act "The Tracy Brothers" with Mike Mole from Bread & Circuses days (now guitarist with British comedy punk band Punks Not Dad
), appearing regularly on the radio version of The Mary Whitehouse Experience
. In 1988, he was seen on the children's comedy series News at Twelve, in which the central character "broadcasts his own (imaginary) TV news bulletin every evening". In 1989, a new role in a children's series written by Blackadder
s Tony Robinson
, would have a lasting impact, both on the nations' children and on Billingham himself.
, charged with keeping the peace (or causing the violence) in the village of Worksop, and hunting down Maid Marian
(Kate Lonergan
) and her band of "freedom fighters". As part of a double-act with Graeme (David Lloyd
), Billingham was ostensibly one of the "baddies", but was nonetheless deeply sympathetic and well-liked.
After three successful award-winning series, both Billingham and Lloyd were helping creator-writer Robinson with plot and script ideas, both gaining co-writer credits on the first episode of series 4 – "Tunnel Vision". The episode produced spoofs of a number of cultural icons, including passing references to Chronic the Hedgehog and Dungeons & Dragons
, as well as a Richard O'Brien
stand-in named "Robin O'Hood" who in the episode leads Gary and Graeme through the Merry Men's version of The Crystal Maze
.
Tony Robinson, David Lloyd and Mark Billingham (in particular) remain friends, after having worked so closely together for four-to-five years, and Robinson can be seen taking partial credit for Billingham's literary career on the DVD release of Maid Marian (Series 3), in which the three discuss writing, both for the series and in general.
He also cites the big ending, and "pullback and reveal", whereby the audience (readership) is led along a specific path and lulled into thinking that they can guess the twist, before: "boom! it hits them from over there." In comedy, he says, it is a punchline; in crime "something a whole lot darker... [but] essentially it's a similar kind of [misdirection] technique."
It is no surprise then, that Billingham turned his hand to writing comedy scripts for television, as well as continuing to act and appear in front of the camera at various points. He joined with David Lloyd to write episodes and act in the children's TV series Harry's Mad (based on the book by Dick King-Smith
), and wrote and presented two series of BBC's What's That Noise. Between 1997 and 1998, he (and friend Peter Cocks) wrote and co-starred in Granada TV's Knight School, for which the two also produced a novelisation.
He is however, clearly less enamoured by scriptwriting than by novel-writing, noting that:
In 2002, he was "in the middle of writing a screenplay for an Andrew Lloyd Webber
musical and about to write a screenplay for a cult children's show," an original sci-fi drama for the BBC, but his prime consideration turned to writing novels.
. He is a self-confessed fan of crime fiction
, "as well as a really serious collector" and has alleged that the expense of collecting books inspired him to get into interviewing and reviewing books, partly for the complimentary copies. Starting with a local newspaper, he progressed to providing reviews and interviews for SHOTS, and then to magazines, including Time Out, where he found himself interviewing people such as Michael Connelly
, talking and learning from other writers.
Mark Billingham became the first crime writer to win the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award
twice when his novel Death Message won in 2009. He won this prestigious award against strong opposition including Reginald Hill, Val McDermid, Ian Rankin and Lee Child.
and other authors, he attempted to use his experience as a stand-up comedian and crime fan to write a similarly comic novel. Ultimately he abandoned his unfinished novel and the comic-crime genre to focus on his other idea—a book that would become Sleepyhead.
" reveals the dark depths of a twisted mind, as adept at toying with the DI as with the victims. This central character has since featured in the vast majority of his works, except In the Dark, released in August 2008, in which Thorne has only a very minor role. The author writes that, "if writers want their readers to care about a character, they have to care themselves" and, as such, has imbued Thorne with a lot of his personal characteristics. The two share a birthday, a locale (London) and musical interests (a "love of country music both alt and cheesy" – although Billingham implies that it is Thornes fictional musical tastes that have grown on the author).
In talking about the creation and development of his central character, Billingham notes the difficulty and worry involved in trying to create a personality different from those in other existing, familiar and popular works:
Billingham's own website says that the underlying determination of Tom Thorne's character was that he would evolve as the series progressed, and remain unpredictable. While noting that many authors compile "thick dossiers" and "complex biographies" about their characters, noting every quirk and minor detail, Billingham shies away from such minutiae, calling it "limiting"—preferring instead to discover something anew about his own hero with each book, and to pass that novelty on to the reader:
Thorne's internal continuity is important to his author—it is important that the events in his past affect who is in the present, although this very aspect of his character causes Billingham great difficulty in describing him without giving away plot twists! Suffice to say that "[h]e works on the Metropolitan Police Murder Squad [and at] the time of the first book, he is forty-one years old. Thorne's surname comes from fellow Comedy Store stand-up Paul Thorne, and the (sur)names of other comics and comedians are liberally peppered throughout the series.
Sleepyhead was released in August 2001, and made it onto the Sunday Times
"Top Ten Bestseller" list, becoming "the biggest selling debut novel of that Summer". In December 2009 it was listed as one of the 100 novels that shaped the decade.
hotel room. Turning the event into inspiration for his second Thorne novel, Scaredy Cat, he wrote:
The two were kept bound and gagged in their hotel room by a trio of masked men who stole items and credit cards from them. Billingham recalls being terrified by the sheer audacity of the criminals, who managed to instill a feeling of menace and fear into their victims, a theme which was later fed into his novels–"that if one person is able to scare someone so much, they can make them do anything". The Scaredy Cat storyline thus presents the scenario of tandem serial killers, two individuals ostensibly working together, creating an added air of terror and expectation whenever one of them strikes.
The first chapter of each of Billingham's Tom Thorne books can be downloaded from his website.
started broadcast in October 2010, with acclaimed actor David Morrissey
starring as Tom Thorne. The first three episodes were an adaptation of "Sleepyhead" and were directed by Stephen Hopkins
(24
, Californication
, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
). The final three episodes were an adaptation of Scaredy Cat and guest starred Canadian actress, Sandra Oh
(Grey's Anatomy
).
award for "Best Entertainment Programme", while Knight School was nominated for the RTS's "Best Children's Drama" award two years running.
Sky1 have adapted two of Mark Billingham's novels for a new crime drama series in October 2010, 'Sleepyhead' and 'Scaredy Cat'. DI Tom Thorne is portrayed by David Morrissey
).
for "Best Crime Novel of the Year".
Lifeless (2005) was nominated for BCA "Crime Thriller of the Year" Award in 2006.
Mark Billingham’s novel "Lazybones" won the Theakston’s Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year Award 2004 and he won the same award in 2009 for his novel "Death Message". In The Dark was nominated for the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger
at the 2009 Crime Thriller Awards.
, although his protagonist Thorne supports Tottenham FC.
Crime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
are best-sellers in that particular genre. He is also a television screenwriter and has become a familiar face as an actor and comic.
Early years
Mark Billingham was born in BirminghamBirmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
and grew up in the city's suburb of Moseley
Moseley
Moseley is a suburb of Birmingham, England, two miles south of the city centre. The area is a popular cosmopolitan residential location and leisure destination, with a number of bars and restaurants...
. He attended the King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys grammar school
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
in nearby King's Heath, and lived in that general area "right the way through university". After graduating with a degree in drama, he stayed in Birmingham and helped form a socialist theatre company (Bread & Circuses). Bread & Circuses toured with a number of shows in schools, colleges, arts centres and the street. In the mid-1980s he moved from Birmingham to London as a "jobbing actor", taking minor roles in episodes of TV shows Dempsey & Makepeace
Dempsey & Makepeace
Dempsey & Makepeace is a British television crime drama made by London Weekend Television for ITV, created and produced by Ranald Graham...
, Juliet Bravo
Juliet Bravo
Juliet Bravo is a British television series, which ran on BBC1 between 1980 and 1985. The theme of the series concerned a female police inspector who took over control of a police station in the fictional town of Hartley in Lancashire.-Programme name:...
, Boon
Boon (TV series)
Boon is a British television drama and modern-day western series starring Michael Elphick, David Daker, and later Neil Morrissey. It was created by Jim Hill and Bill Stair and filmed by Central Television for ITV...
, and The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
. After finding himself playing a variety of "bad guy roles such as a soccer hooligan, drug addict, a nasty copper, a racist copper, or a bent copper", he became somewhat disenchanted with acting, perceiving that the emphasis was not on talent, but on looks.
Around 1987 he decided to pursue a career in comedy, in part because:
- "[The] one great advantage of stand-up comedy [is that] nobody gives a stuff about what you look like – as long as you're funny, and if you can do it, and people laugh, then you'll get bookings."
At the time, breaking into stand-up was not as difficult as it would later become, nor was there the modern infrastructure and chain businesses. Billingham cites his own route as a simple progression from 5-minute, unpaid "try-out" spots to (if one was deemed worthy) 10-, 20- and 30-minute paid slots. As he stated, "within a year, you could be playing The Comedy Store
The Comedy Store
The Comedy Store is a comedy club located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. It has a sister comedy club in La Jolla, San Diego, California.-History:...
". Indeed, Billingham has headlined at The Comedy Store on many occasions, where he also appears regularly as a Master of Ceremonies
Master of Ceremonies
A Master of Ceremonies , or compere, is the host of a staged event or similar performance.An MC usually presents performers, speaks to the audience, and generally keeps the event moving....
.
Despite feeling rather ambivalent towards "serious" roles, Billingham still found considerable success by merging his careers as actor and comic to work in comedy shows. He was the human face on the puppet-representation-of-celebrities series Spitting Image
Spitting Image
Spitting Image is a British satirical puppet show that aired on the ITV network from 1984 to 1996. It was produced by Spitting Image Productions for Central Television. The series was nominated for 10 BAFTA Awards, winning one for editing in 1989....
, and "the taller half" of top double act "The Tracy Brothers" with Mike Mole from Bread & Circuses days (now guitarist with British comedy punk band Punks Not Dad
Punks not dad
Punks Not Dad are a British comedy punk band who formed in Cardiff, Wales in late 2008. The four band members were all in their mid to late 40s when they formed and their songs are written from a middle-aged father's perspective referencing sheds, flat-pack furniture and Man Flu...
), appearing regularly on the radio version of The Mary Whitehouse Experience
The Mary Whitehouse Experience
The Mary Whitehouse Experience was a British topical sketch comedy show produced by the BBC in association with Spitting Image Productions. It starred two comedy double acts - David Baddiel and Rob Newman, and also Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis, all of whom had graduated from Cambridge University...
. In 1988, he was seen on the children's comedy series News at Twelve, in which the central character "broadcasts his own (imaginary) TV news bulletin every evening". In 1989, a new role in a children's series written by Blackadder
Blackadder
Blackadder is the name that encompassed four series of a BBC1 historical sitcom, along with several one-off instalments. All television programme episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's dogsbody, Baldrick...
s Tony Robinson
Tony Robinson
Tony Robinson is an English actor, comedian, author, broadcaster and political campaigner. He is best known for playing Baldrick in the BBC television series Blackadder, and for hosting Channel 4 programmes such as Time Team and The Worst Jobs in History. Robinson is a member of the Labour Party...
, would have a lasting impact, both on the nations' children and on Billingham himself.
Maid Marian and her Merry Men
Maid Marian and her Merry Men saw Billingham cast as Gary, a dim-but-lovable guard in the employ of the Sheriff of NottinghamSheriff of Nottingham
The Sheriff of Nottingham was historically the office responsible for enforcing law and order in Nottingham and bringing criminals to justice. For years the post has been directly appointed by the Lord Mayor of Nottingham and in modern times, with the existence of the police force, the position is...
, charged with keeping the peace (or causing the violence) in the village of Worksop, and hunting down Maid Marian
Maid Marian
Maid Marian is the wife of the legendary English outlaw Robin Hood. Stemming from another, older tradition, she became associated with Robin Hood only in the 16th century.-History:The earliest medieval Robin Hood stories gave him no female companion...
(Kate Lonergan
Kate Lonergan
Kate Lonergan is a British actress who began her screen career with her best known role—Marian in the 1989–94 BBC One children's television series Maid Marian and her Merry Men.-Career:...
) and her band of "freedom fighters". As part of a double-act with Graeme (David Lloyd
David Lloyd (actor)
David Lloyd is an English actor and screenwriter, perhaps best known from his role in Maid Marian and her Merry Men, where he played Graeme, one of the two guards .-Biography:...
), Billingham was ostensibly one of the "baddies", but was nonetheless deeply sympathetic and well-liked.
After three successful award-winning series, both Billingham and Lloyd were helping creator-writer Robinson with plot and script ideas, both gaining co-writer credits on the first episode of series 4 – "Tunnel Vision". The episode produced spoofs of a number of cultural icons, including passing references to Chronic the Hedgehog and Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
, as well as a Richard O'Brien
Richard O'Brien
Richard Timothy Smith , better known under his stage name Richard O'Brien, is an English writer, actor, television presenter and theatre performer. He is perhaps best known for writing the cult musical The Rocky Horror Show and for his role in presenting the popular TV show The Crystal Maze...
stand-in named "Robin O'Hood" who in the episode leads Gary and Graeme through the Merry Men's version of The Crystal Maze
The Crystal Maze
The Crystal Maze was a British game show, produced by Chatsworth Television and shown on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom between 15 February 1990 and 10 August 1995. There was one series per year, with the first four series presented by Richard O'Brien and the final two by Ed Tudor-Pole, who made...
.
Tony Robinson, David Lloyd and Mark Billingham (in particular) remain friends, after having worked so closely together for four-to-five years, and Robinson can be seen taking partial credit for Billingham's literary career on the DVD release of Maid Marian (Series 3), in which the three discuss writing, both for the series and in general.
Writing
As he has stated in a number of interviews, Billingham treats comedy – and his stand-up in particular – and writing as parts of a whole, seeing the two as complementary, using as they do:- "..the same 'Tricks'... [in particular] a strong opening. When you do stand-up, you walk out on stage and you have a minute – 60 seconds to hook them or they'll start booing. A late show at the Comedy Store is not easy, ditto with a book. As a writer you again have the duty to deliver – a reader has not got time to say, I'll give him 50 pages as it's not very good yet, but I hope it'll get better."
He also cites the big ending, and "pullback and reveal", whereby the audience (readership) is led along a specific path and lulled into thinking that they can guess the twist, before: "boom! it hits them from over there." In comedy, he says, it is a punchline; in crime "something a whole lot darker... [but] essentially it's a similar kind of [misdirection] technique."
It is no surprise then, that Billingham turned his hand to writing comedy scripts for television, as well as continuing to act and appear in front of the camera at various points. He joined with David Lloyd to write episodes and act in the children's TV series Harry's Mad (based on the book by Dick King-Smith
Dick King-Smith
Ronald Gordon King-Smith OBE, Hon.M.Ed. , better known by his pen name Dick King-Smith, was a prolific English children's author, best known for writing The Sheep-Pig, retitled in the United States as Babe the Gallant Pig, on which the movie Babe was based...
), and wrote and presented two series of BBC's What's That Noise. Between 1997 and 1998, he (and friend Peter Cocks) wrote and co-starred in Granada TV's Knight School, for which the two also produced a novelisation.
He is however, clearly less enamoured by scriptwriting than by novel-writing, noting that:
- "I can write a six part TV series and put my heart and soul into crafting it, and when it's done, it's jumped upon by a dozen people and torn to pieces and rewritten and messed about. Of those dozen people, perhaps two are qualified to do that."
In 2002, he was "in the middle of writing a screenplay for an Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
musical and about to write a screenplay for a cult children's show," an original sci-fi drama for the BBC, but his prime consideration turned to writing novels.
Novels
In 2001, Billingham's first crime novel, Sleepyhead, was published in the UK by Little, Brown and CompanyLittle, Brown and Company
Little, Brown and Company is a publishing house established by Charles Coffin Little and his partner, James Brown. Since 2006 it has been a constituent unit of Hachette Book Group USA.-19th century:...
. He is a self-confessed fan of crime fiction
Crime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
, "as well as a really serious collector" and has alleged that the expense of collecting books inspired him to get into interviewing and reviewing books, partly for the complimentary copies. Starting with a local newspaper, he progressed to providing reviews and interviews for SHOTS, and then to magazines, including Time Out, where he found himself interviewing people such as Michael Connelly
Michael Connelly
Michael Connelly is an American author of detective novels and other crime fiction, notably those featuring LAPD Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch and criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller. His books, which have been translated into 36 languages, have garnered him many awards...
, talking and learning from other writers.
Mark Billingham became the first crime writer to win the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award
Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award
The Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award is a crime-fiction award, sponsored by Theakston's Old Peculier. It is awarded annually at Harrogate Crime Writing Festival in the UK, held every July. The winner receives £3000 and a small hand-carved oak beer cask carved by one of...
twice when his novel Death Message won in 2009. He won this prestigious award against strong opposition including Reginald Hill, Val McDermid, Ian Rankin and Lee Child.
Early writing
From an early age, Billingham can remember writing, often "funny" stories for purposes of popularity and enjoyment. As he grew older, and his interests moved towards crime fiction, he began to skew his writing that way, setting an early novel (the as-yet unpublished The Mechanic) in his native Birmingham. Inspired by the comic-crime work of Carl HiaasenCarl Hiaasen
Carl Hiaasen is an American journalist, columnist and novelist.- Early years :Born in 1953 and raised in Plantation, Florida, of Norwegian heritage, Hiaasen was the first of four children and the son of a lawyer, Kermit Odel, and teacher, Patricia...
and other authors, he attempted to use his experience as a stand-up comedian and crime fan to write a similarly comic novel. Ultimately he abandoned his unfinished novel and the comic-crime genre to focus on his other idea—a book that would become Sleepyhead.
Tom Thorne
Billingham created Detective Inspector Tom Thorne for his 2001 debut novel Sleepyhead, where a case of "Locked-in SyndromeLocked-In syndrome
Locked-in syndrome is a condition in which a patient is aware and awake but cannot move or communicate verbally due to complete paralysis of nearly all voluntary muscles in the body except for the eyes. Total locked-in syndrome is a version of locked-in syndrome where the eyes are paralyzed as...
" reveals the dark depths of a twisted mind, as adept at toying with the DI as with the victims. This central character has since featured in the vast majority of his works, except In the Dark, released in August 2008, in which Thorne has only a very minor role. The author writes that, "if writers want their readers to care about a character, they have to care themselves" and, as such, has imbued Thorne with a lot of his personal characteristics. The two share a birthday, a locale (London) and musical interests (a "love of country music both alt and cheesy" – although Billingham implies that it is Thornes fictional musical tastes that have grown on the author).
In talking about the creation and development of his central character, Billingham notes the difficulty and worry involved in trying to create a personality different from those in other existing, familiar and popular works:
- "[You] worry that you will be entering that world of the strange cliche-ed cop, but you soon realise that you have to get comfortable in that world. You think 'Hang on, some of the clichés are part of that territory'. It would like writing a Western and going 'Oh no I've given him a horse! What a terrible cliché!' It's not a cliché – It's part and parcel of the genre – cowboys have six-guns, horses and stetsons and detectives have [a] past... problems [and] flaws, because if they don't, then there is nothing to read about."
Billingham's own website says that the underlying determination of Tom Thorne's character was that he would evolve as the series progressed, and remain unpredictable. While noting that many authors compile "thick dossiers" and "complex biographies" about their characters, noting every quirk and minor detail, Billingham shies away from such minutiae, calling it "limiting"—preferring instead to discover something anew about his own hero with each book, and to pass that novelty on to the reader:
- "The day a character becomes predictable is the day a writer should think about moving on, because the reader certainly will."
Thorne's internal continuity is important to his author—it is important that the events in his past affect who is in the present, although this very aspect of his character causes Billingham great difficulty in describing him without giving away plot twists! Suffice to say that "[h]e works on the Metropolitan Police Murder Squad [and at] the time of the first book, he is forty-one years old. Thorne's surname comes from fellow Comedy Store stand-up Paul Thorne, and the (sur)names of other comics and comedians are liberally peppered throughout the series.
Sleepyhead was released in August 2001, and made it onto the Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
"Top Ten Bestseller" list, becoming "the biggest selling debut novel of that Summer". In December 2009 it was listed as one of the 100 novels that shaped the decade.
Scaredy Cat inspiration
In 1997, Billingham became a crime victim, as he and his writing partner Peter Cocks were kidnapped and held hostage in a ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
hotel room. Turning the event into inspiration for his second Thorne novel, Scaredy Cat, he wrote:
- "The general theme of Scaredy Cat is really the power of fear, and that fear is a very powerful weapon, and if you are prepared to instill it, you have a very powerful weapon that is every bit as dangerous as a gun or a knife. Also what happened to me in that hotel room fed directly into a sub-plot in Scaredy Cat with some very nasty crimes carried out in hotel-rooms."
The two were kept bound and gagged in their hotel room by a trio of masked men who stole items and credit cards from them. Billingham recalls being terrified by the sheer audacity of the criminals, who managed to instill a feeling of menace and fear into their victims, a theme which was later fed into his novels–"that if one person is able to scare someone so much, they can make them do anything". The Scaredy Cat storyline thus presents the scenario of tandem serial killers, two individuals ostensibly working together, creating an added air of terror and expectation whenever one of them strikes.
More Thorne
On the heels of 2001's Sleepyhead and 2002's Scaredy Cat, Thorne returns in 2003's Lazybones, investigating the killing of a convicted rapist, and finding it difficult to become involved in the case, since he has little real sympathy for the victim. A messy contract killer and the past cases of a former colleague blur together in The Burning Girl as the past meets the present in a symphony of violence. Thorne's involvement in a previous case affects his ability to investigate an increasing death toll among the homeless of London in Lifeless, while a kidnapping case forms the backbone of 2006's Buried. Death Message, the Thorne novel published in August 2007 sees him haunted by a psychopath he has already put behind bars, but who is reaching out from prison to manipulate the world outside. After resting Thorne for the standalone thriller In The Dark (although he does appear in a very minor role), Billingham returned to his perennial character in 2009 with Bloodline and in the 2010 novel From The Dead. Billingham announced on his website that the next Thorne novel due for release in 2011 would be called Good as Dead; this was published in August of that year.The first chapter of each of Billingham's Tom Thorne books can be downloaded from his website.
Television adaptations
Sky1's Thorne adaptationThorne (TV series)
Thorne is a television drama series which debuted on Sky1 in the UK on October 10, 2010. It stars David Morrissey who plays the title role of Detective Inspector Tom Thorne created by crime writer Mark Billingham. The supporting cast includes Aidan Gillen, Eddie Marsan and Natascha McElhone...
started broadcast in October 2010, with acclaimed actor David Morrissey
David Morrissey
David Mark Morrissey is an English actor and director. Morrissey grew up in the Kensington and Knotty Ash areas of Liverpool, and learned to act at the city's Everyman Youth Theatre. At the age of 18, he was cast in the television series One Summer , which won him recognition throughout the country...
starring as Tom Thorne. The first three episodes were an adaptation of "Sleepyhead" and were directed by Stephen Hopkins
Stephen Hopkins (director)
Stephen Hopkins is a Jamaican-born film director and producer. He is best-known for his continuation of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise with A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child and the Predator franchise with Predator 2...
(24
24 (TV series)
24 is an American television series produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration...
, Californication
Californication (TV series)
Californication is an American comedy-drama that premiered on Showtime on August 13, 2007. The show was created by Tom Kapinos. The protagonist, Hank Moody , is a troubled novelist whose move to California, coupled with his writer's block, complicates his relationships with his longtime girlfriend...
, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers is a 2004 film about the life of English comic actor Peter Sellers, based on Roger Lewis' book of the same name...
). The final three episodes were an adaptation of Scaredy Cat and guest starred Canadian actress, Sandra Oh
Sandra Oh
Sandra Oh is a Canadian actress. She is best known for the role of Dr. Cristina Yang on ABC's Grey's Anatomy, for which she has won a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award. She also played notable roles in the feature films Under the Tuscan Sun and Sideways, and had a supporting role on the...
(Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series created by Shonda Rhimes. The series premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC; since then, seven seasons have aired. The series follows the lives of interns, residents and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in...
).
TV
Billingham has received nominations and awards related to all aspects of his various careers. What's That Noise, (which he wrote and presented) won the 1995 Royal Television SocietyRoyal Television Society
The Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
award for "Best Entertainment Programme", while Knight School was nominated for the RTS's "Best Children's Drama" award two years running.
Sky1 have adapted two of Mark Billingham's novels for a new crime drama series in October 2010, 'Sleepyhead' and 'Scaredy Cat'. DI Tom Thorne is portrayed by David Morrissey
David Morrissey
David Mark Morrissey is an English actor and director. Morrissey grew up in the Kensington and Knotty Ash areas of Liverpool, and learned to act at the city's Everyman Youth Theatre. At the age of 18, he was cast in the television series One Summer , which won him recognition throughout the country...
).
Novels
Scaredy Cat (2002) won the Sherlock Award for "Best Detective Novel Created by a UK Author", and was also nominated for the Crime Writers Association Gold DaggerGold Dagger
The Gold Dagger Award was an award given annually by the Crime Writers' Association for the best crime novel of the year.For its first five years, the organization's top honor was known as the Crossed Red Herring Award....
for "Best Crime Novel of the Year".
Lifeless (2005) was nominated for BCA "Crime Thriller of the Year" Award in 2006.
Mark Billingham’s novel "Lazybones" won the Theakston’s Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year Award 2004 and he won the same award in 2009 for his novel "Death Message". In The Dark was nominated for the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger
Gold Dagger
The Gold Dagger Award was an award given annually by the Crime Writers' Association for the best crime novel of the year.For its first five years, the organization's top honor was known as the Crossed Red Herring Award....
at the 2009 Crime Thriller Awards.
Recreation
In-between writing, acting and stand-up, Billingham finds time to support Wolverhampton WanderersWolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...
, although his protagonist Thorne supports Tottenham FC.
As "Will Peterson" (with Peter Cocks)
- Triskellion (Walker Books Ltd [Feb 2008]) ISBN 1406307092
- Triskellion 2: The Burning (Walker Books Ltd [Feb 2009]) ISBN 9781406307108
- Triskellion 3: The Gathering (Walker Books Ltd [Feb 2010])
Tom Thorne
- Sleepyhead (Little, Brown & Company [Aug 2001]) ISBN 0316856975
- William MorrowWilliam Morrow and CompanyWilliam Morrow and Company is an American publishing company founded by William Morrow in 1926. The company was acquired by Scott Foresman in 1967, and sold to Hearst Corporation in 1981. It was sold along to the News Corporation in 1999...
US [Jul 2002] ISBN 0-06-621299-5
- William Morrow
- Scaredy Cat (Little, Brown & Company [Jul 2002]) ISBN 0316859540
- Time Warner UK [Nov 2002] ISBN 0-356-23206-9
- William Morrow US [Jun 2003] ISBN 0-06-621300-2
- Lazybones (Little, Brown & Company [Jul 2003]) ISBN 0316724939 ; ISBN 0-316-72494-7
- William Morrow US (Jun 2004) ISBN 0-06-056085-1
- The Burning Girl (Little, Brown & Company [Jul 2004]) ISBN 0316725749
- William Morrow US (Jun 2005) ISBN 0-06-074526-6
- Lifeless (Little, Brown & Company [May 2005]) ISBN 0316727520
- Scorpion PressScorpion PressScorpion Press may refer to:* Scorpion Press - a poetry publisher active in the late 1960s in London* a publisher of limited editions of crime fiction established in 1991...
[Jun 2005] ISBN 1-873567-70-7 - William Morrow US [Sep 2006] ISBN 0-06-084166-4
- Scorpion Press
- Buried (Little, Brown & Company [May 2006]) ISBN 0316730505
- Orbit [May 2006] ISBN 0-356-24410-5
- (HarperCollinsHarperCollinsHarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
(Aug 2007)) ISBN 0061255696
- Death Message (Little, Brown & Company [Aug 2007]) ISBN 0316730521
- Bloodline (Little, Brown & Company Aug 2009) ISBN 9781408700679
- From the Dead ((Little, Brown & Company Aug 2010) ISBN 978 1408700754
- Good as Dead (Little, Brown & Company Aug 2011) ISBN 978 1847444196
Other Crime
- In the Dark (Little, Brown & Company [Aug 2008]) ISBN 1408700697
- In the Dark contains Tom Thorne as a minor character.
- "Dancing Towards The Blade" in Men From Boys by John HarveyJohn Harvey (author)John Harvey is a British author of crime fiction most famous for his series of jazz-influenced Charlie Resnick novels, based in the City of Nottingham.-Writing Career:...
(ed.) (Arrow Books [Sep 2004]) ISBN 0099461528- Other contributors include: Dennis LehaneDennis LehaneDennis Lehane is an American author. He has written several award-winning novels, including A Drink Before the War and the New York Times bestseller Mystic River, which was later made into an Academy Award-winning film. Another novel, Gone, Baby, Gone, was also adapted into an Academy...
• Michael ConnellyMichael ConnellyMichael Connelly is an American author of detective novels and other crime fiction, notably those featuring LAPD Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch and criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller. His books, which have been translated into 36 languages, have garnered him many awards...
• George PelecanosGeorge PelecanosGeorge P. Pelecanos is a Greek-American author. Many of his works are in the genre of detective fiction and set primarily in his hometown of Washington, D.C. He is also a film and television producer and a television writer...
• Jeffrey Deaver • Lawrence BlockLawrence BlockLawrence Block is an acclaimed contemporary American crime writer best known for two long-running New York–set series, about the recovering alcoholic P.I. Matthew Scudder and gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, respectively...
- Other contributors include: Dennis Lehane
- "Stroke of Luck" in Like A Charm by Karin SlaughterKarin Slaughter-Personal Life:Karin Slaughter is an American crime writer, whose first novel Blindsighted became an international success, was published in almost 30 languages, and made the Crime Writers' Association's Dagger Award shortlist for "Best Thriller Debut" of 2001.Fractured, the second novel in the...
(ed.) (Century [Feb 2004]) ISBN 1844133737- Other contributors include: Laura LippmanLaura LippmanLaura Lippman is an American author of detective fiction.-Biography:Lippmann was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. She is the daughter of Theo Lippman Jr., a well known and respected writer at the Baltimore Sun, and Madeline Lippman, a retired school librarian for the...
• Lee ChildLee ChildJim Grant , better known by his pen name Lee Child, is a British thriller writer. His wife Jane is a New Yorker, and they currently live in New York state. His first novel, Killing Floor, won the Anthony Award for Best First Novel....
• John ConnollyJohn Connolly (author)John Connolly is an Irish writer who is best known for his series of novels starring private detective Charlie Parker.-Life and works:...
• Lynda La PlanteLynda La PlanteLynda La Plante, CBE is an English author, screenwriter and former actress, best known for writing the Prime Suspect television crime series....
• John HarveyJohn Harvey (author)John Harvey is a British author of crime fiction most famous for his series of jazz-influenced Charlie Resnick novels, based in the City of Nottingham.-Writing Career:...
• Peter RobinsonPeter Robinson (novelist)Dr. Peter Robinson is an English crime writer, based in Canada. He is best known for his crime novels set in Yorkshire featuring Inspector Alan Banks...
• Fidelis MorganFidelis MorganFidelis Morgan is a British actress and writer.She was born in a red gypsy caravan, Kiomi Romani, which stood in a corner of the grounds of the ancient Abbey of Amesbury, halfway between Stonehenge and Woodhenge...
• Val McDermidVal McDermidVal McDermid is a Scottish crime writer, best known for a series of suspense novels starring her most famous creation, Dr. Tony Hill.-Biography:...
• Karin SlaughterKarin Slaughter-Personal Life:Karin Slaughter is an American crime writer, whose first novel Blindsighted became an international success, was published in almost 30 languages, and made the Crime Writers' Association's Dagger Award shortlist for "Best Thriller Debut" of 2001.Fractured, the second novel in the...
• Emma DonoghueEmma DonoghueEmma Donoghue is an Irish-born playwright, literary historian and novelist now living in Canada. Her 2010 novel Room was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize and an international bestseller. Donoghue's 1995 novel Hood won the Stonewall Book Award and Slammerkin won the Ferro-Grumley Award for...
• Denise MinaDenise MinaDenise Mina is a Scottish crime writer and playwright. She has written the Garnethill trilogy and another three novels featuring the character Patricia "Paddy" Meehan, a Glasgow journalist. Described as an author of Tartan Noir, she has also dabbled in comic book writing, having recently written...
• Kelley ArmstrongKelley ArmstrongKelley Armstrong is a Canadian author, primarily of fantasy works.She has published sixteen fantasy novels , set in the world of the Women of the Otherworld and the Darkest Powers series, also two crime novels in 2007 and 2009...
• Jane HaddamJane HaddamJane Haddam is an American mystery writer. She is best known for her series of books featuring Gregor Demarkian, a former FBI agent. She has also written a number of murder mysteries under her real name Orania Papazoglou featuring the romance author Patience McKenna. She was married to mystery...
- Other contributors include: Laura Lippman
- "Introduction" in The High Window by Raymond ChandlerRaymond ChandlerRaymond Thornton Chandler was an American novelist and screenwriter.In 1932, at age forty-five, Raymond Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in...
(Penguin)
Writer
- Maid Marian and Her Merry MenMaid Marian and her Merry MenMaid Marian and her Merry Men is a British children's sitcom created and written by Tony Robinson and directed by David Bell. It began in 1989 on BBC One and ran for four series, with the last episode shown in 1994...
(1989–94)- "Tunnel Vision" (1993)
- Harry's Mad (1993–96)
- various episodes
- Knight School (1997–98)
- various episodes
Actor
- Dempsey & MakepeaceDempsey & MakepeaceDempsey & Makepeace is a British television crime drama made by London Weekend Television for ITV, created and produced by Ranald Graham...
(1984) – Steve (1985) - Juliet BravoJuliet BravoJuliet Bravo is a British television series, which ran on BBC1 between 1980 and 1985. The theme of the series concerned a female police inspector who took over control of a police station in the fictional town of Hartley in Lancashire.-Programme name:...
(1980) – Doyle (1985) - BoonBoon (TV series)Boon is a British television drama and modern-day western series starring Michael Elphick, David Daker, and later Neil Morrissey. It was created by Jim Hill and Bill Stair and filmed by Central Television for ITV...
(1986) – Policeman (1986) - News at TwelveNews at TwelveNews at Twelve is a 1988 British television comedy for children. The series followed 12-year-old Kevin Doyle and his nightly "news bulletins" about the events in his life...
(1988) – Wayne Harris (1988) - The BillThe BillThe Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
(1984) – Pete (1989) - Birds of a FeatherBirds of a FeatherBirds of a Feather was a British sitcom that was broadcast on BBC1 from 1989 until 1998. Starring Pauline Quirke, Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph, it was created by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, who also wrote some of the episodes along with many other writers.The first episode sees sisters...
(1989) – Phil the Plumber (1989) - Maid Marian and her Merry MenMaid Marian and her Merry MenMaid Marian and her Merry Men is a British children's sitcom created and written by Tony Robinson and directed by David Bell. It began in 1989 on BBC One and ran for four series, with the last episode shown in 1994...
(1989–1994) – Gary (1989–1994) - The Upper HandThe Upper HandThe Upper Hand is a sitcom, produced by Central Independent Television and broadcast by ITV from 1990 to 1996. The programme was adapted from the American sitcom Who's the Boss?....
(1990) – Philly Fingers (1993) - Harry's Mad (1993–96) – Terry Crumm (1993–96)
- Knight School (1997–98) – Scrubbe (1997–8)