Simon Raven
Encyclopedia
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
novelist, essayist, dramatist and raconteur who, in a writing career of forty years, caused controversy, amusement and offence. His obituary in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
noted that, "he combined elements of Flashman, Waugh
Evelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
's Captain Grimes
Decline and Fall
Decline and Fall is a novel by the English author Evelyn Waugh, first published in 1928. It was Waugh's first published novel; an earlier attempt, entitled The Temple at Thatch, was destroyed by Waugh while still in manuscript form. Decline and Fall is based in part on Waugh's undergraduate years...
and the Earl of Rochester
John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester
John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester , styled Viscount Wilmot between 1652 and 1658, was an English Libertine poet, a friend of King Charles II, and the writer of much satirical and bawdy poetry. He was the toast of the Restoration court and a patron of the arts...
", and that he reminded Noel Annan, his Cambridge tutor, of the young Guy Burgess
Guy Burgess
Guy Francis De Moncy Burgess was a British-born intelligence officer and double agent, who worked for the Soviet Union. He was part of the Cambridge Five spy ring that betrayed Western secrets to the Soviets before and during the Cold War...
.
Among the many things said about him, perhaps the most quoted was that he had "the mind of a cad and the pen of an angel". E W Swanton called Raven's cricket memoir Shadows in the Grass "the filthiest cricket book ever written". He has also been called "cynical" and "cold-blooded", his characters "guaranteed to behave badly under pressure; most of them are vile without any pressure at all". His unashamed credo was "a robust eighteenth-century paganism....allied to a deep contempt for the egalitarian code of post-war England"
Birth, family and education
He was born on 28 December 1927 He was the eldest of three children. His father, Arthur Raven, had inherited a fortune from the family's hosiery business, and lived an idle life of leisure. His mother Esther, née Christmas, a baker's daughter, was a noted distance and cross-country athlete who represented England against France in March 1932. He was educated, first at Cordwalles preparatory school near Camberley, then as a scholarship pupil at CharterhouseCharterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
, whence he was expelled in 1945 for homosexual activities - this despite his cricketing and scholastic prowess. Amongst his school contemporaries were James Prior, William Rees-Mogg
William Rees-Mogg
William Rees-Mogg, Baron Rees-Mogg is an English journalist and life peer.-Education:Rees-Mogg was educated at Clifton College Preparatory School in Bristol and Charterhouse School in Godalming, followed by Balliol College, Oxford...
, Oliver Popplewell
Oliver Popplewell
The Honourable Sir Oliver Bury Popplewell is a former British judge. He chaired the inquiry into the Bradford City stadium fire, presided over the libel case brought by Jonathan Aitken MP against The Guardian newspaper which eventually led to Aitkin's imprisonment for perjury, and was widely...
and Peter May
Peter May
-External links:* * at Cricket Archive*...
. After completing national service he entered King's College, Cambridge
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
in 1948, to read Classics.
Although he possessed a first class intelligence this was not matched by his application, and his university career was punctuated by regular crises over money, mis-behaviour and an apparent inability to connect actions with their consequences. His first class intelligence garnered in the event only an upper Second, a degree which would not normally have gained him a studentship to read for a doctorate. That it did so may be attributed, essentially, to his charm. He was awarded a Studentship (graduate fellowship) to study the influence of the classics in Victorian schooling, but this soon gave way to pleasure-seeking and his thesis was never seriously addressed. In 1951, he married Susan Kilner, a graduate from Newnham
Newnham College, Cambridge
Newnham College is a women-only constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1871 by Henry Sidgwick, and was the second Cambridge college to admit women after Girton College...
who was expecting his child; the marriage was from duty, as he made clear, and afterwards, he studiously avoided her. A son, Adam, was born in 1952. (The couple divorced in 1957.) Raven, his scholarship funds exhausted, withdrew from King's, and attempted to earn a living as a writer, gaining a small income as book reviewer for The Listener. He also wrote a novel, which proved unpublishable because of its libellous nature, and only emerged almost 30 years later as An Inch of Fortune. Seeking a firmer livelihood, Raven decided to rejoin the army.
Army
During his National Service, Raven had served as an officer cadet in the Parachute Regiment, and was based in India during the final months of the Raj. He was subsequently commissioned into the Oxfordshire and Bucks Light Infantry, before being seconded to the 77th Heavy Ack Ack (Anti Aircraft) Regiment at Rolleston Balloon Camp, where he saw out his service. In 1953, after his King's College experiences, he secured a regular commission with the King's Own Shropshire Light InfantryThe King's Shropshire Light Infantry
The King's Shropshire Light Infantry was a regiment of the British Army, formed in 1881, but with antecedents dating back to 1755. The KSLI was amalgamated with three other county light infantry regiments in 1968 to became part of The Light Infantry...
(KSLI), serving in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, before receiving a home posting to Shrewsbury. It was during this period, when he was still married to Susan, that he sent the notorious telegram to her in response to her telegraphic plea for money: "Sorry no money, suggest eat baby". Such a callous response suggests that he cared nothing for his wife and child, although in fact he was sedulous in providing for Adam's education and welfare. He enjoyed striking the eighteenth century attitudes underlying the telegram, but had sufficient sense of duty to belie them in private. Unfortunately, this enabled him to pursue his passion for gambling at the local race meetings, and he was soon in severe financial straits. Faced with the prospect of a court-martial for "conduct unbecoming" he was allowed to resign quietly, to avoid scandal in the regiment.
Writing career
At almost 30 he had no career or prospects, but from his studies of the classics he had developed a lucid writing style, derived, as he said, from the Army's admirable instruction to be "brief, neat and plain". This, allied to his ready and disrespectful wit, was allowing him to survive precariously in journalism when, in 1958, he was employed by publisher Anthony BlondAnthony Blond
Anthony Bernard Blond was a British publisher and author.Blond was the elder son of Major Neville Blond CMG, OBE, who was a cousin of Harold Laski. His mother was from a Manchester Sephardic Jewish family; they divorced when Blond was a child. Born in Sale, Cheshire, Blond was educated at Eton,...
: "I had picked him up through Hugh Thomas
Hugh Thomas
Hugh Thomas , is a British historian and life peer.Hugh Thomas may also refer to:* Hugh Thomas , American choral conductor, pianist and educator* Hugh Thomas , Australian rules football coach...
who was editing a symposium for me, called The Establishment. Simon was billed to do the piece on the Army". Blond financed him while he wrote his first published novel, The Feathers of Death (1959). Blond was impressed enough to offer him a contract to continue writing for him, on condition he lived away from London, and paid off Raven's debts. "This is the last hand-out you get," he was told. "Leave London, or leave my employ". He moved to lodgings in Deal, on the Kent coast, and was paid (reportedly) a £15 wage by Blond. As a consequence of this arrangement, during the remainder of his working life, Raven became one of Britain's most prolific writers in a range of genres including fiction, essays, personal reminiscences, polemics, theatre, screenplays and magazine journalism. He was at various times compared with Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
, Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
, Anthony Powell
Anthony Powell
Anthony Dymoke Powell CH, CBE was an English novelist best known for his twelve-volume work A Dance to the Music of Time, published between 1951 and 1975....
and Lawrence Durrell
Lawrence Durrell
Lawrence George Durrell was an expatriate British novelist, poet, dramatist, and travel writer, though he resisted affiliation with Britain and preferred to be considered cosmopolitan...
, but his voice was his own: "Raven came nearer than other novelists to exposing, in the grandeur of its squalor and the dubiety of its standards, the times he lived in and saw through". His own view of his craft was less exalted; in the words of his writer-character Fielding Gray in the novel Places Where They Sing (1970): "I arrange words in pleasing patterns in order to make money".
His mischievous and often cruel delight in the outrageous, and his lack of moralising or sentiment, are characteristics which pervade his writings. He also had a fascination for the supernatural, first manifested in his early novel Doctors Wear Scarlet, which features Balkan vampires (though they are practitioners of vampirism as a sexual deviation rather than an actual supernatural manifestation) and was cited by Karl Edward Wagner
Karl Edward Wagner
Karl Edward Wagner was an American writer, editor and publisher of horror, science fiction, and heroic fantasy, who was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and originally trained as a psychiatrist. His disillusionment with the medical profession can be seen in the stories "The Fourth Seal" and "Into...
as one of the thirteen best supernatural novels. The Gothic themes became stronger in later works such as The Roses of Picardie, September Castle, parts of the First-Born of Egypt sequence, and the 1994 novella The Islands of Sorrow.
The listing of Raven's works, shown below, indicates a life of considerable industry, sustained for many years. Although he acquired an enthusiastic and loyal following, he was never a top-seller in terms of the mass market. Quoted by Brooke Allen: "I've always written for a small audience of people like myself, who are well-educated, worldly, sceptical and snobbish (meaning that they rank good taste over bad)".
His Alms for Oblivion ten-novel sequence is usually regarded as his best achievement - A. N. Wilson
A. N. Wilson
Andrew Norman Wilson is an English writer and newspaper columnist, known for his critical biographies, novels, works of popular history and religious views...
thought it "the jolliest roman-fleuve" - though it is likely that he gained wider public recognition for his TV work, especially the adaptation of The Pallisers
The Pallisers
The Pallisers is a 1974 BBC television adaptation of Anthony Trollope's Palliser novels.-Cast :*Anthony Ainley: Rev. Emilius*Terence Alexander: Lord George*Anthony Andrews: Lord Silverbridge*Sarah Badel: Lizzie Eustace...
(1974) and Edward and Mrs Simpson
Edward and Mrs Simpson
Edward & Mrs. Simpson is a seven-part British television series that dramatises the events leading to the 1936 abdication of King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, who gave up his throne to marry the twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson....
(1978). As he grew older his rate of output lessened, and there was deterioration in its quality, but he was still being published in the late 1990s, his last book being Remember Your Grammar and Other Haunted Stories, 1997, a collection of short ghost and supernatural stories.
In 1990 his book of anecdotes and reminiscences, Is there anybody there? said the Traveller (Frederick Muller 1990) had been withdrawn in the face of a series of libel threats, including a suit from his former publisher Anthony Blond. Thereafter he planned, or at least threatened, to write a new work All Safely Dead, in which, safe from the laws of libel, he could "expose" various deceased luminaries from the British social, academic, political and literary scenes, but the book was never written.
Later life
Throughout his life Raven pursued a hedonistic lifestyle which included eating, drinking, travel, cricket, gambling and socialising. He spent what he earned, and after 34 years in Kent at Blond's behest he finally moved to London on securing lodgings in Sutton's Hospital, an almshouse for impoverished Carthusians in Charterhouse SquareLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Here he led a quieter version of his former life. In 1993 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
Royal Society of Literature
The Royal Society of Literature is the "senior literary organisation in Britain". It was founded in 1820 by George IV, in order to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". The Society's first president was Thomas Burgess, who later became the Bishop of Salisbury...
. In 1997 he appeared with Melvyn Bragg
Melvyn Bragg
Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg FRSL FRTS FBA, FRS FRSA is an English broadcaster and author best known for his work with the BBC and for presenting the The South Bank Show...
in a South Bank Show devoted to his career, in good spirits and without regrets. His health continued to fail, however, and after a series of strokes he died in London on 12 May 2001,aged 73. A biography of Simon Raven, The Captain, written by Michael Barber, was published in 1996.
His son, Adam Raven, managed to build a successful career as an artist, despite having been diagnosed, at 25, with a bipolar disorder. On 22 June 2006 he was discovered dead in his cabin aboard a cruise liner, at the age of 54.
Novels
1. Early Novels| Title | Publisher | Year |
|---|---|---|
| An Inch of Fortune | Anthony Blond | 1980* |
| The Feathers of Death | Anthony Blond | 1959 |
| Brother Cain | Anthony Blond | 1959 |
| Doctors Wear Scarlet | Anthony Blond | 1960 |
| Close of Play | Anthony Blond | 1962 |
- Note: His first novel, An Inch of Fortune, written circa 1951, was not published until 1980
2. "Alms for Oblivion" Novel Sequence
The 10 novels cover the period 1945 to 1973 and centre on a group of upper and upper middle class characters, forming a novel sequence
Novel sequence
A novel sequence is a set or series of novels which share common themes, characters, or settings, but where each novel has its own title and free-standing storyline, and can thus be read independently or out of sequence.-Definitions:...
, if a somewhat loosely structured one. The early novels are robust satires of the English upper set of the mid 1950s, but the later tend to a more detached and philosophical tone, becoming concerned with the occult and supernatural, and including strange happenings.
The titles in Alms for Oblivion are:
| Title | Internal chronology | Publisher | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Rich Pay Late The Rich Pay Late The Rich Pay Late is Volume I of the novel sequence Alms for Oblivion by Simon Raven, published in 1964. It was the first novel to be published in The Alms for Oblivion sequence though it is the fourth novel chronologically. The story takes place in and around London in 1956 and culminates with the... |
Fourth, set in 1955-56 | Anthony Blond | 1964 |
| Friends In Low Places Friends In Low Places (novel) Friends In Low Places is Volume II of the novel sequence Alms for Oblivion by Simon Raven, published in 1965. It was the second novel to be published in The Alms for Oblivion sequence and is the third novel chronologically. The story takes place in and around London in 1959.-Characters, in the... |
Fifth, set in 1959 | Anthony Blond | 1965 |
| The Sabre Squadron The Sabre Squadron The Sabre Squadron is Volume III of the novel sequence Alms for Oblivion by Simon Raven, published in 1966. It was the third novel to be published in The Alms for Oblivion sequence and is also the third novel chronologically... |
Third, set in 1952 | Anthony Blond | 1966 |
| Fielding Gray Fielding Gray Fielding Gray is Volume IV of the novel sequence Alms for Oblivion by Simon Raven, published in 1967. It was the fourth novel to be published in The Alms for Oblivion sequence though it is the first novel chronologically... |
First, set in 1945 | Anthony Blond | 1967 |
| The Judas Boy The Judas Boy The Judas Boy is Volume V of the novel sequence Alms for Oblivion by Simon Raven, published in 1968. It was the fifth novel to be published in The Alms for Oblivion sequence and is the sixth novel chronologically. The story takes place in London, Athens and on Cyprus in 1962.-Characters, in the... |
Sixth, set in 1962 | Anthony Blond | 1968 |
| Places Where They Sing Places Where They Sing Places Where They Sing is Volume VI of the novel sequence Alms for Oblivion by Simon Raven, published in 1970. It was the sixth novel to be published in The Alms for Oblivion sequence but is the seventh novel chronologically... |
Seventh, set in 1967 | Anthony Blond | 1970 |
| Sound The Retreat Sound The Retreat Sound The Retreat is Volume VII of the novel sequence Alms for Oblivion by Simon Raven, published in 1971. It was the seventh novel to be published in The Alms for Oblivion sequence though it is the second novel chronologically. The story takes place in India from November 1945 to June... |
Second, set in 1945-46 | Anthony Blond | 1971 |
| Come Like Shadows Come Like Shadows Come Like Shadows is Volume VIII of the novel sequence Alms for Oblivion by Simon Raven, published in 1972. It was the eighth novel to be published in The Alms for Oblivion sequence and is also the eighth novel chronologically... |
Eighth, set in 1970 | Blond & Briggs | 1972 |
| Bring Forth The Body Bring Forth The Body Bring Forth The Body is Volume IX of the novel sequence Alms for Oblivion by Simon Raven, published in 1974. It was the ninth novel to be published in The Alms for Oblivion sequence and is also the ninth novel chronologically. The story takes place in England in 1972.-Characters, in the order of... |
Ninth, set in 1972 | Blond & Briggs | 1974 |
| The Survivors The Survivors (Simon Raven novel) The Survivors is Volume X of the novel sequence Alms for Oblivion by Simon Raven, published in 1974. It was the tenth and last novel to be published in The Alms for Oblivion sequence and is also the tenth novel chronologically. The story takes place in Venice in 1973.-Characters, in the order of... |
Tenth, set in 1973 | Blond & Briggs | 1976 |
3. "The First-Born of Egypt" Novel Sequence.
This sequence is a continuation of Alms for Oblivion. with many of the same characters, but with storylines tending to centre on the "next generation" and the introduction of darker, mystic themes. These books were written strictly for money, and received little critical acclaim, but Raven had fun killing off many of the survivors from the earlier sequence, usually in absurd and/or humiliating circumstances.
The titles in The First-Born of Egypt are:
| Title | Publisher | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Morning Star Morning Star (novel) Morning Star is Volume I of the novel sequence First Born of Egypt by Simon Raven, published in 1984.Morning Star is set in 1977 and features a large cast of upper-class characters... |
Blond & Briggs | 1984 |
| The Face Of The Waters | Anthony Blond | 1985 |
| Before The Cock Crow | Muller, Blond & White | 1986 |
| New Seed For Old | Frederick Muller | 1988 |
| Blood Of My Bone | Frederick Muller | 1989 |
| In The Image Of God | Frederick Muller | 1990 |
| The Troubadour | Hutchinson | 1992 |
4. Other Novels
| Title | Publisher | Year |
|---|---|---|
| The Roses Of Picardie | Blond & Briggs | 1980 |
| September Castle | Blond & Briggs | 1984 |
Essays, Reminiscences and Polemics
| Title | Publisher | Year |
|---|---|---|
| The English Gentleman (see note) | Anthony Blond | 1961 |
| Boys Will Be Boys | Anthony Blond | 1963 |
| The Fortunes of Fingel | Anthony Blond | 1976 |
| Shadows on the Grass | Blond & Briggs | 1982 |
| The Old School | Hamish Hamilton | 1986 |
| The Old Gang | Hamish Hamilton | 1988 |
| Bird of Ill Omen | Hamish Hamilton | 1989 |
| Is there anybody there? said the Traveller | Frederick Muller | 1990 (withdrawn) |
Note: The English Gentleman was also published as The Decline Of The Gentleman
Other Writings
(this table is not necessarily complete)| Title | Publisher | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction to The Best of Gerald Kersh | Heinemann | 1960 |
| Chriseis (Short Story) | No details | 1960 |
| Contribution to The Vampire' (Anthology ed. Riva & Volta) | Macmillan | 1963 |
| Places Where They Stay | Anthony Blond | 1970 |
| Introductions to Trollope's "Palliser" novels | Panther Books | 1973 |
| The Islands of Sorrow | The Winged Lion | 1994 |
| Contribution to The Vampire Omnibus ed. Peter Haining | Orion Paperbacks | 1995 |
| Remember Your Grammar and Other Haunted Stories | The Winged Lion | 1997 |
| The World of Simon Raven (collected journalism) | Prion Humour Classics Prion Humour Classics Prion Humour Classics are a series of small-format hardback novels published by Prion Books in the UK.... |
2002 |
He also wrote features and articles for: The Listener; Encounter; London Magazine; Spectator; New Statesman and other magazines and journals
Plays, Screenplays, TV and Film Adaptations
Plays (this table is not necessarily complete)| Title | Performance History | Publication History |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Foundation | No performance details | Anthony Blond, 1966* |
| The Move Up-Country | No performance details | Anthony Blond, 1966* |
| The Doomsday School | No performance details | Anthony Blond, 1966* |
| The Scapegoat | TV "First Night First Night First Night is an artistic and cultural celebration on New Year's Eve, taking place from afternoon until midnight. Some cities have all their events during the celebration outside, but some cities have events that are hosted indoors by organizations in the city, such as churches and theaters... " series 1964 |
Anthony Blond, 1966* |
| Panther Larkin | No performance details | Anthony Blond. 1966* |
| The High King's Tomb | No performance details | Anthony Blond, 1966* |
| The Gaming Book | TV Armchair Theatre Armchair Theatre Armchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series, which ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television after 1968.... series, 1965 |
Anthony Blond, 1966* |
| Sir Jocelyn, The Minister Would Like a Word | TV Wednesday Play series, 1965 | Anthony Blond, 1966* |
| The Case of Father Brendan | 1968, London (no other details) | No publication details |
Screenplays, TV and Film Adaptations (this table is not necessarily complete)
| Title | Type | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Scapegoat | "First Night" TV play series | 1964 | Adapted from own stage play |
| The Gaming Book | TV Armchair Theatre Armchair Theatre Armchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series, which ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television after 1968.... |
1965 | Adapted from own stage play |
| Sir Jocelyn, The Minister Would Like A Word | TV Wednesday Play | 1965 | Adapted from own stage play |
| A Soiree at Blossom's Hotel | TV Wednesday Play | 1966 | |
| A Pyre For Private James | TV Wednesday Play | 1966 | |
| Point Counter Point Point Counter Point Point Counter Point is a novel by Aldous Huxley, first published in 1928. It is Huxley's longest novel, and was notably more complex and serious than his earlier fiction.... |
TV mini series | 1968 | Adapted from Aldous Huxley Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. Best known for his novels including Brave New World and a wide-ranging output of essays, Huxley also edited the magazine Oxford Poetry, and published short stories, poetry, travel... |
| The Outstation | Episode of TV series | 1968 | Episode 11 of The Jazz Age |
| The Way We Live Now The Way We Live Now (1969 TV serial) The Way We Live Now is an adaptation of the novel The Way We Live Now as a serial for television, first broadcast in 1969.-Partial cast:*Colin Blakely - Augustus Melmotte*Rachel Gurney - Lady Carbury*Sharon Gurney - Henrietta Carbury... |
TV mini series | 1969 | Adapted from Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of his best-loved works, collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire... |
| The Creative Impulse | TV dramatisation | 1969 | From W Somerset Maugham story |
| On Her Majesty's Secret Service On Her Majesty's Secret Service (film) On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the sixth spy film in the James Bond series, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. Following the decision of Sean Connery to retire from the role after You Only Live Twice, Eon Productions selected an unknown actor and model, George Lazenby... |
James Bond James Bond James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,... film |
1969 | Credited with "additional dialogue" |
| The Human Element | TV dramatisation | 1970 | From W Somerset Maugham story |
| Incense For The Damned (see below) | Screenplay from own novel | 1970 | Adapted from Doctors Wear Scarlet |
| Unman, Wittering and Zigo Unman, Wittering and Zigo Unman, Wittering and Zigo is a 1958 radio play by the Anglo-Irish playwright Giles Cooper.-Plot:The play is a thriller set in a traditional boys boarding school where a senior form master has just been killed in a tragic accident. The main character is John Ebony, a teacher in his first job,... |
Screenplay | 1971 | From Giles Cooper Giles Cooper Giles Stannus Cooper was an Anglo-Irish playwright and prolific radio dramatist, writing over sixty scripts for BBC radio and television. He was awarded the OBE in 1960 for "Services to Broadcasting"... play |
| The Pallisers The Pallisers The Pallisers is a 1974 BBC television adaptation of Anthony Trollope's Palliser novels.-Cast :*Anthony Ainley: Rev. Emilius*Terence Alexander: Lord George*Anthony Andrews: Lord Silverbridge*Sarah Badel: Lizzie Eustace... |
TV series (26 episodes UK) | 1974 | Adaptation from Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of his best-loved works, collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire... |
| An Unofficial Rose | TV mini series | 1974 | Adaptation from Iris Murdoch Iris Murdoch Dame Iris Murdoch DBE was an Irish-born British author and philosopher, best known for her novels about political and social questions of good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious... |
| Sexton Blake and the Demon God | TV series | 1976 | |
| Edward and Mrs Simpson Edward and Mrs Simpson Edward & Mrs. Simpson is a seven-part British television series that dramatises the events leading to the 1936 abdication of King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, who gave up his throne to marry the twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson.... |
TV series | 1978 | From book by Frances Donaldson |
| Love In A Cold Climate | TV mini series | 1980 | Adapted from Nancy Mitford Nancy Mitford Nancy Freeman-Mitford, CBE , styled The Hon. Nancy Mitford before her marriage and The Hon. Mrs Peter Rodd thereafter, was an English novelist and biographer, one of the Bright Young People on the London social scene in the inter-war years... |
| The Blackheath Poisonings | TV play | 1992 | Co-writer with Julian Symons Julian Symons Julian Gustave Symons 1912 - 1994) was a British crime writer and poet. He also wrote social and military history, biography and studies of literature.-Life and work:... |
Note: The US title for Incense of the Damned was: "Bloodsuckers"
Sources
- Brooke Allen: Who Was Simon Raven: The New Criterion, April 2003 (on http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/simonraven-allen-1756)
- Michael Barber: The Captain: The Life and Times of Simon Raven, Gerald Duckworth, 1996 ISBN 0-7156-2786-4
- Obituary, The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, 16 May 2001 by Michael Barber - Obituary, The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, 16 May 2001 by David Hughes - Obituary, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
17 May 2001 by Douglas Martin - Obituary, The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
1 August 2006 obit of Adam Raven by Thomas Thirkell - Simon Raven Filmography from http://us.vdc.imdb.com
- http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/introduces/simonraven.htm