William Boyd

Writer

March 7, 1952 (74 years)

Accra, Gold Coast [now Ghana]

Biography

William Andrew Murray Boyd CBE FRSL (born 7 March 1952) is a Scottish novelist, short story writer and screenwriter. Boyd was born in Accra, Gold Coast, (present-day Ghana), to Scottish parents, both from Fife, and has two younger sisters. His father Alexander, a doctor specialising in tropical medicine, and Boyd's mother, who was a teacher, moved to the Gold Coast in 1950 to run the health clinic at the University College of the Gold Coast, Legon (now the University of Ghana). In the early 196…

Filmography

7.1

Restless

A young woman finds out that her mother worked as a spy for the British Secret Service during World War II and has been on the run ever since.

7.5

10 Minute Tales

The biggest names in writing, acting and directing come together in a series of shorts on Sky1 HD this festive period. Experience a novel Noel with these original, uplifting and highly creative slices of silent cinema that prove actions do speak louder than words. Starring Mackenzie Crook, Bill Nighy, Peter Capaldi, Ross Kemp, and a host of major stars, each of the 10 Minute Tales promises to be a unique and engaging look at life, loss, and love.

7.4

Chaplin

An aged Charlie Chaplin narrates his life to his autobiography's editor, including his rise to wealth and comedic fame from poverty, his turbulent personal life and his run-ins with the FBI.

7.1

Spy City

After a defector is murdered, British agent Fielding Scott is assigned to track down a mole in his own ranks in 1961 Berlin. His investigation leads him into a deadly web of crime, betrayal and paranoia. Who can Scott trust in the city of spies?

6.4

Any Human Heart

Logan Mountstuart, writer and adventurer, narrates his life, from the Paris of the twenties to the eighties in London, passing through the New York of the fifties.

5.4

The Trench

The Trench tells the story of a group of young British soldiers on the eve of the Battle of the Somme in the summer of 1916, the worst defeat in British military history. Against this ill-fated backdrop, the movie depicts the soldiers' experience as a mixture of boredom, fear, panic, and restlessness, confined to a trench on the front lines.

6.3

Man to Man

An epic about anthropologists who hunt and capture pygmies for study back in Europe, in an attempt to illustrate the link between man and ape.

4.4

Stars & Bars

A British art expert leaves New York to buy a long-lost Renoir from a Georgia eccentric.

4.1

Dutch Girls

In this sophomoric comedy, a lusty adolescent British hockey team heads for Holland where they find something far more interesting than tulips and windmills: gorgeous, lusty women. They are so busy pursuing romance that they forget all about their upcoming match.

6.5

Sword of Honour

Sword of Honour is a two-part adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s semi-autobiographical World War II trilogy, initially aired Channel 4 on 2 January 2001. Guy Crouchback embarks on a heroic quest to regain his honour and manhood; however, his encounters with the absurd reality of life in the British Army — strewn with bureaucratic blunders, military debacles, and indelibly eccentric characters — proves to be more of a challenge than facing the enemy itself.

5.0

A Good Man in Africa

Morgan Leafy is a secretary to the British High Commissioner to an Africa nation. Leafy is a man that makes himself useful to his boss, the snobbish Arthur Fanshawe, who has no clue about what's going on around him, but who wants to use his secretary to carry on his dirty work, which involves getting one of the most powerful men in the country to do business with his country.The young secretary has an eye for beautiful women around him, especially Hazel, a native beauty, with whom he is having an affair. Things get complicated because Sam Adekunle, a man running for president of the country, wants a favor from Leafy in return after he has accepted the invitation to visit London. The proposition involves swaying a prominent doctor's opposition to a plan that will make Adenkule filthy rich.

5.0

A Waste of Shame: The Mystery of Shakespeare and His Sonnets

In 1609, William Shakespeare published a collection of 154 sonnets, creating what is arguably the greatest lyric sequence in English literature - and at the center of this masterpiece lies a mystery that has endured for centuries. What are the identities of “the young man” and “the dark lady” to whom all but two of the sonnets allude? This moving performance brings to life the gritty reality of Shakespeare’s England, bits of the Bard’s plays and poems, and the consummate poet and dramatist himself as it exposes these personages unseen but so keenly felt in Shakespeare’s sonnets and in his life. Rupert Graves, Tom Sturridge, Indira Varma, Anna Chancellor, and Zoë Wanamaker star. Contains mature themes and explicit language. Some content may be objectionable. Produced by the Open University.

5.7

Sword of Honour

Guy Crouchback joins the war effort during World War 2, an idealistic quest to join the forces of good in the fight against evil. But his efforts is not rewarded, he never has any chance to join any real fighting, circumstances always prevent it. Instead he finds himself in the middle of an army full of cowards, incompetents and a few outright evil men. They of course reap the fortunes of war, promotions and fame, but never Crouchback. His war is just an endless list of transfers and an hopeless but noble quest for righteousness.

5.5

Tune in Tomorrow...

Martin works at the local radio station, which just hired a new scriptwriter with a reputation for great drama, Pedro Carmichael. Martin’s aunt Julia, not related by blood, returns home after many years away and Martin falls for her. Once Pedro finds out about this romance, he starts incorporating details of it into the script of his daily drama series. Soon, Martin and Julia are not only hearing about their fictional selves over the radio, but about what they are going to do next.

6.2

Mister Johnson

In 1923 British Colonial Nigeria, Mister Johnson is an oddity -- an educated black man who doesn't really fit in with the natives or the British. He works for the local British magistrate, and considers himself English, though he has never been to England. He is always scheming, trying to get ahead, which lands him in a lot of hot water.

5.7

Scoop

Scoop is a 1987 TV film directed by Gavin Millar, adapted by William Boyd from the 1938 satirical novel Scoop by Evelyn Waugh. It was produced by Sue Birtwistle with executive producers Nick Elliott and Patrick Garland. Original music was made by Stanley Myers. The story is about a reporter sent to Ishmaelia (a fictional African state) by accident.

8.0

The Dreams of Bethany Mellmoth

Based on William Boyd's short story collection, The Dreams of Bethany Mellmoth follows 22-year-old Bethany as she flits from one possible career to another looking for answers to life's most important questions.

N/A

The Captain and the Enemy

A young boy is taken from his boarding school by a secretive stranger known simply as "the Captain".

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