Tony Pitts Wins BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Audio Drama

Tony Pitts’ radio play ON IT has won the BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Audio Drama (Single Play) at a ceremony held on Sunday 27 January 2013.

An original radio play commissioned by Woolyback Productions for BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play, ON IT was written, directed and narrated by Tony Pitts, and starred Maxine Peake and Adam Gillen. It won the Sony Gold Radio Award, Best Drama 2012 and was Radio Times Critics Choice. The award was presented by Lenny Henry, who shared the following quote from the judges:

'...the raw grief of this true story is expressed with such poetical, beautiful, lyrical language that the whole genre of social realism is turned on its head. Nothing is glamourised or sentimentalised, which makes its heart-rending effect even more powerful. A masterful piece of writing, story-telling and directing, with a touch of Dylan Thomas about it, this one sang to the judges.'

Juliet Pickering joins Blake Friedmann

Blake Friedmann are delighted to announce that Juliet Pickering will join them on February 4 as an agent in their book department.  She was most recently at A P Watt, and joins Blake Friedmann on 4 February.

She will bring her entire list of clients with her and we look forward to welcoming them: they will complement the present Blake Friedmann list.

Juliet said: "I am delighted to be joining everyone at Blake Friedmann, and very happy to be bringing my wonderful authors to join theirs. I've several exciting projects to send out over the next few weeks, and will be keenly looking out for more over the coming year."

Carole Blake, joint managing director of Blake Friedmann said: "We are thrilled that Juliet will be joining our newly-expanded team.  It's especially good timing, with her author, Chioma Okereke, on the Costa Short Story Award shortlist.

"Our staff are all looking forward to having her with us - we've all heard about her baking skills."
 
From 4 February Juliet can be contacted on: Juliet@blakefriedmann.co.uk

For more information contact Carole Blake on: Carole@blakefriedmann.co.uk

Steve Hawes commissioned to write play commemorating the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta

Steve Hawes has written THE GREAT CHARTER, which examines the dramatic events running up to the sealing of the Magna Carta by King John: it has been commissioned by Sir Robert Worcester, Chairman of the Magna Carta 800th Anniversary Commemoration Committee and David Nicholas Wilkinson of Guerilla Films through their company Allington Productions.

The intention is that the play will be presented to London’s West End and many of the Magna Carta towns such as Canterbury, Bury St Edmunds, Lincoln, Oxford, Salisbury and Windsor (Runnymede).

Sir Robert comments: “When I first came to Britain many years ago, I went to the British Museum on my first morning to see the Magna Carta and the Rosetta Stone, because I had been taught that the rule of law and education are the two pillarstones of civilisation.  The significance of the Magna Carta is that it provided the basis for all democratic society from free and fair elections to the basics of human rights and justice.”

While David Wilkinson says: “The power play, machinations, intrigue and historical detail that led to the creation of this piece of parchment and with it the foundation of human rights offers such an incredible rich story for the stage.  THE GREAT CHARTER will play an exciting part in the whole 800th anniversary celebration and bring the Magna Carta to life for people in an entertaining and illuminating way.”  

The play is part of wider celebrations that will run from 2013 to 2015 across the UK. Concerts, festivals, debates, schools competition and exhibitions at major venues such as the British Library are being produced, as well commissioned memorabilia such as a commemorative stamp and coin.  A Magna Carta Day has been unanimously supported by the House of Commons.

For more information on THE GREAT CHARTER, please see:

www.thegreatcharter.com

www.allingtonproductions.com 

Dan Sefton’s episode of DEATH IN PARADISE airs tonight on BBC1

Dan Sefton's episode of the fish out of water police drama starring Ben Miller as a UK cop in the Caribbean transmits tonight on BBC 1 at 9pm. In this episode, a body is discovered floating in the pool of an exclusive cosmetic surgery clinic. A Red Planet production, the episode was directed by David O'Neill.

Pan Macmillan acquires standalone Peter James thriller

Peter James' standalone thriller ABSOLUTE PROOF, only his second to be written since he began his bestselling Roy Grace series, has been acquired by Pan Macmillan. Publishing director Wayne Brookes bought UK and Commonwealth rights and said of James, 'Peter is a master of the plot twist and this will be a huge title for us in 2015.'

James was the first to knock E.L. James' FIFTY SHADES trilogy out of its number one position with his latest title NOT DEAD YET which became a Sunday Times No 1 Bestseller in the week it went on sale.  He had great success with his first standalone thriller PERFECT PEOPLE which was shortlisted for the prestigious Wellcome Trust Book Award in 2012. In that psychological thriller a heartbroken couple who have lost a child to a hereditary disease wish to make sure their next child will not suffer in the same way. They unwittingly enter the world of 'designer babies' and without realising it, find themselves being manipulated by an unscrupulous doctor.

Brookes said, 'PERFECT PEOPLE was a huge success in all formats for Pan Macmillan. Therefore, when Peter pitched the fabulous idea for ABSOLUTE PROOF we jumped at the chance to publish it.' 

Carole Blake said, 'Peter's first stand alone novel since starting the Roy Grace series, was a phenomenal success.  ABSOLUTE has an astounding plot, and will be a real treat for his huge fan base.

To read more about the deal, click here.

Praise for Peter James:

'He is best known for his No 1 bestselling Roy Grace crime novels, combining super-deft plotting, great characterisation and extraordinarily accurate procedure. But Peter James isn't just a superb popular writer, he's a great researcher...Now, his first stand alone novel since the extraordinary, though completely deserved, success of the Roy Grace series features all James' strengths, including his ability to capture a sense of real horror in a very real world.' -- Daily Mirror (Five star review)

'Peter James is one of the best in the world.' -- Lee Child

Praise for PERFECT PEOPLE:

'Peter James is acknowledged as being one of the top thriller writers in the UK, and his series of crime novels featuring DI Roy Grace are the best of the current genre.  But in his new novel PERFECT PEOPLE he has proved he can depart from the formula and break the mould... From the moment they meet the sinister geneticist who offers to create a new child from their cells, the pages just keep on turning themselves.  The ending is so horrifyingly scary that I was unable to sleep properly for several nights.' -- Joan Collins, The Mail on Sunday

"Brilliantly done, the emotional credibility of the characters is as good as it gets.  There's a movie in this book." -- Jeff Park, 'Front Row', BBC radio