Michael Eaton MBE (born 1954) is an English playwright and scriptwriter. He is best known for his television docudrama scripts, including '' Shipman'', ''Why Lockerbie'', and '' Shoot to Kill'', and for writing the feature film ''Fellow Traveller'' (1989), which won best screenplay in the British Film Awards. In recent years, he has become known for stage plays and his radio dramas for the BBC.

Early life

Eaton was born in

Sherwood, Nottingham Sherwood () is a large district and ward of the city of Nottingham, England, north of the city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 15,414. It is bordered by Woodthorpe to the northeast, Mapperley to the east, Carrington to the ...

and educated at the Nottingham High School, before going on to read social anthropology at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

, where, in 1976, he was awarded a double first. After a period in New York, he taught film studies in the School of Art History at

Leicester Polytechnic De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body. The name De Montfort University was tak ...

and wrote for various cinema journals. He began making low-budget films in the late 1970s, including ''Frozen Music'' (with a score by

Michael Nyman Michael Laurence Nyman, CBE (born 23 March 1944) is an English composer, pianist, librettist, musicologist, and filmmaker. He is known for numerous film scores (many written during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Gre ...

). In 1985, he took up a post as a visiting fellow at

Griffith University Griffith University is a public research university in South East Queensland on the east coast of Australia. Formally founded in 1971, Griffith opened its doors in 1975, introducing Australia's first degrees in environmental science and Asian ...

in Queensland, Australia, where he was also filmmaker in residence at the Adelaide Film Workshop.

Career

Eaton returned to England in the late 1980s and wrote the screenplay for ''Fellow Traveller'', which went on to win the British Film Awards (Evening Standard) best screenplay award in 1989. He then wrote the two-part, four-hour film about the RUC shootings in Armagh and the

Stalker inquiry During the period known as The Troubles in Northern Ireland (1969–1998), the British Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) were accused by Republicans of operating a "shoot-to-kill" policy, under which suspected paramilitaries were alleged ...

that examined them, '' Shoot to Kill'', which was directed by Peter Kosminsky and won the Best Drama awards at both the Royal Television Society and the Broadcasting Press Guild. The subsequent ''Why Lockerbie'' (both were broadcast in 1990) looked at the events leading to the bombing of

Pan Am Flight 103 Pan Am Flight 103 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. The transatlantic leg of the route was operated by ''Clipper Maid of the Seas'', a Boein ...

. Eaton was to revisit this subject for his 2010 play at

Nottingham Playhouse Nottingham Playhouse is a theatre in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. It was first established as a repertory theatre in 1948 when it operated from a former cinema in Goldsmith Street. Directors during this period included Val May and F ...

, ''The Families of Lockerbie''. His next two TV plays were fictional. The four-part ''Signs and Wonders'' (BBC2, 1995) was about a

New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consi ...

religious cult, the Church of England, academia, and pit closures. ''Flowers of the Forest'' (BBC2, 1996) was a drama about allegations of Satanic abuse. Eaton was to return to the theme of religious cults in his first play for the main stage at Nottingham Playhouse, ''Angels Rave On'' (1998). He has also written the scripts for ''Heartbeat'' (2009), ''New Street Law'' (2006), and ''In Suspicious Circumstances'' (1993). An expert on

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

(whose work he has adapted many times for BBC Radio 4) and silent movies, Eaton appears in a documentary about silent film in the UK, ''Silent Britain'' (2006). In 2002, Eaton wrote the screenplay for ITV's '' Shipman'', about the notorious GP serial killer who, like Eaton, came from Sherwood, Nottingham. In recent years, he has increasingly turned his attention to radio and stage work, including another play about a serial killer, the notorious Charlie Peace. ''Charlie Peace: His Amazing Life and Astounding Legend'' premiered at

in 2013 and transferred to the

Belgrade Theatre The Belgrade Theatre is a live performance venue in Coventry, England. It was the first civic theatre to be built in Britain after the Second World War and is now a Grade II listed building. Background Coventry was the fastest growing city i ...

, Coventry. In November 2013, his play about the publication of Laurence Sterne's ''

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'', also known as ''Tristram Shandy'', is a novel by Laurence Sterne, inspired by '' Don Quixote''. It was published in nine volumes, the first two appearing in 1759, and seven others follow ...

'', ''The Good Humour Club'', was performed at

York Medical Society The York Medical Society is a medical society founded in York, England, in 1832. It is located in a grade II* listed building at 23 Stonegate, in York. Origins The York Medical Society was founded in 1832, two years before the establishmen ...

and made available for listening on the Laurence Sterne Trust website. In 1999, Eaton was awarded M.B.E. for Services to Film in the New Year's Honours List. From 2006 to 2012, he was visiting professor in creative writing at

Nottingham Trent University Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is a public research university in Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

List of works

Screenplays

* ''Fellow Traveller'' (1989)

TV plays

* ''Shipman'' (2002) * ''Flowers of the Forest'' (1996) * ''Signs and Wonders'' (1995) * ''Why Lockerbie'' (1990) * ''Shoot to Kill'' (1990)

Stage plays

* ''Great Expections'' Charles Dickens adaptation for West Yorkshire Playhouse (2016) * ''All Schools Should Be Art Schools'' (2015) * ''Charlie Peace: His Amazing Life and Astounding Legend'' (2013) * ''The Families of Lockerbie'' (2010) * ''Angels Rave On'' (1997)

Radio plays

* ''Headhunters'' (90 minute BBC Radio 3 play about

Alfred Cort Haddon Alfred Cort Haddon, Sc.D., FRS, FRGS FRAI (24 May 1855 – 20 April 1940, Cambridge) was an influential British anthropologist and ethnologist. Initially a biologist, who achieved his most notable fieldwork, with W.H.R. Rivers, C.G. Seligm ...

, the first anthropological fieldwork expeditions in the Torres Strait and shell shock in World War, 2015) * ''Dickens in London'' (five-part series for BBC Radio 4, broadcast between November 2011 and January 2012) * ''Out of the Blue'' (two-part BBC Radio 4 series about a UK police commissioner, 2013) * ''The Conflict Is Over'' (story of the Northern Ireland peace process, BBC Radio 4, 2011) * ''Waves Breaking on a Shore'' (co-written with composer

Neil Brand Neil Brand (born 18 March 1958) is an English dramatist, composer and author. In addition to being a regular silent film accompanist at London's National Film Theatre, Brand has composed new scores for two restored films from the 1920s, '' Th ...

, BBC Radio 4, 2010) * ''Felix Holt'' (three-part, 3-hour adaptation of George Eliot's novel, BBC Radio 4, 2007) * ''The Pickwick Papers'' (four-part, BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Dickens' first novel, 2004) * ''George Silverman's Explanation'' (dramatisation of Dickens' short story, BBC Radio 4, 2003) * ''The Caves of Christmas—a Musical Entertainment for Christmas'', co-written with composer

(BBC Radio 4, 2000)

Publications

* "Charlie Peace's Criminal Exploits" (essay in "Crime", Five Leaves Publications, 2013, edited by Ross Bradshaw) * ''The Priest of Nemi'' (play by

Ernest Renan Joseph Ernest Renan (; 27 February 18232 October 1892) was a French Orientalist and Semitic scholar, expert of Semitic languages and civilizations, historian of religion, philologist, philosopher, biblical scholar, and critic. He wrote in ...

: Translated from the French by Michael Eaton, Shoestring Press, 2013) * "Chinatown" (monograph in BFI Film Classics series, 1997) * "No Smoke" (short story in "City of Crime": Five Leaves Publications, 1997, edited by

David Belbin David Lawrence Belbin (born 19 January 1958) is an English novelist. He was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire and has lived in Nottingham since attending the University of Nottingham where he earned a degree in English Literature and American Studi ...

) * ''Charlie Peace: His Amazing Life and Astonishing Legend'' (Five Leaves Publications, 2017)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eaton, Michael 1954 births Living people Writers from Nottingham English radio writers English screenwriters English male screenwriters English dramatists and playwrights Alumni of King's College, Cambridge English male dramatists and playwrights People educated at The King's School, Pontefract Members of the Order of the British Empire