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 1989 feature film ''Fellow Traveller'', which won best screenplay at the British Film Awards. He is also known for his stage plays and

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

radio dramas.

Early life

Michael Ralph EatonUK list: 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 s ...

, and educated at the

Nottingham High School Nottingham High School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private fee-charging day school for boys and girls in Nottingham, England, with an infant and junior school (ages 4–11) and senior school (ages 11–18). There were 1177 stu ...

, before going on to read social anthropology at

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, where, in 1976, he was awarded a

double first The British undergraduate degree classification system is a Grading in education, grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and Master's degree#Integrated Masters Degree, integrated master's degrees in the United Kingd ...

. 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 ...

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, Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 23 March 1944) is an English composer, pianist, libretto, librettist, musicologist, and filmmaker. He is known for numerous film soundtrack, scores (many written during his lengthy ...

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

Griffith University Griffith University is a public university, public research university in South East Queensland on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith ...

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 Troubles in Northern Ireland, British security forces were accused by some of operating a "shoot-to-kill" policy, under which suspected paramilitary members were killed without an attempt being made to arrest them. This alleged policy ...

that examined them, '' Shoot to Kill'', which was directed by

Peter Kosminsky Peter Kosminsky (born 21 April 1956) is a British writer, director and producer. He has directed Hollywood movies such as '' White Oleander'' and television films like ''Warriors'', ''The Government Inspector'', '' The Promise'', ''Wolf Hall'' a ...

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 (PA103/PAA103) was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. Shortly after 19:00 on 21 December 1988, the Boeing 747 "Clipper Maid of th ...

. 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 Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

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 novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

(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 in ...

, Coventry. In November 2013, his play about the publication of

Laurence Sterne Laurence Sterne (24 November 1713 – 18 March 1768) was an Anglo-Irish novelist and Anglican cleric. He is best known for his comic novels ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'' (1759–1767) and ''A Sentimental Journey Thro ...

's ''

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'', also known as ''Tristram Shandy'', is a humorous novel by Laurence Sterne. It was published in nine volumes, the first two appearing in 1759, and seven others following over the next sev ...

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

York Medical Society The York Medical Society is a Learned society, medical society founded in York, England, in 1832. It is located in a Grade II* listed building at 23 Stonegate (York), Stonegate, York. The first president, Baldwin Wake, addressed the society ...

and made available for listening on the Laurence Sterne Trust website. In the 1999 New Year's Honours List, Eaton was appointed MBE for services to the film industry. From 2006 to 2012, he was visiting professor in creative writing at

Nottingham Trent University Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is a public research university located in Nottingham, England. Its origins date back to 1843 with the establishment of the Nottingham School of Design, Nottingham Government School of Design, which still opera ...

List of works

Screenplays

* ''Fellow Traveller'' (1989)

TV plays

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

Stage plays

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

Radio plays

* ''The Caves of Harmony—a Musical Entertainment for Christmas'', 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, '' T ...

(BBC Radio 4, 2000) * ''George Silverman's Explanation'' (dramatisation of Dickens' short story, BBC Radio 4, 2003) * ''The Pickwick Papers'' (four-part, BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Dickens' first novel, 2004) * ''Felix Holt'' (three-part, 3-hour adaptation of George Eliot's novel, BBC Radio 4, 2007) * ''Waves Breaking on a Shore'' (co-written with composer

, BBC Radio 4, 2010) * ''The Conflict Is Over'' (story of the Northern Ireland peace process, BBC Radio 4, 2011) * ''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) * ''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) was an influential British anthropologist and ethnologist. Initially a biologist, who achieved his most notable fieldwork, with W. H. R. Rivers, Charles Gabriel Selig ...

, the first anthropological fieldwork expeditions in the Torres Strait and shell shock in World War, 2015) * ''Never Mind the Ballocks'' (BBC Radio 4 play about the Nottingham Virgin Records Sex Pistols trial, 2023) * ''A Grain of Wheat'' (BBC Radio 4 adaptation of the novel by Ngugi wa Thiong'o, 2023)

Publications

* "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 ...

) * "Our Friends in the North" (monograph in BFI Film Classics series, 2006) * "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, writing on Semitic languages and civilizations, historian of religion, philologist, philosopher, biblical scholar, and critic. He wrote wo ...

: Translated from the French by Michael Eaton, Shoestring Press, 2013) * ''Head Hunters'' (radio play, Shoestring Press, 2020) * ''Charlie Peace: His Amazing Life and Astonishing Legend'' (Five Leaves Publications, 2017) * ''Based on a True Story: Real Made-Up Men'' (essays, Shoestring Press, 2020) * ''B*ll*cks – A Word on Trial'' (play, Shoestring Press, 2023)

References

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