About Stephen

 

Stephen Wyatt was born in Beckenham, Kent and brought up in Ealing in West London. He was educated at Latymer Upper School and then went to Clare College, Cambridge.

After graduating, he stayed on to complete a doctoral dissertation, The Victorian Extravaganza 1830-1885, for which he was awarded a Ph.D. While at Cambridge, he directed the 1973 Footlights Revue, Every Packet Carries a Government Health Warning. His first full length comedy, Exit, Pursued by a Bear, was produced at the Edinburgh Festival in 1973.

After a brief spell as Lecturer in Drama at Glasgow University, he began his career as a playwright in 1975 as writer/researcher with the Belgrade Coventry Theatre in Education team. In 1982 and 1983 he was Resident Writer with the London Bubble Theatre.

Stephen has worked widely as a freelance playwright in theatre, radio and television ever since. He also has considerable experience as a teacher, workshop leader and script reader and in the creation of audio guides. In 2008, his play, Memorials to the Missing, won the Tinniswood Award for best original radio script of 2007 as well as Silver in the Best Drama category of the 2008 Sony Radio Academy Awards. In 2012 he won the Tinniswood Award again for his play, Gerontius. He spent two years as Royal Literary Fund Writing Fellow at the University of Sussex and has twice been an RLF Writing Fellow on Greenwich University's Maritime campus in 2011/12 and 2018/19.

So You Want to Write Radio Drama? written in collaboration with Claire Grove was published by Nick Hern Books in December 2013.

His three-part dramatisation of Dante's The Divine Comedy for Radio 4 was broadcast in March and April 2014. It was issued on CD by BBC Physical Audio in September 2014. His radio work since has included The Shadow of Dorian Gray, about John Gray, the model for Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray, Finlandia, a play for Radio 3 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sibelius starring Tim Pigott-Smith and a dramatisation of Graham Greene's Monsignor Quixote starring Bernard Cribbins. Sian Phillips performed his Seven Ages of Women on Radio 4 in January 2021. In 2023 he wrote Song of the Cossacks from a stage play by Jean Binnie for Radio 4 and his latest original play A House called Insanity will be broadcast on Radio 4 in June 2024.

Stephen talks about his work in a Writers Guild of Great Britain podcast posted in May 2012 and about radio drama in general in a speech given to the ALCS AGM in December 2014. He was also interviewed for the ALCS Newsletter in 2009.

His comedy Told Look Younger completed a very successful run at the Jermyn Street Theatre in 2015. The Loves of Pygmalion a follow-up to the much acclaimed The Loves of Mars and Venus for the Weaver Dance Company which received its premiere at the Georgian Theatre in Richmond, Yorkshire in early June 2019 and played in London and Valetta for the Maltese Early Music Festival. His one-woman show for Jessica Martin, Look Up at the Stars  opened at the Waterloo East Theatre in November 2019 and is currently being recorded for audio.

The World and His Wife. A True Story Told by Two Unreliable Narrators, his novel about the tempestuous relationship between the Victorian novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton and his wife Rosina was published by The Book Guild in 2019. It's been republished by AUK in 2024 with a Kindle version and an audio dramatisation by Stephen starring Clive Mantle and Carla Mendonca.

2021 saw the publication of Hurst on Film a celebration of the life and work of the legendary Northern Irish film director Brian Desmond Hurst co-written with Caitlin Smith. A book of his original short stories The Wallscrawler was published by Obverse Press in 2022. Obverse have also published two volumes of stories relating to Paradise Towers with contributions by Stephen - Build High for Happiness! and Ice Hot!

His comedy Two Cigarettes in the Dark starring Dame Penelope Keith was scheduled to open at the Chichester Festival Theatre in February 2022 before going on tour to Cambridge, Guildford, Cardiff, Richmond, Brighton, Bath and Malvern but had to be cancelled because of Covid. Plans for a new production are in the pipelines alongside theatre projects in development with the Lyric, Belfast and Cutaway Comics productions.

He has also co-written with Tim Binding and Gavin Mole (composer) Cautionary Tales a musical inspired by the verse of Hilaire Belloc. A showcase directed by Keith Warner successfully premiered at the Woolwich Works in March 2024 and plans for a full-scale production are under way.

Stephen is also known as the writer of two Classic Dr Who stories Paradise Towers and The Greatest Show in the Galaxy. Click on "Doctor Who" for further details of his Who-related work.

 

Stephen's work for theatre includes:

  • Take Diogenes (QUIPU at the Little Theatre, 1973)
  • Exit, Pursued by a Bear (Edinburgh Festival, 1973)
  • Come in, Mr Spartacus, your time is up (Scottish Society of Playwrights, Glasgow, 1974)
  • After Shave (With Nic Rowley. Apollo Theatre, 1978)
  • Monster! (York Theatre Royal, 1978)
  • Lullaby for Mrs Bentley (King's Head, 1978 / Theatre Musem, 1992)
  • The Witch of Wapping (Half Moon YPT, 1980)
  • Glitterballs (Bubble Theatre, 1982)
  • The Rogue's Progress (Bubble Theatre, 1983)
  • Pick Yourself Up (Bubble Theatre, 1983 / Revivals King's Head 1984 - 1987)
  • Dick Whittington (Belgrade, Coventry. With Bob Carlton and Kate Edgar, 1983)
  • Brighton Rock (From Greene's novel, Belgrade, Coventry, 1984)
  • Aladdin (Belgrade, Coventry. With Carlton and Edgar, 1984)
  • Double Standards (Latchmere, 1987)
  • R.I.P. Maria Callas (Soho Poly, 1990 / Hen and Chickens, 1992) Available via agent or in R.I.P. Maria Callas and Other Monologues via Amazon)
  • A Working Woman (West Yorkshire Playhouse, 1992) (From Zola's novel, L'Assommoir. Available from Amazon or via agent))
  • The Standard Bearer (Man in the Moon 2001 / Soho Poly 2004)
  • The Burglar's Opera (with Jeff Clarke) Opera della Luna, 2005. National tour 2006)
  • The Rose and the Ring (with John Cooper) Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, 2006)
  • It's my Life (A1 Theatre Productions. York schools tour, 2007)
  • Pick Yourself Up (Two act version) (Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch, 2011) (Script available from agent)
  • A Victorian Mikado (Krazy Kat Theatre, 2011)
  • The Standard Bearer (Waterloo East Theatre, London / Stephanie Feury Studio Theatre, Los Angeles  2011) Available via Amazon in R.I.P. Maria Callas and other monologues or from agent)
  • The Devil in the Belfry (Libretto after a scenario by Claude Debussy) (Gottingen 2013)
  • Told Look Younger (Jermyn Street Theatre. Full production. 2015) (Script obtainable via Amazon or agent)
  • The Loves of Mars and Venus (John Weaver Dance Company. Tour 2017)
  • The Loves of Pygmalion (Weaver Dance Company. Georgian Theatre Richmond 2019)
  • Look Up at the Stars (Waterloo East Theatre, 2019)
  • The Remarkable Mr Weaver presents... (Manoel Theatre, Malta, Marylebone Theatre, London 2023)
  • Cauitionay Tales - with Tim Binding and Gavin Mole (Woolwich Works 2024)

 

 

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Stephen's work for radio includes:

  • Help Stamp Out Quicksand (BBC Radio 4, 1977)
  • The Wise Woman of Bayswater (R4, 1980)
  • Siren Song (R4, 1986)
  • Piglaw (R4, 1989)
  • The Organgrinder's Monkey (R4, 1990)
  • Memoirs of a Midget (From De La Mare. Classic Serial. R4, 1993)
  • Fairest Isle (Radio 3, 1995. Sony Radio Award Winner)
  • Dead Souls (From Gogol. Classic Serial. R4, 1995. Writer's Guild Award Shortlist)
  • Christmas Eve (From Gogol. R4, 1995)
  • The Ladies' Paradise (From Zola. Classic Serial. R4, 1997)
  • Net Suicide (Fear on Four. R4, 1997)
  • The Speculator (After Balzac. World Service, 1997) (Stage version available from agent or via Amazon)
  • Sketches by Boz (Adapted from Dickens. Series One: R4, 1998. Series Two: R4, 1999) (Scripts available from agent)
  • Gray's Elegy (R4, 2000. With Pier Productions)
  • Tales the Countess told (R4, 2001) (Stage version available via Amazon or from agent)Tales from Thackeray (R4, 2001)
  • Over the Hills for Soldier, Soldier (Drama documentary. R4, 2002)
  • Agnes Beaumont by herself (R4, 2002)
  • Party Animal (Friday Play. R4, 2003. Nominated for Peter Tinniswood Award)
  • Gilbert without Sullivan (Adapted from W.S.Gilbert. Series One: R4, 2003. Series Two: R4, 2004/5) (Scripts available from agent)
  • The Blotting Book (From E.F.Benson. Saturday Play, R4, 2003)
  • Sour Beer for Soldier, Sailor (Drama documentary. R4, 2003)
  • The Old Wives' Tale (From Arnold Bennett. 15 episodes. R4, 2004)
  • A Game of Marbles (Afternoon Theatre. R4, 2004)
  • Vanity Fair (From Thackeray. 20 episodes. R4, 2004)
  • Dr Brighton and Mr Harding (R4 Afternoon Theatre,  2005)
  • Oblomov (From Goncharov. R4 Classic Serial, 2005)(Stage version available from agent or via Amazon)
  • Tinkling the Ivories (R4, 2006) (Script published in The Wallscrawler from Obverse Books)
  • Tom Jones (From Fielding. R4 Classic Serial, 2007)
  • Memorials to the Missing (R4 Afternoon Theatre, 2007) (Tinniswood Award Winner) (Script available from Amazon or via agent)
  • Ho! Ho! Ho! (R4. "Cribbins at Christmas", 2007) Script available from agent. Published in The Wallscrawler (Obverse Books)
  • Black Narcissus (From Rumer Godden. R4, 2008)
  • The Iceman Returneth (R4. "80 Not Out". 2008. Published in The Wallscrawler from Obverse Books)
  • The Yellowplush Papers (From Thackeray. R4, 2009)
  • The Talented Mr Ripley, The Boy who followed Ripley and Ripley Under Water (From Patricia Highsmith. R4, 2009)
  • Farewell Symphony (R3, 2009)
  • Gerontius (R4, 2010) (Tinniswood Award Winner) (Available via Amazon)
  • Double Jeopardy (R4, 2011) (Stage version available from agent)
  • The Lady in the Lake and Playback (From BBC Classic Raymond Chandler. R4, 2011)
  • Strangers on a Film (R4, 2011) (Stage version available from Smith Scripts)
  • The Long Goodbye and The Little Sister (From BBC Classic Raymond Chandler. R4, 2011)
  • Beware of Pity (From Stefan Zweig. R4, 2011)
  • Alice Through the Looking Glass (R4, 2012)
  • The Organist's Daughter (R4, 2013)
  • The Divine Comedy (From Dante. R4, 2014)
  • The Shadow of Dorian Gray (R4, 2015)
  • Finlandia (R3, 2015)
  • Monsignor Quixote (From Greene. R4 2016)
  • The Psychic Circus (Big Finish 2020)
  • Seven Ages of Woman (BBC R4 2021) (Script published in The Wallscrawler from Obverse Books)
  • Me and Him and Who (AUK 2022)
  • Song of the Cossacks (R4 2023)
  • A House Called Insanity (R4 2024)
  • The World and His Wife (adapted from Stephen's Novel) (AUK 2024)

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List of audio guides:

  • The Wernher Collection at the Ranger's House (English Heritage, 2002)
  • Elizabeth The First (Greenwich Maritime Museum, 2003)
  • The Royal Photographic Society (for the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television, Bradford, 2003)
  • Merchant Adventurers' Hall (York, 2004)
  • Netley Abbey, Maiden Castle, Baconsthorpe Castle (English Heritage and Antenna Audio, 2006) All these are available via the English Heritage website. Maiden Castle has also been chosen as a sample of Antenna's work on the Antenna Audio website,
  • Titchfield Abbey, Houghton House, De Grey Mausoleum (English Heritage and Antenna Audio, 2007) All available via the English Heritage website.
  • Encompassing The Globe (Beaux Arts Museum, Brussels and Antenna Audio, 2007)
  • The Royal Mews (Buckingham Palace and Antenna Audio, 2008)
  • Birmingham Town Hall (Antenna Audio, 2008)

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