Brian Sibley
Encyclopedia
Brian Sibley is an English
writer. He is author of over 100 hours of radio drama and has written and presented hundreds of radio documentaries, features and weekly programmes.
, London
, the son of Eric George Sibley, an architectural draughtsman, and Doris Alice Sibley (née Summers). His uncle was the philosopher Frank Sibley
.
His family moved to Chislehurst
, Kent
when he was five years old. He was educated at St Nicholas Church of England Primary School and Chislehurst Secondary School for Boys (later re-named Edgebury School for Boys).
Following frustrated ambitions to be an actor, cartoonist and animator, Sibley worked first in various clerical capacities for the London Borough of Bromley
and then for a shipping and finance company in London as a clerk, office manager and head of department. In his spare time, he began submitting scripts to the BBC and, when his company was taken over, he accepted redundancy and became a full-time freelance writer.
Sibley's first programme was Three Cheers for Pooh, broadcast on BBC Radio 4
on 14 October 1976 to mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of A. A. Milne
's Winnie-the-Pooh
. The programme was presented by actor Peter Bull
, featured the voices of Norman Shelley
and pianist and singer Antony Miall and was directed by John Tydeman, later Head of BBC Drama.
Other features quickly followed and, in 1981, he co-wrote (with Michael Bakewell) BBC Radio 4
's adaptation
of Tolkien
's The Lord of the Rings
, and has also adapted C. S. Lewis
's The Chronicles of Narnia
and Mervyn Peake
's Titus Groan
and Gormenghast
for Radio 4, for which he received a Sony Radio Award in 1985. He returned to Peake's writings in 2011 with The History of Titus Groan, a cycle of six one-hour plays for BBC Radio 4's 'Classic Serial' based on Titus Groan
, Gormenghast
, Titus Alone
and Maeve Gilmore's Titus Awakes
. Produced Jeremy Mortimer
, the series began transmission on Sunday 10 July with a cast headed by David Warner
, Luke Treadaway
and Miranda Richardson
.
Other major radio dramatisations by Sibley include: John Bunyan
's The Pilgrim's Progress
; Tolkien's Tales of the Perilous Realm; Roald Dahl
's Danny, the Champion of the World
; Lucy M. Boston
's The Children of Green Knowe
, Laurens van der Post
's The Night of the New Moon, J. B. Priestley
's The Thirty-First of June, Jeffrey Archer's A Matter of Honour
, Frank Baker
's Miss Hargreaves, James Thurber
's The Wonderful O and two seasons of Ray Bradbury
's Tales of the Bizarre.
Original radio plays include: ...And Yet Another Partridge in a Pear Tree, starring Penelope Keith
, C. S. Lewis: Northern Irishman and It's Too Late Now.
As a broadcaster, he was a contributor to and then regular presenter of the former BBC Radio 4
arts programme Kaleidoscope and the BBC World Service
arts magazine, Meridian. He also presented the Radio 4 film programme, Talking Pictures and chaired the radio panel games Break A Leg and Screen Test.
He also presented several series of the BBC television programme, First Light.
Radio features and documentaries for Radio 4, Radio 2
and the World Service have included programmes devoted to Sherlock Holmes
, Jack the Ripper
, Robin Hood
, Dracula
, Peter Pan
, Winnie-the-Pooh
, Alice in Wonderland and the life and work of Ambrose Bierce
, Robert Raikes
, Harry Houdini
, Terry Pratchett
, George Orwell
, Roald Dahl
, Ray Bradbury
, Richmal Crompton
, Fred Zinnemann
, Jim Henson
and Julie Andrews
.
Key series for BBC Radio 2, made in collaboration with producer Malcolm Prince
include Ain't No Mickey Mouse Business, Disney's Women, David Puttnam
's Century of Cinema, Ain't No Mickey Mouse Music, No Place Life Home: A Judy Garland
Story, Showman and Starmaker: A Tribute to Bill Cotton
and, in Autumn 2010, he compiled and wrote a series of eight documentaries on aspects of The Musical.
His book, Shadowlands
, was serialized on Radio 2, read by Ian Richardson
in what was one of the actor's last pieces of broadcast work recorded before his death.
The Daily Telegraph radio critic, Gillian Reynolds
gave him the accolade "magician of the airwaves".
In 1992, Sibley wrote much of the script for Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of Spartacus
.
Publications
Books include The Disney Studio
Story and Mickey Mouse
: His Life and Times (with Richard Holliss); The Land of Narnia, illustrated by Pauline Baynes
; The Treasury of Narnia (with Alison Sage); Shadowlands
: The True Story of C. S. Lewis and Joy Davidman; The Book of Guinness
Advertising; a biography of Wilbert Vere Awdry, entitled The Thomas the Tank Engine Man; A Christmas Carol
: The Unsung Story; Cracking Animation: The Aardman
book of 3-D Film-making, with (Peter Lord
); Chicken Run
: Hatching the Movie; Three Cheers for Pooh; and The Maps of Tolkien's Middle-earth
with artist John Howe.
He is also the author of the children's book, The Frightful Food Feud, and has edited, among other books, The Pooh Sketchbook and The Pooh Book of Quotations and The Wisdom of C. S. Lewis.
The author of The Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy and other books accompanying The Lord of the Rings
, he subsequently published the official biography of the films' director, Peter Jackson
: A Film-maker's Journey.
His most recent books include Harry Potter
Film Wizardry,The Golden Compass: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion, Mary Poppins
: Anything Can Happen if You Let It (with Michael Lassell
) and a retelling of 50 Favourite Bible
Stories selected and read on CD by Cliff Richard
and illustrated by Stephen Waterhouse.
He recorded DVD
audio commentaries
for Around the World in 80 Days (1956 film), Animal Farm
(1954 film) and Fantasia (1940 film).
He has also appeared on the bonus extras to a number of Disney Blu-rays and DVDs, among them Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
, Pinocchio
, One Hundred and One Dalmatians
, Mary Poppins
, The Jungle Book
, Sleeping Beauty
, Beauty and the Beast
, Alice in Wonderland
and The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh as well as being included in the documentaries associated with various DVD releases of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
writer. He is author of over 100 hours of radio drama and has written and presented hundreds of radio documentaries, features and weekly programmes.
Early life
Born Brian David Sibley in WandsworthWandsworth
Wandsworth is a district of south London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-Toponymy:...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, the son of Eric George Sibley, an architectural draughtsman, and Doris Alice Sibley (née Summers). His uncle was the philosopher Frank Sibley
Frank Sibley (philosopher)
Frank Noel Sibley was a British philosopher who worked mainly in the field of aesthetics. He was a professor of philosophy at Lancaster University. Sibley is best known for his 1959 paper "Aesthetic Concepts" , and for "Seeking, Scrutinizing and Seeing"...
.
His family moved to Chislehurst
Chislehurst
Chislehurst is a suburban district in south-east London, England, and an electoral ward of the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
when he was five years old. He was educated at St Nicholas Church of England Primary School and Chislehurst Secondary School for Boys (later re-named Edgebury School for Boys).
Following frustrated ambitions to be an actor, cartoonist and animator, Sibley worked first in various clerical capacities for the London Borough of Bromley
London Borough of Bromley
The London Borough of Bromley is a London borough of south east London, England and forms part of Outer London. The principal town in the borough is Bromley.-Geography:...
and then for a shipping and finance company in London as a clerk, office manager and head of department. In his spare time, he began submitting scripts to the BBC and, when his company was taken over, he accepted redundancy and became a full-time freelance writer.
Career
Radio Writing and BroadcastingSibley's first programme was Three Cheers for Pooh, broadcast on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
on 14 October 1976 to mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of A. A. Milne
A. A. Milne
Alan Alexander Milne was an English author, best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh and for various children's poems. Milne was a noted writer, primarily as a playwright, before the huge success of Pooh overshadowed all his previous work.-Biography:A. A...
's Winnie-the-Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear, is a fictional anthropomorphic bear created by A. A. Milne. The first collection of stories about the character was the book Winnie-the-Pooh , and this was followed by The House at Pooh Corner...
. The programme was presented by actor Peter Bull
Peter Bull
Peter Cecil Bull, DSC was a British character actor.- Biography :He was the fourth and youngest son of Hammersmith MP Sir William James Bull, 1st Bt..Bull was educated at Winchester College...
, featured the voices of Norman Shelley
Norman Shelley
Norman Shelley was an English actor, best known for his work in radio, in particular for the BBC's Children's Hour. He also had a recurring role as Colonel Danby in the long-running radio soap opera The Archers....
and pianist and singer Antony Miall and was directed by John Tydeman, later Head of BBC Drama.
Other features quickly followed and, in 1981, he co-wrote (with Michael Bakewell) BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
's adaptation
The Lord of the Rings (1981 radio series)
In 1981 the UK radio station BBC Radio 4 broadcast a dramatisation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings in 26 half-hour stereo instalments...
of Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
, and has also adapted C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
's The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels for children by C. S. Lewis. It is considered a classic of children's literature and is the author's best-known work, having sold over 100 million copies in 47 languages...
and Mervyn Peake
Mervyn Peake
Mervyn Laurence Peake was an English writer, artist, poet and illustrator. He is best known for what are usually referred to as the Gormenghast books. They are sometimes compared to the work of his older contemporary J. R. R...
's Titus Groan
Titus Groan (novel)
Titus Groan is a novel by Mervyn Peake. It is the first novel in the Gormenghast series.-Plot introduction:The book is set in the huge castle of Gormenghast, a vast landscape of crumbling towers and ivy-filled quadrangles that has for centuries been the hereditary residence of the Groan family and...
and Gormenghast
Gormenghast (novel)
Gormenghast, by Mervyn Peake, is the second novel in his Gormenghast series. It is the story of Titus Groan, 77th Earl of Groan and Lord of Gormenghast Castle, from age 7 to 17. As the story opens, Titus dreads the pre-ordained life of ritual that stretches before him...
for Radio 4, for which he received a Sony Radio Award in 1985. He returned to Peake's writings in 2011 with The History of Titus Groan, a cycle of six one-hour plays for BBC Radio 4's 'Classic Serial' based on Titus Groan
Titus Groan (novel)
Titus Groan is a novel by Mervyn Peake. It is the first novel in the Gormenghast series.-Plot introduction:The book is set in the huge castle of Gormenghast, a vast landscape of crumbling towers and ivy-filled quadrangles that has for centuries been the hereditary residence of the Groan family and...
, Gormenghast
Gormenghast (novel)
Gormenghast, by Mervyn Peake, is the second novel in his Gormenghast series. It is the story of Titus Groan, 77th Earl of Groan and Lord of Gormenghast Castle, from age 7 to 17. As the story opens, Titus dreads the pre-ordained life of ritual that stretches before him...
, Titus Alone
Titus Alone
Titus Alone is a novel written by Mervyn Peake and first published in 1959. It is the fourth work in the Gormenghast series. The other works in the series are Titus Groan, Gormenghast, the novella Boy in Darkness, and the fragment Titus Awakes.-Plot summary:The story follows Titus' journey in the...
and Maeve Gilmore's Titus Awakes
Titus Awakes
Titus Awakes is the editorial title applied to a novel being planned by Mervyn Peake at the time he became too ill to write, about 1960. It was to have been the fourth novel in the Gormenghast series, after Titus Groan, Gormenghast, and Titus Alone...
. Produced Jeremy Mortimer
Jeremy Mortimer
Jeremy Mortimer is a British director and producer of radio dramas for BBC Radio. He is the son of John and Penelope Mortimer. His credits include The Pattern of Painful Adventures and radio adaptations of Daphnis and Chloe , Philomel Cottage and The Time Machine...
, the series began transmission on Sunday 10 July with a cast headed by David Warner
David Warner
David Warner may refer to:* Dave Warner, or David Robert Warner, Australian author, rock musician and screenwriter* David Warner , British actor* David Warner , Australian cricketer* David Bruce Warner, South African alpine skier...
, Luke Treadaway
Luke Treadaway
Luke Antony N. Treadaway is an English actor, whose career includes roles in the films Brothers of the Head and Attack the Block.- Personal life :...
and Miranda Richardson
Miranda Richardson
Miranda Jane Richardson is an English stage, film and television actor. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and has won two Golden Globes and a BAFTA during her career....
.
Other major radio dramatisations by Sibley include: John Bunyan
John Bunyan
John Bunyan was an English Christian writer and preacher, famous for writing The Pilgrim's Progress. Though he was a Reformed Baptist, in the Church of England he is remembered with a Lesser Festival on 30 August, and on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church on 29 August.-Life:In 1628,...
's The Pilgrim's Progress
The Pilgrim's Progress
The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come is a Christian allegory written by John Bunyan and published in February, 1678. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of religious English literature, has been translated into more than 200 languages, and has never been...
; Tolkien's Tales of the Perilous Realm; Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, fighter pilot and screenwriter.Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, he served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence agent, rising to the rank of Wing Commander...
's Danny, the Champion of the World
Danny, the Champion of the World
Danny, the Champion of the World is a 1975 children's book by Roald Dahl. The plot main centers on a young English boy, Danny, and his father, William, who live in a Gypsy vardo fixing cars for a living and partake in poaching pheasants. The story is based on Dahl's adult short story "Champion of...
; Lucy M. Boston
Lucy M. Boston
Lucy M. Boston was an English children's writer. She is best known for the six books in the Green Knowe series .-Biography:Boston was born in Southport in Lancashire in 1892 and died in 1990...
's The Children of Green Knowe
Green Knowe
Green Knowe is a series of six books written by Lucy M. Boston, published between 1954 and 1976. They feature a very old house, Green Knowe, which is based on Boston's then-residence, The Manor in Hemingford Grey, Cambridgeshire. Some books in the series feature a boy called Toseland and his...
, Laurens van der Post
Laurens van der Post
Sir Laurens Jan van der Post, CBE was a 20th century Afrikaner author of many books, farmer, war hero, political adviser to British heads of government, close friend of Prince Charles, godfather of Prince William, educator, journalist, humanitarian, philosopher, explorer, and...
's The Night of the New Moon, J. B. Priestley
J. B. Priestley
John Boynton Priestley, OM , known as J. B. Priestley, was an English novelist, playwright and broadcaster. He published 26 novels, notably The Good Companions , as well as numerous dramas such as An Inspector Calls...
's The Thirty-First of June, Jeffrey Archer's A Matter of Honour
A Matter of Honour
A Matter of Honor is a novel by Jeffrey Archer, first published in 1986.- Plot summary :In 1966 disgraced British colonel bequeaths a mysterious letter to his only son....
, Frank Baker
Frank Baker
John Franklin "Home Run" Baker was an American third baseman in Major League Baseball from 1908 to 1922, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. As a member of the famed $100,000 infield, Baker helped the Philadelphia Athletics win the 1910, 1911 and 1913 World Series...
's Miss Hargreaves, James Thurber
James Thurber
James Grover Thurber was an American author, cartoonist and celebrated wit. Thurber was best known for his cartoons and short stories published in The New Yorker magazine.-Life:...
's The Wonderful O and two seasons of Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
's Tales of the Bizarre.
Original radio plays include: ...And Yet Another Partridge in a Pear Tree, starring Penelope Keith
Penelope Keith
Penelope Anne Constance Keith, CBE, DL is an English actress.Having started her television career in the 1950s, Penelope Keith became a household name in the United Kingdom in the 1970s when she played Margo Leadbetter in the sitcom The Good Life...
, C. S. Lewis: Northern Irishman and It's Too Late Now.
As a broadcaster, he was a contributor to and then regular presenter of the former BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
arts programme Kaleidoscope and the BBC World Service
BBC World Service
The BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...
arts magazine, Meridian. He also presented the Radio 4 film programme, Talking Pictures and chaired the radio panel games Break A Leg and Screen Test.
He also presented several series of the BBC television programme, First Light.
Radio features and documentaries for Radio 4, Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
and the World Service have included programmes devoted to Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
, Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
, Robin Hood
Robin Hood
Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
, Dracula
Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
, Peter Pan
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie . A mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with...
, Winnie-the-Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear, is a fictional anthropomorphic bear created by A. A. Milne. The first collection of stories about the character was the book Winnie-the-Pooh , and this was followed by The House at Pooh Corner...
, Alice in Wonderland and the life and work of Ambrose Bierce
Ambrose Bierce
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist and satirist...
, Robert Raikes
Robert Raikes
Robert Raikes was an English philanthropist and Anglican layman, noted for his promotion of Sunday schools...
, Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini was a Hungarian-born American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer noted for his sensational escape acts...
, Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
, George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
, Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, fighter pilot and screenwriter.Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, he served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence agent, rising to the rank of Wing Commander...
, Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
, Richmal Crompton
Richmal Crompton
Richmal Crompton Lamburn was a British writer, most famous for her Just William humorous short stories and books.-Life:...
, Fred Zinnemann
Fred Zinnemann
Fred Zinnemann was an Austrian-American film director. He won four Academy Awards and directed films like High Noon, From Here to Eternity and A Man for All Seasons.-Life and career:...
, Jim Henson
Jim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
and Julie Andrews
Julie Andrews
Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honors...
.
Key series for BBC Radio 2, made in collaboration with producer Malcolm Prince
Malcolm Prince
Malcolm Prince is an English radio producer.Born in Solihull, West Midlands, he attended The University of Warwick.He is an Executive Producer at the BBC.On-going BBC Radio 2 Projects:*Paul O'Grady - Sundays from 5pm...
include Ain't No Mickey Mouse Business, Disney's Women, David Puttnam
David Puttnam
David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE, FRSA is a British film producer. He sits on the Labour benches in the House of Lords, although he is not principally a politician.-Early life:...
's Century of Cinema, Ain't No Mickey Mouse Music, No Place Life Home: A Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
Story, Showman and Starmaker: A Tribute to Bill Cotton
Bill Cotton
Sir William Frederick "Bill" Cotton, CBE was a British television producer and executive, and the son of big-band leader Billy Cotton....
and, in Autumn 2010, he compiled and wrote a series of eight documentaries on aspects of The Musical.
His book, Shadowlands
Shadowlands
Shadowlands is a 1985 television film, written by William Nicholson, directed by Norman Stone and produced by David M. Thompson for BBC Wales. Its subject is the relationship between Oxford don and author, C. S. Lewis and Joy Gresham....
, was serialized on Radio 2, read by Ian Richardson
Ian Richardson
Ian William Richardson CBE was a Scottish actor best known for his portrayal of the Machiavellian Tory politician Francis Urquhart in the BBC's House of Cards trilogy. He was also a leading Shakespearean stage actor....
in what was one of the actor's last pieces of broadcast work recorded before his death.
The Daily Telegraph radio critic, Gillian Reynolds
Gillian Reynolds
Gillian Reynolds MBE, née Morton is a British radio critic, journalist and broadcaster. The daughter of market traders in Liverpool, she was educated at St Anne's College, Oxford University....
gave him the accolade "magician of the airwaves".
In 1992, Sibley wrote much of the script for Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of Spartacus
Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of Spartacus
Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of Spartacus was a 1992 concept album by Jeff Wayne and others, telling the story of Roman gladiator, Spartacus....
.
Publications
Books include The Disney Studio
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
Story and Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
: His Life and Times (with Richard Holliss); The Land of Narnia, illustrated by Pauline Baynes
Pauline Baynes
Pauline Diana Baynes was an English book illustrator, whose work encompassed more than 100 books, notably those by C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. She was born in Hove, Sussex....
; The Treasury of Narnia (with Alison Sage); Shadowlands
Shadowlands
Shadowlands is a 1985 television film, written by William Nicholson, directed by Norman Stone and produced by David M. Thompson for BBC Wales. Its subject is the relationship between Oxford don and author, C. S. Lewis and Joy Gresham....
: The True Story of C. S. Lewis and Joy Davidman; The Book of Guinness
Guinness
Guinness is a popular Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin. Guinness is directly descended from the porter style that originated in London in the early 18th century and is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide, brewed in almost...
Advertising; a biography of Wilbert Vere Awdry, entitled The Thomas the Tank Engine Man; A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of...
: The Unsung Story; Cracking Animation: The Aardman
Aardman Animations
Aardman Animations, Ltd., also known as Aardman Studios, or simply as Aardman, is a British animation studio based in Bristol, United Kingdom. The studio is known for films made using stop-motion clay animation techniques, particularly those featuring Plasticine characters Wallace and Gromit...
book of 3-D Film-making, with (Peter Lord
Peter Lord
Peter Lord CBE is a British film producer, director and co-founder of the Academy award-winning Aardman Animations studio, an animation firm best known for its clay animated films and shorts, particularly those featuring plasticine duo Wallace & Gromit.-Biography:In cooperation with David...
); Chicken Run
Chicken Run
Chicken Run is a 2000 British stop-motion animation film made by the Aardman Animations studios, the production studio of the Oscar-winning Wallace and Gromit films...
: Hatching the Movie; Three Cheers for Pooh; and The Maps of Tolkien's Middle-earth
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of the majority of author J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place entirely in Middle-earth, as does much of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....
with artist John Howe.
He is also the author of the children's book, The Frightful Food Feud, and has edited, among other books, The Pooh Sketchbook and The Pooh Book of Quotations and The Wisdom of C. S. Lewis.
The author of The Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy and other books accompanying The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
, he subsequently published the official biography of the films' director, Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , adapted from the novel by J. R. R...
: A Film-maker's Journey.
His most recent books include Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
Film Wizardry,The Golden Compass: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion, Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins is a series of children's books written by P. L. Travers and originally illustrated by Mary Shepard. The books centre on a magical English nanny, Mary Poppins. She is blown by the East wind to Number Seventeen Cherry Tree Lane, London and into the Banks' household to care for their...
: Anything Can Happen if You Let It (with Michael Lassell
Michael Lassell
Michael Lassell is a professional writer and editor.Parents: Michael Joseph Lassell and Catherine Lassell ; no siblings Education: Great Neck South High School ; Colgate University Michael Lassell (born July 15, 1947; New York City) is a professional writer and editor.Parents: Michael Joseph...
) and a retelling of 50 Favourite Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
Stories selected and read on CD by Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
and illustrated by Stephen Waterhouse.
He recorded DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
audio commentaries
Audio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
for Around the World in 80 Days (1956 film), Animal Farm
Animal Farm (1954 film)
Animal Farm is a 1954 British animated film by Halas and Batchelor, based on the book of the same name by George Orwell. It was the first British animated feature released worldwide, though Handling Ships was the first British animated feature ever made...
(1954 film) and Fantasia (1940 film).
He has also appeared on the bonus extras to a number of Disney Blu-rays and DVDs, among them Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American animated film based on Snow White, a German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. It was the first full-length cel-animated feature in motion picture history, as well as the first animated feature film produced in America, the first produced in full...
, Pinocchio
Pinocchio (1940 film)
Pinocchio is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the story The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. It is the second film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics, and it was made after the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and was released to theaters by...
, One Hundred and One Dalmatians
One Hundred and One Dalmatians
One Hundred and One Dalmatians, often abbreviated as 101 Dalmatians, is a 1961 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith...
, Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins (film)
Mary Poppins is a 1964 musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, produced by Walt Disney, and based on the Mary Poppins books series by P. L. Travers with illustrations by Mary Shepard. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with songs by...
, The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book (1967 film)
The Jungle Book is a 1967 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Released on October 18, 1967, it is the 19th animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. It was inspired by the stories about the feral child Mowgli from the book of the same name by...
, Sleeping Beauty
Sleeping Beauty (1959 film)
Sleeping Beauty is a 1959 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the fairy tale "La Belle au bois dormant" by Charles Perrault...
, Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast (1991 film)
Beauty and the Beast is a 1991 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The thirtieth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and the third film of the Disney Renaissance period...
, Alice in Wonderland
Alice in Wonderland (1951 film)
Alice in Wonderland is a 1951 American animated feature produced by Walt Disney and based primarily on Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with a few additional elements from Through the Looking-Glass. Thirteenth in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film was released in New...
and The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh as well as being included in the documentaries associated with various DVD releases of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.