The Wimbledon Trilogy
Encyclopedia
The Wimbledon Trilogy consists of three books written by Nigel Williams
set in Wimbledon, London
and published by Faber & Faber:
They were collected together in a combined volume entitled The Wimbledon Trilogy in 1995 (ISBN 978-0571176335).
Scenes from a Poisoner's Life (1994, ISBN 978-0571174034), is a series of 12 linked stories, one for each month of the year concerning characters from the Wimbledon Trilogy.
. Originally in two parts and directed by Robert Young
it starred Robert Lindsay
as Henry Farr, Alison Steadman
as Elinor and Philip Jackson
as Inspector Rush.
Nigel Williams (author)
Nigel Williams is an English novelist, screenwriter and playwright.-Biography:He was educated at Highgate School and Oriel College, Oxford, is married with three sons and lives in Putney, south-west London...
set in Wimbledon, London
Wimbledon, London
Wimbledon is a district in the south west area of London, England, located south of Wandsworth, and east of Kingston upon Thames. It is situated within Greater London. It is home to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and New Wimbledon Theatre, and contains Wimbledon Common, one of the largest areas...
and published by Faber & Faber:
- The Wimbledon Poisoner (1990, ISBN 978-0571161317) : Henry Farr, a struggling solicitor is desperate to get rid of his wife, Elinor and decides to poison her, following the example of Everett Maltby, the original Wimbledon Poisoner. He obtains a quantity of thalliumThalliumThallium is a chemical element with the symbol Tl and atomic number 81. This soft gray poor metal resembles tin but discolors when exposed to air. The two chemists William Crookes and Claude-Auguste Lamy discovered thallium independently in 1861 by the newly developed method of flame spectroscopy...
from a chemist using a forged optician's order and bastes a roast chicken with it. Unfortunately his wife is not feeling hungry and neighbour Donald arrives unexpectedly as the meal is served and takes a large portion with tragic results. Soon his friends and neighbours are dropping like flies as the poisoning continues to miss-fire, and at every turn Henry is dogged by Inspector Rush, a friend of Elinors... - They Came from SW19 (1992, ISBN 978-0571168361) : 14 year-old ufologist Simon Britten's father has just died and his spiritualist mother attempts to contact him through the advocacy of The First Church of Christ the Spiritualist, South Wimbledon of which she is a member. At the same time the regular UFO watch on Wimbledon Common also makes contact of a different kind. Simon is caught between the church and aliensUFO religionUFO religion is an informal term used to describe a religion that equates UFO occupants with gods or other semi-divine beings. Typically, the UFO occupants are held to be extraterrestials and that humanity either currently is, or eventually will become, part of a preexisting extraterrestrial...
and struggles to find the truth... - East of Wimbledon (1993, ISBN 978-0571171514): Robert Williams passes himself off as a MuslimMuslimA Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
to get a job at the Wimbledon Independent Islamic Boys Day School, this pretence is soon under pressure as Robert knows very little about IslamIslamIslam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. He is also entrusted with the care of Hasan a blind pupil who is believed by the so-called 'twenty-fourthers' (cf. twelvers), a sect of the nizariNizari'The Shī‘a Imami Ismā‘īlī Tariqah also referred to as the Ismā‘īlī or Nizārī , is a path of Shī‘a Islām, emphasizing social justice, pluralism, and human reason within the framework of the mystical tradition of Islam. The Nizari are the second largest branch of Shia Islam and form the majority...
ismailis, to be the twenty-fourth imamImamAn imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
(cf. Twelfth ImamMuhammad al-MahdiMuḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Mahdī is believed by Twelver Shī‘a Muslims to be the Mahdī, an ultimate savior of humankind and the final Imām of the Twelve Imams...
), whose occultationThe OccultationThe Occultation in Shia Islam refers to a belief that the messianic figure, or Mahdi, who in Shi'i thought is an infallible male descendant of the founder of Islam, Muhammad, was born but disappeared, and will one day return and fill the world with justice. Some Shi'is, such as the Zaidi and...
they eagerly await...
They were collected together in a combined volume entitled The Wimbledon Trilogy in 1995 (ISBN 978-0571176335).
Scenes from a Poisoner's Life (1994, ISBN 978-0571174034), is a series of 12 linked stories, one for each month of the year concerning characters from the Wimbledon Trilogy.
Screen adaptation
The Wimbledon Poisoner was adapted for television in 1994 by the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. Originally in two parts and directed by Robert Young
Robert Young (director)
Robert William Young is a British television and film director.Young was born in Cheltenham, and in the 1980s and early 1990s, established himself as a leading director of British TV drama. In the 1970s, he directed Vampire Circus and Hammer House of Horror...
it starred Robert Lindsay
Robert Lindsay (actor)
Robert Lindsay is an English actor who is best known for his television work, especially his roles of Wolfie Smith in Citizen Smith, Michael Murray in G.B.H., Captain Sir Edward Pellew in Hornblower and Ben Harper in My Family which has been on television screens since 2000.-Early life:Lindsay was...
as Henry Farr, Alison Steadman
Alison Steadman
Alison Steadman OBE is an English actress. She established her career with roles such as Beverley in Abigail's Party and Candice Marie in Nuts in May for the director Mike Leigh, to whom she was once married. In addition to her stage and radio work, she has had lead roles in The Singing Detective,...
as Elinor and Philip Jackson
Philip Jackson (actor)
Philip Jackson is an English actor, known for his many television and film roles, most notably as Chief Inspector Japp in the television series Poirot and as Abbot Hugo, one of the recurring adversaries in the cult 1980s series Robin of Sherwood. Jackson was born in Retford, Nottinghamshire...
as Inspector Rush.
External links
- Review of The Wimbledon Poisoner
- The Wimbledon Poisoner at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...