Julian Mitchell


Charles Julian Humphrey Mitchell, FRSL is an English playwright, screenwriter and occasional novelist. He is best known as the writer of the play and film Another Country, and as a screenwriter for TV, producing many original plays and series episodes, including ten episodes of Inspector Morse.
Mitchell was born in Epping, Essex, and educated at Winchester College, where he won the English Verse and Duncan Reading Prizes. He did his national service in submarines 1953-55 as a Sub Lt RNVR. He then went to Wadham College, Oxford and received a BA with first class honours in 1958. This was followed by a period as a Harkness Fellow in the USA. He earned an M.A. in 1962 at St. Antony's College, Oxford. Since 1962 he has been a freelance writer.
In the late 1960s, Mitchell co-wrote the teleplay Arthur with Ray Davies of The Kinks. It was never produced, though it gave rise to the band's concept album. He recently recalled the aborted project: "Arthur had a most unhappy history. It was originally meant to be a... sort of rock opera, and we got as far as casting and finding locations and were about to go when the producer went to a production meeting without a proper budget, tried to flannel his way through it, was immediately sussed and the production pulled. I have never been able to forgive the man."
Mitchell has written nine produced plays, including Another Country, which won the SWET Award for best play of the year, and After Aida, a play-with-music about composer Giuseppe Verdi.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1985.
Mitchell has screenplay credits for five feature films. The earliest was Arabesque, which was directed by Stanley Donen. Another Country is based on Mitchell's own play, and directed by Marek Kanievska. Vincent & Theo is a biographical film about the famed painter Vincent van Gogh and his brother Theo, and was directed by Robert Altman. August was directed and starred Anthony Hopkins, and was adapted from Anton Chekhov's classic play Uncle Vanya. Wilde is based on the life of Oscar Wilde, and was directed by Brian Gilbert.
In 2007 he wrote the BBC4 drama Consenting Adults about Sir John Wolfenden and his celebrated 1957 report.

Novels

  • Imaginary Toys
  • A Disturbing Influence
  • As Far as You Can Go
  • The White Father
  • A Circle of Friends
  • ''The Undiscovered Country''

    Selected Plays

  • Another Country
  • Francis
  • After Aida
  • Falling Over England
  • August an adaptation of Anton Chekhov's ''Uncle Vanya''