Alex Shearer

Alex Shearer (born 25 June 1949) is a British novelist and scriptwriter. He was born in Wick, in the north of Scotland. Alex Shearer sold his first TV script at the age of 29, after a varied career of some 30 odd jobs.

Alex Shearer
Born	25 June 1949 Scotland
Occupation	Writer
Nationality	Scottish
Citizenship	UK
Genre	Children's picture books Scripts

He wrote for television, film, theatre and radio (including plays and short stories for BBC Radio 4)[1] for 14 years, and then devoted himself to becoming a novelist.

His 2003 novel The Speed of the Dark was shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize.[2] The Greatest Store in the World was adapted into a television film by the BBC. His novel Bootleg was adapted for a television series by the BBC, and later adapted into manga and anime under its Japanese title Chocolate Underground.[3]

TV work

• 1979 SPASMS - for Thames TV - single play featuring Jonathan Price. The script was later remade and turned into a series with Michael Crawford, under the name of CHALK AND CHEESE, for THAMES. 6 eps.
• 1979-81 Sink or Swim a situation comedy for the BBC - featured Peter Davison and Robert Glenister, ran for 23 eps.
• 1982 THE CLIMBER , for the BBC, featuring Robin Nedwell. - 6 eps.
• 1983 THE FRONT LINE, for the BBC, featuring Alan Igbon, filmed in St Pauls, Bristol. - 6 eps.
• 1984 THE LONELY HEARTS KID, for THAMES TV, featuring Robert Glenister. 6 eps.
• 1986 THE TWO OF US, for LWT- featured Nicholas Lyndhurst, Janet Dibley. Ran for 34 episodes. Subsequently re-made in Dutch and German.
• 1989-92 No Job for a Lady, for Thames TV, featuring Penelope Keith, 18 eps.
• 1992-3 THE GINGERBREAD GIRL, for Yorkshire TV, featuring Janet Dibley. 6 eps.
• 1993-4 Law And Disorder, for THAMES, featuring Penelope Keith. 6 eps.
• 1995 - 2 PART EPISODE OF DELTA WAVE [Adventure series for children]
• ALSO VARIOUS EPISODES OF: KEEP IT IN THE FAMILY, ALL AT NO. 20., CLOSE TO HOME, SLINGER'S DAY.
• 1999 WILMOT - Children's TV series - 6 episodes.
• 2000 WILMOT (2) 7 episodes
• 2002 BOOTLEG - 3 parter for the BBC. BAFTA winner.

Radio work

• ’’Flying The Flag’’ 1985-1990, a series featuring Dinsdale Landen, 32 episodes. Radio 4.
• ’’The Dream Maker’’ 1992 - radio version of stage play. Also remade in Germany.
• ’’The Diabolical Gourmet’’ 2005 – Radio 4 Afternoon play
• ’’Play Chopsticks For Me’’ – Radio 4 Short story
• ’’Getting A Life” Radio 4 short story
• ’’ Bonding’’ Radio 4 short story

Film Work

• ’’The Greatest Store In The World’’ 1999 (Bafta nomination)
• ’’ Play Chopsticks For Me’’ 2000 – Short film
• ’’Chocolate Underground’’ 2008/9 Full length animated film version of novel BOOTLEG made by Japanese company MUSE. First full length animation to be streamed episodically to mobile phones and internet in 2008, followed by theatrical release. Premiered in Tokyo, January 2009.

Stage Work

• ‘’The Morning After’’ - Bath Theatre
• ‘’One More Time’’ - Chichester and tour of the South West.
• ‘’Out of the Blue’’ - Chichester and Edinburgh.
• ‘’Standing Room Only’’ Chichester.’’
• ‘’The Dream Maker’’ - The Orchard Theatre Company, Barnstaple, tour of the South West
• ‘’A Time And A Season’’ - Theatre Royal, Plymouth
• ‘’Harry In The Moonlight’’ – Northcott Theatre, Exeter

Novels

• The Dream Maker (1992)
• Professor Sniff and the Lost Spring Breezes (1996), Gollancz
• Wilmot and Chips (1996), Red Fox
• The Winter Brothers and the Missing Snow (1997), Puffin
• Dr. Twilite and the Autumn Snooze (1997), Puffin
• The Summer Sisters and the Dance Disaster (1997), Puffin
• Box 132 (1997), Harper Collins
• The Found (2005), Macmillan
• Wilmot and Pops (1998), Hodder
• The Greatest Store in the World (1999), Hodder
• The Great Blue Yonder (2002), Macmillan
• The Stolen (2002), Macmillan
• Sea Legs (2003), Hodder
• Bootleg (2003), Macmillan
• The Crush (2003)
• The Speed of the Dark (2004), Macmillan
• The Lost (2004), Macmillan
• The Fugitives (2004),Haddock
• The Great Switcheroonie (2006), Hodder
• The Hunted (2005), Macmillan
• I Was a Schoolboy Bridegroom (2006),Hodder
• Land Lubbers (2007), Hodder
• The Invisible Man's Socks (2007), Macmillan
• Tins (2007, released in the United States as Canned)
• The Cloud Hunters (2012), Hot Key
• ’’Sky Run’’ 2013 (Hot Key Books)
• ’’This Is The Life’’ 2014 (HarperCollins - Blue Door) ADULT
• ’’The Ministry of Ghosts’’ 2014 (Hot Key Books)
• ’’A Message To The Sea’’ 2016 (Piccadilly Press)
• ’’A Message To The Sea’’ – published France, Germany and Japan

References

1. Gaisford, Sue (1997) "Radio: From Elizabeth I to Elton John ... it's the same story", The Independent, 14 September 1997, retrieved 2011-05-07
2. "Teen's tale wins children's prize", BBC, 6 October 2003, retrieved 2011-05-07
3. "News: Alex Shearer's Bootleg Novel Made into Manga, Anime", Anime News Network, retrieved 2011-05-07

4. Website: https://alexshearer.co.uk/