Dispatch dated November 2001

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Dispatch dated November 2001:

'Downs-Lord Doomsday', final 'panel' ( pretentious ? moi ? ) of 'The Downs-Lord Triptych', replete with maps and strange diagrams, is now complete, proof-read and awaiting 'Earthlight' / Simon & Schuster's publishing pleasure. The Downs-Lords' baroque progress across a transmogrified and monster haunted Surrey and Sussex ( and Egypt ) thereby comes to a close, and I, for one, wish them well in their unobserved future

Also drawing nearer to conclusion is 'Amy-Faith & the Stronghold' ( formerly just plain old 'The Stronghold' ), 80,000 words long and going, to coin a phrase, strong.

The BBC have also shown passing, possible, provisional, potential etc. etc. interest in my historical-comedy pilot TV script, 'THAT DEVIL WILKES !' - which would be nice ...

And who was Wilkes ? Well, not the man who ruined Mrs Lincoln's theatre outing in 1865, for a start ( although a much removed ancestor of John Wilkes Booth, coincidentally ). In fact, he was: ( are you sitting comfortably ? Then I'll begin ... )

John Wilkes ( 1727 - 1797 ), inspiration for the once popular London street cry 'Wilkes and Liberty !'. English Radical politician and profligate, born in Clerkenwell, son of a distiller father and pious mother. A Rake and member of the infamous 'Hellfire Club', a colonel of the Buckinghamshire militia. Founder and editor of the scurrilous 'North Briton' newspaper, translator of the classics and persecuted author of the shocking 'Essay on Woman'. Four times elected and three times excluded Member of Parliament for Middlesex, Wilkes survived three government sponsored duels and assassination attempts, was made prisoner in the Tower and declared 'outlaw'. In exile, he toured Italy with Boswell and an courtesan called Gertrude, finally returning to tempestuous triumph and a serene old age. As Lord Mayor of London, MP, duellist, lover, pioneer tourist to the Isle of Wight, early sponsor of animal rights, and darling of the London 'mob' and 'middling and inferior sets of people', Wilkes dominated the political scene of his day. By his fearless efforts John Wilkes established the freedom of the press, the rights of electors to chose their candidates for Parliament and the illegality of general arrest warrants. A staunch defender of the American Revolution and tireless thorn in the side of George III's autocratic and Scots dominated government, he was the last ( for a while ) English nationalist politician.

And he's a hero of mine.

My script focuses on Wilkes and his interaction with the politics and events of the day, whilst also lovingly dwelling on his menagerie of colourful acquaintances - like Charles Churchill, the bear-like poet/disreputable vicar; or the Chevalier D'Eon, a French transvestite duellist. There's also Wilkes' harpy wife, his string of strumpets and mistresses, the 'Hellfire Club' gang, the Dowager Queen who's having an affair with the Scottish Prime Minister, Bute - and a host of memorable - actual, historical - others.

In a nutshell, I had in mind a half hour per episode TV series featuring Mr Wilkes as its hero - and sometimes anti-hero. With a small-ish cast list and only internal sets, the series would constitute a pretty anarchic romp through history, all the time drawing parallels to up-to-date politics and life. If a gun was held to my head to enforce a comparison re the general 'tone, I would say 'a bit deeper and a bit wilder than 'Black Adder''. Or like 'Bilko' - only in the past and with more sex and politics ...

There's a lot of ideas on paper for future episodes, basically trawling through the implausibly eventful events of Wilkes' life. Foremost amongst them are:

'The Essay on Woman' - The pornographic verse Wilkes wrote and published in conjunction the Archbishop of Canterbury's son - which led to duels and imprisonment.
'Our Man in Constantinople' - Wilkes' convoluted attempts to become Britain's Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire and taste the vices of the Orient.
'Democracy' - Where Wilkes stands for election and arranges for a whole shipload of opposing voters to be diverted to Norway ( which he really did !).

And finally, just to give you a flavour of my own personal 'take' on the thing, here's my vision for the opening music and titles: Wilkes and lady-friend plus three or four other couples, stylishly dressed in gowns, silk frock coats, elaborate coiffeurs or powdered wigs, dance demurely to the sound of a spinet or harpsichord. Then, gradually, almost imperceptibly, the music changes in tempo and type - as does the dancing - to punky howling guitars ( say like the 'Buffy' theme or even 'The Sex Pistols' themselves ) and frenzied pogoing. The audience would realise that this was not going to be 'Northhanger Abbey' ...

And, as I said in the 'Dedication' to 'Downs-Lord Day' ( 2000 )

'To: John ( 'Wilkes and Liberty !' ) Wilkes ( 1727 - 1797 ) whose time has come again.'

'Give me a grain of truth and I will mix it up with a great mass of falsehood, so that no chemist shall ever be able to separate them !' John Wilkes.

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