Brian David Sibley (born 14 July 1949) 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. He is widely known as the author of many film "making of" books, including those for the '' Harry Potter'' series and ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's b ...

'' and ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ''N ...

'' trilogies.

Early life

Brian was born in

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its nam ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, to 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 renamed Edgebury School for Boys), where he was awarded

A-levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...

in English and Art. Following the frustration of his varied ambitions to be an actor, a cartoonist and an animator, Sibley worked first in various clerical capacities for the

London Borough of Bromley The London Borough of Bromley () is the southeasternmost of the London boroughs that make up Greater London, bordering the ceremonial county of Kent, which most of Bromley was part of before 1965. The borough's population is an estimated 332,3 ...

, 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 broadcasting Sibley's first programme was ''Three Cheers for Pooh'', broadcast on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

on 14 October 1976 to mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of

A. A. Milne Alan Alexander Milne (; 18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as for children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winni ...

's ''

Winnie-the-Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. The first collection of stories about the character was the book ''Win ...

''. The programme was presented by actor

Peter Bull Peter Cecil Bull, (21 March 1912 – 20 May 1984) was a British character actor who appeared in supporting roles in such films as '' The African Queen'', ''Tom Jones'', and ''Dr. Strangelove''. Biography He was the fourth and youngest son o ...

, featured the voices of

Norman Shelley Norman Shelley (16 February 1903 – 21 August 1980) was a British 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 ''T ...

and pianist and singer Antony Miall and was directed by

John Tydeman John Peter Tydeman OBE (30 March 1936 – 1 April 2020) was an English producer of radio and director of theatre plays. He was responsible for commissioning and directing the early plays of Caryl Churchill, Joe Orton, Tom Stoppard and Sue Townse ...

, later Head of BBC Drama. Other features quickly followed and, in 1981, he co-wrote (with Michael Bakewell)

's adaptation of

Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works '' The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawl ...

's ''

'' He also adapted

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...

's ''

The Chronicles of Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven high fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' has been adapted for radio, tele ...

'' and

Mervyn Peake Mervyn Laurence Peake (9 July 1911 – 17 November 1968) was an English writer, artist, poet, and illustrator. He is best known for what are usually referred to as the '' Gormenghast'' books. The four works were part of what Peake conceived ...

's ''

Titus Groan ''Titus Groan'' is a novel by Mervyn Peake, first published in 1946. 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 ...

'' and '' Gormenghast'' for Radio 4, receiving a Sony Radio Award for his Peake plays 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 ''

'', '' Gormenghast'', ''

Titus Alone ''Titus Alone'' is a novel written by Mervyn Peake and first published in 1959. It is the third work in the Gormenghast trilogy. The other works are ''Titus Groan'', and '' Gormenghast''. With the trilogy, a fourth work, the novella '' Boy i ...

'' and Maeve Gilmore's ''

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'' ...

''. Produced by

Jeremy Mortimer Jeremy Mortimer is a British director and producer of radio dramas for BBC Radio.Jeremy Mor ...

, the series began transmission on Sunday 10 July with a cast headed by

David Warner David or Dave Warner may refer to: Sports * Dave Warner (strongman) (born 1969), Northern Ireland strongman competitor * David Bruce Warner (born 1970), South African alpine skier * David Warner (cricketer) (born 1986), Australian cricketer Oth ...

Luke Treadaway Luke Antony Newman Treadaway''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916-2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 10 September 1984) is a British actor and singer. He won an Olivier Award for Best Leading Actor for his performance as Christ ...

and Miranda Richardson, and won the BBC Audio Drama Award 2012 for Best Adaptation. Other major radio dramatizations by Sibley include:

John Bunyan John Bunyan (; baptised 30 November 162831 August 1688) was an English writer and Puritan preacher best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory ''The Pilgrim's Progress,'' which also became an influential literary model. In addition ...

's ''

The Pilgrim's Progress ''The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come'' is a 1678 Christianity, Christian allegory written by John Bunyan. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of theological fiction in English literature and a prog ...

''; Tolkien's ''

Tales from the Perilous Realm ''The Tolkien Reader'' is an anthology of works by J. R. R. Tolkien. It includes a variety of short stories, poems, a play and some non-fiction. It compiles material previously published as three separate shorter books ('' Tree and Leaf, Farme ...

''; Roald Dahl's '' Danny, the Champion of the World'';

Lucy M. Boston Lucy M. Boston (1892–1990), born Lucy Maria Wood, was an English novelist who wrote for children and adults, publishing her work entirely after the age of 60. She is best known for her " Green Knowe" series: six low fantasy children's novels p ...

's '' The Children of Green Knowe'',

Laurens van der Post Sir Laurens Jan van der Post, (13 December 1906 – 15 December 1996) was a South African Afrikaner writer, farmer, soldier, educator, journalist, humanitarian, philosopher, explorer and conservationist. He was noted for his interest in J ...

's ''The Night of the New Moon'',

J. B. Priestley John Boynton Priestley (; 13 September 1894 – 14 August 1984) was an English novelist, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and social commentator. His Yorkshire background is reflected in much of his fiction, notably in ''The Good Compa ...

's ''The Thirty-First of June'',

Jeffrey Archer Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare (born 15 April 1940) is an English novelist, life peer, convicted criminal, and former politician. Before becoming an author, Archer was a Member of Parliament (1969–1974), but did not ...

's '' A Matter of Honour'',

Frank Baker John Franklin "Home Run" Baker (March 13, 1886 – June 28, 1963) was an American professional baseball player. A third baseman, Baker played in Major League Baseball from 1908 to 1922 for the Philadelphia Athletics and New York Yankees. Althoug ...

's ''Miss Hargreaves'',

James Thurber James Grover Thurber (December 8, 1894 – November 2, 1961) was an American cartoonist, writer, humorist, journalist and playwright. He was best known for his cartoons and short stories, published mainly in ''The New Yorker'' and collected ...

's ''The Wonderful O'', two series of '' Ray Bradbury's Tales of the Bizarre'', Ray Bradbury's ''

The Illustrated Man ''The Illustrated Man'' is a 1951 collection of 18 science fiction short stories by American writer Ray Bradbury. A recurring theme throughout the stories is the conflict of the cold mechanics of technology and the psychology of people. It was ...

'' and a six-part dramatization of T H White's ''

The Once and Future King ''The Once and Future King'' is a collection of fantasy novels by T. H. White about the legend of King Arthur. It is loosely based upon the 1485 work ''Le Morte d'Arthur'' by Sir Thomas Malory. It was first published in 1958 as a collection ...

'' starring

as Merlyn. 2016 saw the broadcasting by the BBC of his two-part dramatization of Richard Adams's ''

Watership Down ''Watership Down'' is an adventure novel by English author Richard Adams, published by Rex Collings Ltd of London in 1972. Set in Berkshire in southern England, the story features a small group of rabbits. Although they live in their natura ...

'' and the

J. G. Ballard James Graham Ballard (15 November 193019 April 2009) was an English novelist, short story writer, satirist, and essayist known for provocative works of fiction which explored the relations between human psychology, technology, sex, and mass med ...

short story '' Track 12''. His original radio plays include: ''...And Yet Another Partridge in a Pear Tree'', starring

Penelope Keith Dame Penelope Anne Constance Keith, (née Hatfield; born 2 April 1940) is an English actress and presenter, active in film, radio, stage and television and primarily known for her roles in the British sitcoms '' The Good Life'' and '' To the M ...

, ''C. S. Lewis: Northern Irishman'' and ''It's Too Late Now''. He was a contributor to and then regular presenter of the former

arts programme ''

Kaleidoscope A kaleidoscope () is an optical instrument with two or more reflecting surfaces (or mirrors) tilted to each other at an angle, so that one or more (parts of) objects on one end of these mirrors are shown as a regular symmetrical pattern when v ...

'' and the BBC World Service arts magazine, ''Meridian''. He also presented the Radio 4 film programme, ''Talking Pictures'', was a regular presenter of ''The Afternoon Shift'' and chaired the radio panel games ''Break A Leg'' and ''Screen Test''. He has also contributed to Radio 4's ''Last Word'', ''Brief Lives'', ''A Good Read'', ''The Radio 2 Arts Show'' and Radio 3's ''Night Waves''. He also presented several series of the BBC television programme, ''First Light''. His features and documentaries for Radio 4, Radio 2 and the World Service have included programmes devoted to Sherlock Holmes,

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer w ...

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...

, Dracula,

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...

, Alice in Wonderland and the life and work of

Ambrose Bierce Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – ) was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil War veteran. His book '' The Devil's Dictionary'' was named as one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by ...

Robert Raikes Robert Raikes ("the Younger") (14 September 1736 – 5 April 1811) was an English philanthropist and Anglican layman. He was educated at The Crypt School Gloucester. He was noted for his promotion of Sunday schools. Family Raikes was born at ...

, Harry Houdini,

Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his '' Discworld'' series of 41 novels. Pratchett's first no ...

, George Orwell, Roald Dahl,

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery fictio ...

Richmal Crompton Richmal Crompton Lamburn (15 November 1890 – 11 January 1969) was a popular English writer, best known for her ''Just William'' series of books, humorous short stories, and to a lesser extent adult fiction books. Life Richmal Crompton Lambu ...

Fred Zinnemann Alfred ''Fred'' Zinnemann (April 29, 1907 – March 14, 1997) was an Austrian Empire-born American film director. He won four Academy Awards for directing and producing films in various genres, including thrillers, westerns, film noir and pla ...

, Frank Capra,

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and '' Fraggle Rock'' (1983–1987) and ...

Paco Pena Paco is a Spanish nickname for Francisco. According to folk etymology, the nickname has its origins in Saint Francis of Assisi, who was the father of the Franciscan order; his name was written in Latin by the order as ''Pater Communitatis'' (fat ...

James Galway Sir James Galway (born 8 December 1939) is an Irish virtuoso flute player from Belfast, nicknamed "The Man with the Golden Flute". He established an international career as a solo flute player. In 2005, he received the Brit Award for Outsta ...

Marcel Marceau Marcel Marceau (; born Marcel Mangel; 22 March 1923 – 22 September 2007) was a French actor and mime artist most famous for his stage persona, "Bip the Clown". He referred to mime as the "art of silence", and he performed professionally worldw ...

, Bob Hoskins 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 David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE, HonFRSA, HonFRPS, MRIA (born 25 February 1941) is a British film producer, educator, environmentalist and former member of the House of Lords. His productions include ''Chariots of Fire'', which wo ...

's Century of Cinema'', ''Ain't No Mickey Mouse Music'', ''No Place Life Home: A

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

Story'', ''Showman and Starmaker: A Tribute to

Bill Cotton Sir William Frederick Cotton (23 April 1928 – 11 August 2008) was a British television producer and executive, and the son of dance band leader Billy Cotton. The TV and radio presenter Fearne Cotton is related to him, as he was her paternal ...

'' and, in Autumn 2010, a series of eight documentaries on aspects of ''The Musical'' that he both compiled and wrote. His interviewees for these series included

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite; 14 March 1933) is an English actor. Known for his distinctive Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films in a career spanning seven decades, and is considered a British film ico ...

, Richard Attenborough,

Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American film, stage, and television actress. Her career spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States, and her work received a great deal ...

Margaret O'Brien Angela Maxine O'Brien (born January 15, 1937) is an American film, radio, television, and stage actress, and is one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema. Beginning a prolific career as a child actress in feature ...

, Dirk Bogarde, Roy E Disney,

Robert Wise Robert Earl Wise (September 10, 1914 – September 14, 2005) was an American film director, producer, and editor. He won the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture for his musical films ''West Side Story'' (1961) and ''The Sound of ...

Ken Annakin Kenneth Cooper Annakin, OBE (10 August 1914 – 22 April 2009) was an English film director. His career spanned half a century, beginning in the early 1940s and ending in 2002, and in the 1960s he was noticed by critics with large-scale adventu ...

Richard Curtis Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis (born 8 November 1956) is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, producer and film director. One of Britain's most successful comedy screenwriters, he is known primarily for romantic comedy films, among them '' ...

, Richard M Sherman, Leslie Briccusse,

Bryan Forbes Bryan Forbes CBE (; born John Theobald Clarke; 22 July 1926 – 8 May 2013) was an English film director, screenwriter, film producer, actor and novelist described as a "Renaissance man"Falk Q. . BAFTA. 17 October 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2013 and ...

Sandy Wilson Alexander Galbraith "Sandy" Wilson (19 May 1924 – 27 August 2014) was an English composer and lyricist, best known for his musical '' The Boy Friend'' (1953). Biography Wilson was born in Sale, Cheshire, England, and was educated at Harrow S ...

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ...

James Rado James Alexander Radomski (January 23, 1932 – June 21, 2022), known professionally as James Rado, was an American actor, playwright, director, and composer, best known as the co-author, along with Gerome Ragni, of the 1967 musical ''Hair''. He ...

and Edward Albee. He also wrote and presented a series on the history of film music, ''The Sound of Movies''. Sibley's book, ''Shadowlands'', was serialized on Radio 2, read by

Ian Richardson Ian William Richardson (7 April 19349 February 2007) was a Scottish actor. He portrayed the Machiavellian Tory politician Francis Urquhart in the BBC's '' House of Cards'' (1990–1995) television trilogy. Richardson was also a leading S ...

in what was one of the actor's last pieces of broadcast work.

Gillian Reynolds Gillian Reynolds (née Morton; born 15 November 1935) is an English radio critic. After writing for ''The Guardian'' from 1967 to 1974, she was the radio critic for ''The Daily Telegraph'' for over 42 years, from 1975 to 2018. She then continued ...

, then ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

s radio critic, 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'' is a 1992 concept album produced and composed by Jeff Wayne with Lyrics by Gary Osborne, telling the story of Roman gladiator, Spartacus. It starred Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones (in her fir ...

''. Journalism Sibley has written as a columnist, reviewer and obituarist for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', ''

Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to '' The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'', ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'', '' The Listener'', '' Radio Times'', ''

The Church Times The ''Church Times'' is an independent Anglican weekly newspaper based in London and published in the United Kingdom on Fridays. History The ''Church Times'' was founded on 7 February 1863 by George Josiah Palmer, a printer. It fought for th ...

'' and '' Films and Filming''. Publications His books include ''The Disney Studio Story'' and '' Mickey Mouse: His Life and Times'' (with Richard Holliss); ''The Land of

Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven high fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' has been Adaptations of The Chron ...

'', illustrated by

Pauline Baynes Pauline Diana Baynes (9 September 1922 – 1 August 2008) was an English illustrator, author and commercial artist. She contributed drawings and paintings to more than 200 books, mostly in the children's genre. She was the first illustrat ...

; ''The Treasury of Narnia'' (with Alison Sage); ''Shadowlands: The True Story of C. S. Lewis and

Joy Davidman Helen Joy Davidman (18 April 1915 – 13 July 1960) was an American poet and writer. Often referred to as a child prodigy, she earned a master's degree from Columbia University in English literature at age twenty in 1935. For her book of po ...

''; ''The Book of Guinness Advertising''; a biography of

Wilbert Vere Awdry Wilbert Vere Awdry (15 June 1911 – 21 March 1997) was an English Anglican minister, railway enthusiast, and children's author. He was best known for creating Thomas the Tank Engine. Thomas and several other characters he created appeared ...

, entitled ''The Thomas the Tank Engine Man''; '' A Christmas Carol: The Unsung Story''; ''Cracking Animation: The

Aardman Aardman Animations Limited (also known as Aardman Studios, simply Aardman or Aardman Animation and stylised as AARDMAN as of 2022) is a British animation studio based in Bristol, England. It is known for films made using stop-motion and clay ani ...

book of 3-D Film-making'', (with

Peter Lord Peter Lord CBE (born 1953) is an English animator, director, producer 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 p ...

); ''

Chicken Run ''Chicken Run'' is a 2000 stop-motion animated comedy film produced by Pathé and Aardman Animations in partnership with DreamWorks Animation. Aardman’s first feature-length film and DreamWorks Animation's fourth film, it was directed by ...

: Hatching the Movie''; ''Three Cheers for

Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. The first collection of stories about the character was the book ''Winn ...

''; and ''The Maps of Tolkien's

Middle-earth Middle-earth is the fictional setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the '' Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf''. Middle-earth is ...

'' 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'', ''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 ''

'', he subsequently wrote the official biography of the films' director, '' Peter Jackson: A Filmmaker's Journey''. His other books include '' The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – The Official Movie Guide'', '' The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – The Official Movie Guide'', '' The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – The Official Movie Guide'', ''The Making of The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists'', '' Harry Potter Film Wizardry'', ''

The Golden Compass ''Northern Lights'' (titled ''The Golden Compass'' in North America and some other countries) is a young-adult fantasy novel by Philip Pullman, published in 1995 by Scholastic UK. Set in a parallel universe, it follows the journey of Lyra Be ...

: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion'', ''

Mary Poppins It may refer to: * ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fantasy novels that introduced the character. * Mary Poppins (character), the nanny with magical powers. * ''Mary Poppins'' (film), a 1964 Disney film sta ...

: 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 Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

and illustrated by Stephen Waterhouse. In October 2016 he was one of four writers contributing new stories about

for a 90th birthday collection, '' The Best Bear in All the World''. His story introduced a new character, Penguin, inspired by a vintage photograph of

and his young son, Christopher Robin, playing with the original teddy bear who became Winnie-the-Pooh and a plush toy penguin. The same month saw the publication of Taschen Books' ''The Walt Disney Film Archives. The Animated Movies 1921–1968'' to which he contributed five critical essays on Disney films. His Christmas book, ''Joseph and the Three Gifts'', published in September 2019, was described by

Frank Cottrell Boyce Frank Cottrell-Boyce (born 23 September 1959)"COTTRELL-BOYCE, Frank", ''Who's Who 2010'', A & C Black, 2010; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2009 ; online edn, Nov 200 Retrieved 2010-05-16. is an English people, English screenwriter, ...

as "a little masterpiece". The book was abridged and serialised (by the author) for broadcast in the Christmas week of 2021 on BBC Radio 4, where it was read by

Alex Jennings Alex Jennings (born 10 May 1957) is an English actor of the stage and screen, who worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre. For his work on the London stage, Jennings received three Olivier Awards, winning for ...

and directed by Martin Jarvis. In 2021, his fable ''Osric the Extraordinary Owl'', illustrated by his friend

, was privately published in a limited edition. He is currently editing a book of the letters of

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

. Sibley recorded DVD audio commentaries for ''

Around the World in 80 Days ''Around the World in Eighty Days'' (french: link=no, Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours) is an adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne, first published in French in 1872. In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employe ...

'' (1956 film), ''

Animal Farm ''Animal Farm'' is a beast fable, in the form of satirical allegorical novella, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to c ...

'' (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" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...

'', ''

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel '' The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan ...

'', ''

One Hundred and One Dalmatians ''One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (also simply known as ''101 Dalmatians'') is a 1961 American animated adventure comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and based on the 1956 novel '' The Hundred and One Dalmatians'' by Dodie Smith. Th ...

'', ''

The Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, w ...

'', ''

Sleeping Beauty ''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...

'', ''

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine ...

'', '' Alice in Wonderland'' and ''The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh'' as well as being included in the documentaries associated with various home media releases of ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy. Sibley is also the editor of J.R.R.Tolkien's ''

The Fall of Númenor ''The Fall of Númenor'' is a fantasy work collecting all J. R. R. Tolkien's Second Age writings together. It is edited by Brian Sibley. The book uses "The Tale of Years" in the Appendices of ''The Lord of the Rings'' to present the content of ...

'' (2022). Other interests Sibley is the President of The Lewis Carroll Society (2014-), and an honorary member of The Children's Books History Society, '' the Magic Circle'' (of which he was Chair of Council 2012–14 and 2017 to 2020) and

the Tolkien Society The Tolkien Society is an educational charity and literary society devoted to the study and promotion of the life and works of the author and academic J. R. R. Tolkien. It began informally in 1969, and held its inaugural meeting in 1970. It ho ...

, from whom he received an Outstanding Contribution Award 2022.

References

External links

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Daily blog site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sibley, Brian 1949 births English children's writers English non-fiction writers English radio writers Living people Historians of animation People from Wandsworth English male non-fiction writers