The Ruby in the Smoke
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''The Ruby in the Smoke'' (1985) is a novel by the English author
Philip Pullman Sir Philip Nicholas Outram Pullman (born 19 October 1946) is an English writer. His books include the fantasy trilogy ''His Dark Materials'' and ''The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ'', a fictionalised biography of Jesus. In 2008, ''The ...
. This book went on to win the 1987 Lancashire Children's Book of the Year Award. It was also adapted for television in 2006. It is the first of the
Sally Lockhart Veronica Beatrice "Sally" Lockhart (later Goldberg) is a fictional character in a series of books by Philip Pullman. Sally Lockhart is a dazzling 16-year-old, middle-class orphan whose father taught her a variety of useful things: accounting, mar ...
Quartet. It is followed by ''
The Shadow in the North ''The Shadow in the North'' ( 1986) is a book by the English author Philip Pullman. It was originally published as ''The Shadow in the Plate''. Plot This second ''Sally Lockhart'' mystery takes place in late 1878, six years after the events of ...
'', '' The Tiger in the Well'' and ''
The Tin Princess ''The Tin Princess'' ( 1994) is a young adult novel by the English author Philip Pullman, part of the Sally Lockhart series. Plot introduction Sixteen-year-old Becky is about to have her life changed. A dramatic explosion is only the start of ...
''. The book was also adapted for the stage at the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
in August 2016.


TV adaptation

A TV film adaptation written by
Adrian Hodges Adrian Hodges (born 4 February 1957) is an English television and film writer. He has won a BAFTA Award. Life and career He began his career in journalism for '' Screen International'' magazine
and starring
Billie Piper Billie Paul Piper (born Leian Paul Piper; 22 September 1982) is an English actress and former singer. She initially gained recognition as a singer after releasing her debut single "Because We Want To" at age 15, which made her the youngest woman ...
was produced by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. It aired on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
on 27 December 2006 and on
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
's ''
Masterpiece Mystery! ''Mystery!'' (also written ''MYSTERY!'') is a television anthology series produced by WGBH-TV, WGBH Boston for PBS in the United States. The series was created as a mystery fiction, mystery, police drama, police and crime drama spin-off of the ...
'' as ''The Sally Lockhart Mysteries: The Ruby in the Smoke'' on 4 February 2007. The UK broadcast attracted 7.07 million viewers. It is notable as marking the TV debut of actor
Matt Smith Matthew Robert Smith (born 28 October 1982) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as the Eleventh Doctor, eleventh incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the BBC series ''Doctor Who'' (2010–2013), Daemon Targarye ...
, who would later take over the role of the
Eleventh Doctor The Eleventh Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. He is played by Matt Smith in three series as well as five specials. As with previous incarnations of the Docto ...
in Piper's former series, ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
''. All four Sally Lockhart books were expected to be adapted for television; however, as of January 2015 no information has arisen regarding an adaptation of ''The Tiger in the Well''.


Cast


Stage adaptation

In the summer of 2016, a stage adaptation written and directed by Madeleine Perham was performed at
The Pleasance The Pleasance is a theatre, bar, sports and recreation complex in Edinburgh, Scotland, situated on a street of the same name. It is owned by the University of Edinburgh, and for nine months of the year it serves the Edinburgh University Stud ...
during the
Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
after receiving Pullman's blessing. Running for the month of August in the King Dome venue, the performance was hailed as a critical success, with the Scotsman stating that the show was 'a compelling tale, and full of surprises, moral ambiguities and people who are other than they seem'. Jane Berg from Three Weeks awarded the show five stars, stating that the show 'was one of the most enjoyable hours I’ve spent at this festival'. Broadway Baby, the local reviews website, stated that the show 'delighted in its Victorian setting' and was an 'excellent piece of storytelling', going on to award The Ruby in the Smoke four stars. The show was created by new theatre company Reprint Productions (now Escapade), with a cast of six who multi-rolled the numerous characters in the show - Rebecca Lenihan, Sydney Austin, Tris Hobson, Martin Coates, Hamish Forbes and Madeleine Golding (who also served as producer and co-founder of Reprint).


References


External links


Tickets.edfringe.com
(Advertisement for stage adaptation. Archive.org)
Pullman's page on the book
(Archive.org)
Overview and backgroundReview of the book
(written at the time of the BBC adaptation),
Scotland on Sunday ''Scotland on Sunday'' is a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published in Edinburgh by JPIMedia and consequently assuming the role of Sunday sister to its daily stablemate ''The Scotsman''. It was originally printed in broadsheet format but in 2013 ...
, 10 December 2006
BBC mini-site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruby In The Smoke 1985 British novels British young adult novels Novels by Philip Pullman BBC television dramas Television shows based on British novels Fiction set in 1872 Novels about orphans Children's mystery novels British novels adapted into films 1985 children's books Oxford University Press books