John Michael Drinkrow Hardwick (10 September 1924 in

Leeds Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the thi ...

, Yorkshire − 4 March 1991), known as Michael Hardwick, was an English author who was best known for writing books and radio plays which featured

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

's creation Sherlock Holmes. He adapted most of the episodes of the Sherlock Holmes BBC radio series 1952–1969.

Personal life

Hardwick married fellow author

Mollie Hardwick Mollie Greenhalgh Hardwick (7 March 1916 in Prestwich, Lancashire – 13 December 2003), also known as Mary Atkinson, was an English author who was best known for writing books that accompanied the TV series '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. Hardwic ...

in 1961. Together they co-wrote numerous different books, not just on the subject of Sherlock Holmes, but also

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope (; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the '' Chronicles of Barsetshire'', which revolves ...

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

and other giants of the literary landscape. Between them they also produced

novelisations A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

from successful television series such as

Upstairs, Downstairs Upstairs Downstairs may refer to: Television *Upstairs, Downstairs (1971 TV series), ''Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1971 TV series), a British TV series broadcast on ITV from 1971 to 1975 *Upstairs Downstairs (2010 TV series), ''Upstairs Downstairs'' ...

, The Cedar Tree, Bergerac,

The Chinese Detective ''The Chinese Detective'' is a British television police procedural drama series, first transmitted by the BBC between 1981 and 1982. The series was created by Ian Kennedy Martin, who had previously devised ''The Sweeney'' and '' Juliet Bravo'' ...

and Tenko.

Sherlock Holmes

Hardwick penned a dramatisation of " The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet" for the

BBC Light Programme The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 1. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the ...

in 1959, which starred Carleton Hobbs as Sherlock Holmes and Norman Shelley as Doctor Watson. With his wife he wrote a 1963 radio play ''The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes''. The two also authored a novelization of

Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-American filmmaker. His career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Classic Holl ...

's film, ''

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes ''The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes'' is a 1970 DeLuxe Color film in Panavision written and produced by Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond, and directed by Wilder. The film offers an affectionate, slightly parodic look at Sherlock Holmes, ...

''. In 1968, they dramatized ''

The Adventure of the Dancing Men The Adventure of the Dancing Men is a Sherlock Holmes story written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as one of 13 stories in the cycle published as '' The Return of Sherlock Holmes'' in 1905. It was first published in '' The Strand Magazine'' in the ...

'' and ''

The Sign of the Four ''The Sign of the Four'' (1890), also called ''The Sign of Four'', is the second novel featuring Sherlock Holmes by British writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle wrote four novels and 56 short stories featuring the fictional detective. Plo ...

'' for the BBC's

television adaptation An adaptation is a transfer of a work of art from one style, culture or medium to another. Some common examples are: * Film adaptation, a story from another work, adapted into a film (it may be a novel, non-fiction like journalism, autobiography, ...

of Sherlock Holmes, starring

Peter Cushing Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage, and radio roles. He achieved recognition ...

as Holmes and Nigel Stock as Watson, but only the latter exists in the BBC's archives. In 1979, Hardwick wrote ''

The Prisoner of the Devil ''The Prisoner of the Devil'' is a Sherlock Holmes pastiches, Sherlock Holmes pastiche novel by Michael Hardwick (writer), Michael Hardwick, originally published in 1979. The acclaimed novel features Holmes called in to solve the case of the Dre ...

'' which features Holmes called in to solve the case of the

Dreyfus affair The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...

. The 1980s brought Hardwick's sequel to ''

The Hound of the Baskervilles ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' is the third of the four crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialised in '' The Strand Magazine'' from August 1901 to April 1902, it is se ...

'', entitled '' The Revenge of the Hound'' published by

Villard Books Villard, also known as Villard Books, is a publishing imprint of Random House, one of the largest publishing companies in the world, owned by Bertelsmann since 1998 and grouped in Penguin Random House since 2013. It was founded in 1983. Villard b ...

, as well as ''The Private Life of Dr. Watson'' and ''Sherlock Holmes: My Life and Crimes''.

List of works

Fiction

*''Sherlock Holmes Investigates'' (1963); with Mollie Hardwick, editors – selected from Conan Doyle's original stories & introduced for new readers *''Four Sherlock Holmes Plays: One-Act Plays'' (1964); with Mollie Hardwick *''The Game's Afoot: Sherlock Holmes Plays'' (1969); with Mollie Hardwick *''The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes'' (1970); with Mollie Hardwick – from the original screenplay by

and I. A. L. Diamond *''The Pallisers'' (1973); introduction – abridged omnibus edition of Anthony Trollope's series of six novels *''Mr. Hudson's Diary – Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1973) *''Mr. Bellamy's Story – Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1974) *'' The Inheritors'' (1974) *''On With the Dance – Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1975) *''Endings and Beginnings – Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1975) *''The Upstairs Downstairs Omnibus'' (1975); with Mollie Hardwick *'' The Four Musketeers (The Revenge of Milady)'' (1975) *''The Gaslight Boy'' (1976); with Mollie Hardwick *'' The Cedar Tree – vol. 1'' (1976) *''Autumn of an Age – The Cedar Tree, vol. 2'' (1977) *''A Bough Breaks – The Cedar Tree, vol. 3'' (1978) *''Regency Royal'' (1978) *''Prisoner of the Devil'' (1979) *''Regency Rake'' (1979) *''Regency Revenge'' (1980) *''The Chinese Detective'' (1981) *'' Bergerac. The Jersey Cop'' (1981) *'' The Barchester Chronicles'' (1982); editor – abridged omnibus edition of Trollope's series & based on the

TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed b ...

*''The Private Life of Doctor Watson: Being the Personal Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D.'' (1983) *''Sherlock Holmes: My Life and Crimes'' (1984) *''Last Tenko'' (1984) *''The Revenge of the Hound'' (1987) *''Nightbone'' (1989)

Non-fiction

*''Emigrant in Motley: The Journey of

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

and

Ellen Kean Ellen Kean (12 December 1805 – 20 August 1880) was an English actress. She was known as Ellen Tree until her marriage in 1842, after which she was known both privately and professionally as Mrs Charles Kean and always appeared in productions ...

in Quest of a Theatrical Fortune in Australia and America, as told in their hitherto unpublished letters'' (1954); editor, with a foreword by

Anthony Quayle Sir John Anthony Quayle (7 September 1913 – 20 October 1989) was a British actor and theatre director. He was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his supporting role as Thomas Wolsey in the film '' Anne of the Thousand Days'' (196 ...

*''The Verdict of the Court'' (1960); editor, with an introduction by Lord Birkett – six famous

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribun ...

s *''The Jolly Toper: A Light-Hearted Social History of Drinking'' (1961); with Mollie Greenhalgh/Hardwick *''Doctors on Trial'' (1961) – the trials of Smethurst, Pritchard, Lamson, Crippen and Ruxton *''The Sherlock Holmes Companion'' (1962); with Mollie Hardwick *''The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes'' (1964); with Mollie Hardwick *''The Charles Dickens Companion'' (1965); with Mollie Hardwick *''The

Plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

and the Fire of London'' (1966); with Mollie Hardwick *''The World's Greatest Sea Mysteries'' (1967); with Mollie Hardwick *''

Alfred Deller Alfred George Deller, CBE (31 May 1912 – 16 July 1979), was an English singer and one of the main figures in popularising the return of the countertenor voice in Renaissance and Baroque music during the 20th century. He is sometimes refer ...

: A Singularity of Voice'' (1968); with Mollie Hardwick *''Writers' Houses: A Literary Journey in England'' (1968); with Mollie Hardwick – US edition: ''A Literary Journey: Visits to the Homes of Great Writers'' *''Discovery of Japan'' (1969) – Hamlyn All Colour book *''The World's Greatest Air Mysteries'' (1970) *''As They Saw Him: Charles Dickens'' (1970) – "the great novelist as seen through the eyes of his family, friends, and contemporaries" *''Dickens' England: The Places in his Life and Works'' (1970); with Mollie Hardwick *''The

Osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

Guide to

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which '' H.M.S. ...

'' (1972) *''The Osprey Guide to

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

'' (1973) *''The Osprey Guide to Jane Austen'' (1973) *''The Bernard Shaw Companion'' (1973); with Mollie Hardwick *''The Charles Dickens Encyclopedia'' (1973); with Mollie Hardwick *''A Literary Atlas and Gazetteer of the British Isles'' (1973) *''The Osprey Guide to Anthony Trollope'' (1974) *''The Charles Dickens Quiz Book'' (1974); with Mollie Hardwick *''Cars of the Thirties and Forties'' (1979) *''The Complete Guide to Sherlock Holmes'' (1986)

References

External links

Michael Hardwick
at GoodReads
Michael Hardwick
at Fantastic Fiction 1924 births 1991 deaths English novelists 20th-century British writers 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights {{England-writer-stub