Tom Sharpe

Tom Sharpe, Porterhouse Blue novelist, dies aged 85

The British satirical author Tom Sharpe, who wrote the 1974 novel Porterhouse Blue, has died aged 85.

BBC News, 6th June 2013

Anyone familiar with the work of Jenny Eclair will recognise her hand in this madcap, slightly ramshackle new comedy. Eclair co-wrote the story with Julie Balloo about washed-up, middle-aged, divorced Fleet Street journalist Ros, who has ended up living in her childhood village of Norton Tripton.

The only job she can get is working for her monstrous ex's sister, who runs the local tourist website - but is patently not happy doing stories about flower displays. Eclair has great fun portraying Ros's angry desperation at how her life has detoured into a cul-de-sac as her ex-husband's career goes stratospheric, while Mark Heap brings his trademark oddball schtick to the role of her sidekick.

It's a riotous farce that reminded me of the stories of Tom Sharpe in its eccentric characters and extreme situations.

David Crawford, Radio Times, 12th March 2013

Tom Sharpe on PG Wodehouse

On the eve of a new six-part adaptation of the Blandings stories by BBC One, author Tom Sharpe tells of his love for the stories of PG Wodehouse.

Tom Sharpe, The Telegraph, 13th January 2013