Christopher Wicking

Christopher Wicking
Born1943
London, England
United Kingdom
Died2008
Toulouse, France
Occupation(s)Film and television screenwriter
Spousethe stage director Lily Susan Todd
Christopher Wicking grave stone in the City of London Cemetery, Newham

Christopher Wicking (10 January 1943 – 13 October 2008), also known as Chris Wicking, was a British screenwriter, often in the horror and fantasy genres, notably for the British arm of American International Pictures and with Hammer Film Productions,[1] for whom he was the last 'resident script editor'.[2][3]

Early life

Wicking was born in London and educated at Coopers' Company's School.[1] While studying at St Martin's School of Art, London, he determined to break into the film industry.[2]

Movies

He began as a film booking clerk for Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors and, while working as an assistant film editor on documentaries[4] in London, he began writing profiles of directors for the influential French movie magazine Cahiers du cinéma.[2] He was a lifelong fan of westerns and wrote movie feature articles and interviews about the genre for various British magazines including the Monthly Film Bulletin and Time Out.[4] He also continued to write for French magazines including Cahiers du cinéma, Positif[4] and Midi Minuit Fantastique.[5]

His first credit as a screenwriter[1] was on the 1969 movie The Oblong Box, initially with Michael Reeves and, after Reeves' death, for director Gordon Hessler.[2] Although Wicking was only credited for "additional dialogue", Hessler later verbally credited him as writing the entire filmed script.[4] Wicking worked on the troubled Blood from the Mummy's Tomb.[6]

Television

Wicking also wrote episodes[2] for British TV series The Professionals (1979–1982),[4] Jemima Shore Investigates and the TV dramas The Way to Dusty Death (1995),[4] On Dangerous Ground (1996).[4] and Powers (2004).[7]

Later years

He taught screenwriting at various UK institutions including the Royal College of Art, the Arvon Foundation,[2] the National Film and Television School, Leeds Metropolitan University and King Alfred's College, Winchester; and, in Ireland, at University College Dublin,[2] the Dublin Institute of Technology and the Irish Film Institute's Education Department.[5] It was said that he had a fondness for "termite art" - less "precious" work that valued personal vision and idiosyncrasy.[2]

Wicking died of a heart attack[2] in Toulouse, France, on 13 October 2008.

Works

Feature films

Television Episodes

  • The Professionals

The Madness of Mickey Hamilton (1979);[8] The Gun (1980);[9] Discovered in a Graveyard (1982)[10]

Book

  • Vahimagi, Tise + Wicking, Christopher (1979). The American Vein: Directors and Directions in Television. Talisman Books ISBN 0-905983-16-5 / ISBN 978-0-905983-16-5

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Jeremy, John (25 October 2008). "Christopher Wicking: Screenwriter and critic who wrote for Hammer and worked on the adaptation of 'Absolute Beginners'". The Independent. London. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Gaughan, Gavin (6 February 2009). "Guardian, 6th February, 2009". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  3. ^ All's Well That Ends: an interview with Chris Wicking Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 55, Iss. 658, (1 November 1988): 322.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "The Times, 1st November, 2008". London. 1 November 2008. Archived from the original on 23 May 2010. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  5. ^ a b "Wicking's incomplete official website, written by Wicking himself, shortly before his death". Retrieved 7 February 2009.[permanent dead link‍]
  6. ^ Vagg, Stephen (26 December 2024). "The Curse of Blood from the Mummy's Tomb". Filmink. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
  7. ^ "Action TV Online - Powers episode guide".
  8. ^ "The Madness of Mickey Hamilton (1979)". BFI. Archived from the original on 15 August 2019.
  9. ^ "The Gun (1980)". BFI. Archived from the original on 27 July 2021.
  10. ^ "Discovered in a Graveyard (1982)". BFI. Archived from the original on 15 August 2019.