RICHARD JAMES
BOWMAN OF THE YARD
'Most of us are au fait with the dark side of Victorian London, the sharp contrast between rich and poor in their overcrowded slums, the crime and prostitution, thanks to the novels of Charles Dickens.
However, James’s novels are not full of sentimentality, nor are his young ruffians angels in disguise. We smell the filth and blood and hear the screams of those beaten to a pulp by villains. As in many crime novels, it is not the vicious underclass who are the true villains, but those with power and money.'
Historical Novel Society
Richard James takes the reader right to the heart of Victorian London, introducing them to a range of fascinating characters through his flawed hero, Inspector George Bowman of Scotland Yard. Bringing the sights, sounds and smells of Victorian England to life, the Bowman Of The Yard series is a thrilling and often explosive journey through a troubled man's year...
'A genuinely impressive debut. Richard James has crafted an engrossing mystery with a great sense of atmosphere, and meticulously researched.' Andrew Cartmel, The Vinyl Detective
'A stunning debut. Wonderfully atmospheric, full of the thrills of Victorian London.' Adam Croft
'A masterful new Victorian mystery series.' Rosie Amber Books
Inspector Bowman's Casebook is a series of short stories to fill the gaps between the novels. Each of the two volumes contains four stories set in the months in between the novels, so the whole of 1892 is chronicled. You can download the first story, The Smithfield Murder, for FREE and even find a bonus Bowman adventure, Last Orders, in the short story collection, Victoriana, from Sharpe Books.
'Richard James has chosen a period he clearly has great affection for as a setting. He revels in the details and in sharing what his characters see and feel around them. It’s a time long-gone now, but in the hands of the author, as vibrant and full of life as it must surely once have been.' Desmond Bagley Online
THE WORLDS OF GERRY ANDERSON
Richard's association with the legendary TV producer Gerry Anderson began when he played Officer Orrin in Gerry's last live-action sci-fi series, Space Precinct. Since then, with the blessing of Anderson Entertainment, he has novelised many forgotten and new Gerry Anderson stories from the likes of the never-filmed Five Star Five and Intergalactic Rescue 4 to continuations of the Space Precinct story...
SPACE PRECINCT
Richard is uniquely placed to continue the Space Precinct saga. To celebrate the series' twentieth anniversary in 2014, he produced a memoir of his time filming all twenty-four episodes at Pinewood Studios. Space Precinct Unmasked takes the reader behind the scenes on what was, at the time, 'the most expensive TV series ever made'!
He was later approached by Anderson Entertainment to novelise the unfilmed pilot episode Demeter City and then to pen four more adventures for the officers of Precinct 88.
Space Precinct Revisited includes four stories featuring your favourite characters from the show, and is available as an audio download from Big Finish Productions, whilst Fight The Future celebrates the series' 30th anniversary with an era-spanning adventure!
FIVE STAR FIVE
Richard's novel, John Lovell and the Zargon Threat, is a direct adaptation of Gerry and Tony Barwick's 1977 screenplay, Five Star Five. Scheduled to shoot at Bray Studios after filming the second series of Space 1999, the project ultimately came to nothing, despite stages having been booked and a director hired. It tells the story of a haggard space freighter captain and his simian sidekick, Clarence the chimp, as they assemble a crack squad of disparate characters to help defeat the villainous Zargons. Billed as 'the Magnificent Seven in space', Five Star Five would have introduced cinema audiences to a thrilling space epic set in the outer reaches of the galaxy. Sadly, it wasn't to be.
With the first novelisation released, Richard set to work on two further adventures for the Five Star Five. Featuring the same group of characters from Gerry and Tony's original script, these all-new adventures take John Lovell to many strange worlds in his attempts to defend the peaceful planet of Kestra.
OTHER ANDERSON TITLES
In 1975, Gerry worked with producer Fred Freiberger to produce a treatment for a new live action series. Set aboard the multi-purpose rescue ship, Intergalactic Rescue 4, this thirteen part series would see two young teenagers, Jason Stone and Anne Warren, and their two robots Alpha and Zeta span the galaxy in their attempts to save others from distress. The treatments for ten of the stories were presented to Richard for novelisation. Many of the stories were fully fleshed out, others were simply a few lines detailing the young space pilots' adventures.
First Action Bureau was born in the COVID lockdowns of 2020. Created and written by Jamie Anderson and Nicholas Briggs, it was an audio adventure in ten parts featuring Genevieve Gaunt, Paterson Joseph, Nicola Walker and Sacha Dhawan. In 2023, Richard was approached to write a prequel to the events in the audio series, detailing how the heroine, Nero Jones, came to be the woman we had come to know.
Twelvetrees & McKay
There is more to Percival Twelvetrees than meets the eye, but then Blair McKay has known that for years. Ever since they met during a campaign in the First Boer War, the two men have grown accustomed to one another's company. A chance encounter at the Hyperion Club throws them into a series of thrilling adventures, as chronicled in a collection of novellas by the ever-dependable McKay. As they journey further from their home in Space and Time aboard the locomotive, The Empress Of India, the two companions encounter thrills and spills that might sit comfortably in the pages of a book by Jules Verne or H.G. Wells.
But are they adventurers for adventure's sake? Or are they both on the run from some dreadful secret, the consequences of which they must surely face if they ever return home...?
Coming soon...
And another thing...
As a writer of Victorian Crime Fiction, Richard has spent an inordinate amount of time in 19th-century England - and even more so as an actor!
On stage, he has appeared in productions featuring Sherlock Holmes, including The Hound Of The Baskervilles, A Sherlock Carol and even in his own play The Mystery Of Sherlock Holmes.
On TV, he has taken a guest role in season two of Miss Scarlet & The Duke whilst, on the big screen, he has made appearances in Great Expectations and, more recently, Ebenezer (pictured).
~REVIEWS~
'A GENUINELY IMPRESSIVE DEBUT'
'THE HEAD IN THE ICE', ANDREW CARTMEL, THE VINYL DETECTIVE
'VERY EXCITING, VISUAL AND CLEVER BOOK'
'FIRST ACTION BUREAU: DAMAGED GOODS', GENEVIEVE GAUNT, NARRATOR
'FROM ITS ACTION-PACKED OPENING CHAPTER, JAMES NEVER LETS THE PACE UP'
'JOHN LOVELL AND THE ZARGON THREAT', WARPED FACTOR
'A COMPREHENSIVE, WITTY INSIGHT INTO THE SHOW'S HISTORY'
'SPACE PRECINCT UNMASKED', DEN OF GEEK
