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John Preston (born 1953) is an English journalist and novelist. He is the author of books and screenplays which became successful films on Netflix (The Dig with Ralph Fiennes, Lily James and Carey Mulligan) and award-winning series on BBC (A Very English Scandal with Hugh Grant) and on ITV (Stonehouse, with Matthew Macfadyen).

Career

John Preston attended Marlborough College in Wiltshire from 1967 to 1971. He worked as the Arts Editor of The Evening Standard and The Sunday Telegraph. He was The Sunday Telegraph's television critic for ten years and one of its chief feature writers.

Preston wrote four novels between 1996 and 2007. All are set in England in the recent past: Ghosting in the world of radio and television in the 1950s; Ink in the dying days of Fleet Street's importance in journalism in the 1980s; Kings of the Roundhouse in strife-torn London in the 1970s; and The Dig in the 1930s. Preston wrote The Dig, a novelised account of the Sutton Hoo archaeological dig, after discovering that his aunt had been one of the key participants. The Dig has been made into a feature film starring Ralph Fiennes, Carey Mulligan, and Lily James, released on Netflix in 2021.

A Very English Scandal, Preston's non-fiction account of the Jeremy Thorpe affair of the 1970s, was adapted into a television miniseries starring Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw in 2018. His 2020 non-fiction book, Fall: The Mystery of Robert Maxwell, won the Costa Book Award for biographies in 2021, and is being adapted for television by Working Title. In 2022, Preston authored the script for Stonehouse, a television series biography of disgraced politician John Stonehouse.

Preston's most recent book, Watford Forever, examining the takeover of Watford F.C. by Sir Elton John and written in collaboration with John himself, was published in November 2023.

In 2022 Preston worked as the screenwriter on Runners, a television drama series about the Bow Street Runners, and in late 2023 he worked on a mini-series based on Liz Truss's short-lived tenure as Prime Minister, entitled 49 Days.

Critical assessments

The Sunday Times reviewer of Ink said, "With a rare gift for both humour and desolation, Preston is a brilliant new player in the field of serious comedy." Reviewing Kings of the Roundhouse in The Guardian, Harry Ritchie called it "that unusual thing – an intelligent comic novel that really is very funny". The Labour politician Chris Mullin said A Very English Scandal was "probably the most forensic, elegantly written and compelling account of one of the 20th century's great political scandals ... a real page-turner" and an "entertaining mix of tragedy and farce". The Guardian's reviewer of Fall praised Preston's "great skill at exposing hypocrisy and subterfuge" and his "eye for the telling detail and an ear for the revealing quote".

Family

Preston lives in London. He is married to journalist and bridge columnist Susanna Gross and his brother-in law is political commentator Tom Gross.

Books

• Touching the Moon (1991; non-fiction, about a trip to the Mountains of the Moon in Uganda)
• Ghosting (1996; novel)
• Ink (1999; novel)
• Kings of the Roundhouse (2006; novel)
• The Dig (2007; novel)
• A Very English Scandal: Sex, Lies and a Murder Plot at the Heart of the Establishment (2016; non-fiction, on the Jeremy Thorpe affair)
• Fall: The Mystery of Robert Maxwell (2020; non-fiction)
• Watford Forever (with Sir Elton John; 2023; non-fiction)

References

1. "OMs in 2021 Bafta nominations". The Marlburian Club. 12 March 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
2. "John Preston". Cliveden Literary Festival. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
3. Preston, John (29 April 2007). "My buried history". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
4. Blakemore, Erin (29 January 2021). "Why this famed Anglo-Saxon ship burial was likely the last of its kind". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 29 January 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
5. "Costa Book Awards 2021 category winners announced". Costa. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
6. "Stonehouse:The true story that inspired the ITV drama starring Matthew MacFayden". The Independent.
7. "New Elton John & Graham Taylor Book To Launch This November". Watford FC. 30 August 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
8. "Viking signs 'inspiring' story of Watford FC, Elton John and Graham Taylor from Preston". The Bookseller. 30 August 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
9. "Watford Forever". Penguin. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
10. Yossman, K. J. (7 September 2022). "Banijay Rights Sets New Returning Drama Series 'Runners' With Writer John Preston, Clearwood Films". Variety. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
11. Singh, Anita (3 October 2023). "Liz Truss's 49 days in power to be subject of new drama series". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
12. John O'Farrell, This Is Your Life, Random House, London, 2012, p. 333.
13. Ritchie, Harry (23 October 2004). "Fast and loose". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
14. Mullin, Chris (9 May 2016). "A Very English Scandal review – Jeremy Thorpe's fall continues to fascinate". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
15. Campbell, Duncan (31 January 2021). "Fall by John Preston review". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
16. "Susanna Gross". The English Bridge Union. Retrieved 25 March 2023.

External links

• John Preston at IMDb
• John Preston speaking about his book A Very English Scandal on YouTube

• 1953 births
• Living people
• 20th-century English novelists
• 21st-century English novelists
• People educated at Marlborough College
• English male non-fiction writers
• English male novelists
• English male journalists
• English male television writers
• 20th-century English journalists
• 20th-century English non-fiction writers
• 21st-century English non-fiction writers
• 20th-century English male writers
• 21st-century British male writers
• 21st-century English screenwriters