Terence Davies Screenplays, Volume I: Autobiography and Biography

Terence Davies was a British screenwriter, film director, poet, and novelist. The youngest child of a large working-class Catholic family, he was born in Kensington, Liverpool on 10th November 1945. After leaving school at 16, he worked as a clerk in a shipping office and a book-keeper in an accountancy firm for ten years. During this time he gained amateur acting experience, winning the LAMDA Gold Medal and first prize in the National Arts Awards. In 1973 Terence left Liverpool to go to drama school in Coventry, where he wrote the screen play for Children, which would become the first instalment of The Trilogy. He went on to write and direct nine feature films - Distant Voice Still Lives, The Long Day Closes, The Neon Bible, The House of Mirth, Of Time and the City, The Deep Blue Sea, Sunset Song, A Quiet Passion, and Benediction. His final script, an adaptation of Janette Jenkins' novel Firefly, which retells the last five days of the life of Noel Coward, is currently in development. He died on 7 October 2023.

James Dowling is the co-representative of the Terence Davies Estate and was a close friend of Terence during the last years of his life. He began working with Davies on his later film projects (including the script for Firefly) and editing collections of his poetry. James has continued to honour Davies's legacy through film, making two short films based on Terence's poetry: Passing Time (2023), commissioned by Film Fest Gent, and Home! Home! (2024), commissioned by the Centre Pompidou, Paris, as part of a major retrospective.

Lillian Crawford is a writer and curator. She is currently researching a PhD on Screen Two at Royal Holloway, University of London in collaboration with the BBC. Her first book, The Mind of the Doctor: Across the Neurodiverse Universe of Doctor Who, is published by Herne Books in 2026.

Ben Roberts has worked in the film industry for 25 years. Prior to joining the BFI, he was Chief Executive of Protagonist Pictures, and held positions at Universal Pictures and the independent UK distributor Metrodome. Ben is a member of the Executive Branch of AMPAS and on the Board of Trustees of The Terrence Higgins Trust. His first job in film was as an usher at Showcase Cinemas in Coventry.

Jason Wood is a widely published writer on popular culture and Executive Director for Public Programmes and Audiences at the BFI. A veteran of the independent film sector, he was formerly the Creative Director at HOME, Manchester. His curated projects include compilations for Ace Records in collaboration with Bob Stanley, numerous film publications for Faber, Drift, a possible novel with artist Simon Barker and the forthcoming Cognitive Dissident with Matt Johnson (THE THE).