Bill Lyons – författare

From America’s most beloved foursome—the TikTok sensation @theoldgays—a book of unexpected aspirational advice and inspirational stories drawn from their decades of living, from pre-Stonewall to the rise of the LGBTQ+ movement to gay marriage and beyond.

Ranging in age from 67 to 80, Mick, Jessay, Robert, and Bill are the real-life Golden Girls of the social media era, a quartet of old gays whose hard-won confidence and awesome authenticity have taken the culture by storm. They are America’s beloved Queens—and more importantly, they are survivors whose lives have been transformed by sweeping cultural change. In this fabulously fun and entertaining book, they share their stories—humorous, heartbreaking, shocking, and profound tales which only older gay men can tell. It was their generation that was devastated by AIDS, a health crisis that deprived us of so many brilliant, creative lives, including many of their friends.

In this delightful group memoir, Mick, Jessay, Robert, and Bill intimately reveal all about their lives, revealing who they are beyond TikTok, where they came from, and how they found each other. They offer their collective wisdom on a rainbow of topics, including coming out, sex, gay liberation, gay marriage, AIDS, aging, and saving the best act for last. Outrageous and hilarious, refreshingly earnest and unfiltered, engaging and insightful, they’ve been through it all—harassment, divorce, depression, bankruptcy, even near-death experiences. Between the four of them, there''s not much of life they haven''t seen or done, and now they dish on everything from fitness and fabulous dinner parties to church and orgies. 

An intimate and moving portrait of four friends who have experienced the good, the bad and the ugly—and look forward to the best that is still to come, The Old Gays Guide to the Good Life is a celebration of lives lived to the fullest—sometimes against all odds—and a lesson for all of us that age is just a number and that getting older can be outrageously fun.

Four full-cast dramas featuring the London police duoSergeant Jimmy Vogel is an old-school, down-to-earth copper. Dedicated and tenacious, he''s happy to work overtime to get results (to the dismay of his long-suffering wife, Mo). But after repeatedly missing out on promotion, he finds himself working under Superintendent Fraser, whose methods are alien to him. For Jimmy, policing''s about understanding human nature, while his boss relies more on facts and figures. But to catch criminals, it takes both science and instinct, as the duo discover in these four stories.Body on the Heath - A young man is found on Putney Heath, his throat cut. Who is he, and how did he come to die such a grisly death? Vogel''s having trouble finding any satisfactory answers...An Ordinary Bloke - When a woman is killed by faulty electrical wiring, it looks like murder. Her husband is the obvious suspect, but he''s disappeared - and in tracking him down, Vogel and Fraser uncover unpleasant truths and secrets dating back thirty years.Sins of the Father - Jimmy Vogel is feeling his age. He''s finally managed to make Inspector, but at the expense of his home life; he''s feeling out of step with the youngsters at the station; and Superintendent Fraser still criticises his lack of tact. And his current investigation isn''t making life any easier...Background - The old firm of Vogel and Fraser is in danger of breaking up. Fraser''s stuck behind a desk and rarely gets out on the job, and Vogel''s thinking of packing it in altogether. But neither of them can resist a challenge, and when a child is kidnapped they both get back on the case.Created by veteran scriptwriter Bill Lyons, these thrilling detective dramas star Douglas Livingstone as Vogel and Nigel Hawthorne as Fraser, with Diana Bishop as Mo.Cast and creditsStarring Douglas Livingstone as Vogel and Nigel Hawthorne as Fraser, with Diana Bishop as MoProduced and directed by Jane MorganBody on the HeathSgt Mann - Walter HallPC Jackson - Michael HarbourPathologist/Mr Simon - Bruce PurchaseHairdresser/Waiter/Car park attendant - Alan DudleyLaura Holland - Colette O''NeilEdward Holland - David GrahamAnnie Viccars - Valerie MurrayEric Hills - Christopher BidmeadDavid Simon - Steven PaceyWith Michael Tudor Barnes and Irene SutcliffeFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 23 October 1976An Ordinary BlokeJack Davis - Philip StoneVi Davis - Joan MathesonRobert Davis - Gavin CampbellDet-Sgt Burridge - Michael GoldieBrian - Walter HallPC Jackson - Kenneth ShanleyMargaret Davis - Frances JeaterSpooner - Christopher SaulBrenda Parsons - Sheila ReidAlan Davis - Brian HewlettMrs Walters - Margot BoydSheila Stewart - Nicolette McKenzieTechnical presentation by David GreenwoodAssisted by David Hitchinson, Nick Bamford and Allyson ReedFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 3 September 1977Sins of the FatherMrs Sutton - Petra DaviesCharles Sutton - Philip VossJo Blackitt - Jenny TwiggeDave Walker - Brian CarrollMayor - Brian HainesTony Sutton - Merlin WardEric Roye - Fred BryantGerry Marshall - Dominic CoxHarris - Jeffrey SegalTina - Tina LyonsClub Leader - David SinclairMrs Marshall - Eva StuartGaffer - John BottFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 22 September 1979BackgroundMrs Ornum - Miranda ForbesMr Ornum - Michael McStayTimothy Ornum - Rusty LivingstoneAndy - Leroi SamuelsDave - Alex JenningsInsp Peter Gardner - Ronald BaddileyRick - Michael DeeksChas - Simon HewittStew - Patrick FieldDC Young - Steve HodsonSharon Fraser - Alexandra MathieMrs Fraser - Lillias WalkerFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 29 January 1983© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd(p) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd