David Llewellyn – författare

David Llewellyn's third Seren novel is a tale of unlikely friendship, between two unlikelier travel companions on the unlikeliest of journeys. Ibrahim is a young Muslim Londoner, walking, for many reasons, from Cardiff to London. On the way he meets Reenie, a 75 year-old Jewish woman who escaped to the East End on the Kindertransport. Complete with her whole life's luggage in a shopping trolley, plus pet cockatiel, Reenie is also walking the M4, and not for charity, either. As the pair share the trip across England and Wales, their paths stretch out into the personal and political turns of European history, in ways neither could have foreseen."A compulsive read... in its hilarious depiction of the grim hypocrisy of modern working life, Eleven is on a par with The Office." – Ray French, The Guardian on ElevenDavid Llewellyn is a novelist and script writer from Pontypool. His first novel, Eleven, written entirely in emails, was published in 2006, followed by Everything Is Sinister in 2008, both published by Seren. He has written two novels for BBC Books' Doctor Who New Series Adventures: The Taking of Chelsea 426 and Night of the Humans, and Trace Memory, a Torchwood spin-off. David now lives and works in Cardiff.

A piece of music starts a story which will range across Soviet Russia, McCarthyite Hollywood and post 9/11 New York, as the mystery of the lives of two gay composers is uncovered. Who wrote the music? How did the two composers’ lives come to cross? What pressures caused their actions? What are the consequences for those around them?In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, a man arrives in New York to claim that the theme tune of a popular tv series, said to be written by composer Sol Conrad, in fact belongs his grandfather Sergey, an eminent Russian composer who was sent to the gulag by Stalin, and from whom Sol stole the score. Conrad’s young PA Natalie is determined to defend her elderly employer, but as she digs deeper she discovers worlds of which she barely knew – Russian labour camps, McCarthyism, repressive governments, and the plight of homosexuals in the USA and USSR during the twentieth century.Natalie, Sol and Serge each tell their stories, ranging across continents and decades. A Simple Scale moves forward through their narratives of love, death, deceit, the CIA, the NKVD, atomic bombs, classical music and Hollywood. In a dramatic conclusion their pasts and presents catch up with them, as the secrecy, manipulation and betrayal that were the centre of Sol and Sergey’s lives inform a few weeks of 2001, when history is about to repeat itself. Rich in detail and atmosphere, David Llewellyn explores the points at which the personal and the political meet. Throughout, his depiction of 30s Leningrad, 50s California and post-9/11 New York is only too believable.

The hit BBC series is back! Big Finish bring immortal Time Agent Captain Jack Harkness back to life in a series of six new audio dramas. What's made billionaire Neil Redmond emerge from his long seclusion? Captain Jack knows the answer, and is prepared to go to any lengths to prove it. A couple of years ago, Neil Redmond was in a terrible accident. His recovery has been long and slow, but now he's back and looking better than ever. Much better than ever. Dark forces have been behind Neil's transformation. Dark forces that Jack has been hunting for a long time. But Captain Jack's never been able to resist the darkness. The huge, and long-running public interest in new Torchwood adventures resulted in a server melt-down when this release was announced by star John Barrowman on his Sunday night radio slot. The popularity of these releases meant that a second series was greenlit only shortly after it began. John Barrowman reprises the character who starred in four years of hit Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood, screened around the world.Torchwood has seen a number of notable guest stars in its TV run, including British legend Richard Briers, as well as the 12th Doctor Who, Peter Capaldi in the chilling miniseries Torchwood - Children of Earth.Torchwood contains adult material and may not be suitable for younger listeners. CAST: John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Steven Cree (Neil Redmond), Emma Reeves (Miss Trent).

The hit BBC series is back! Big Finish bring immortal Time Agent Captain Jack Harkness and colleagues back to audio life for a fresh series of six new audio dramas...They call it "Pulse" - a radio signal which has puzzled the world for 40 years. But now Toshiko Sato has solved it. She's uncovered a message which leads her to Russia, and into an uneasy alliance with the KVI - the Russian equivalent of Torchwood. Toshiko needs to get into Zone 10 - a frozen wasteland which officially doesn't exist. An intergalactic war was once fought in Zone 10 and it turns out there's a survivor. The huge, and long-running public interest in new Torchwood adventures resulted in a server melt-down when its return on audio was announced by star John Barrowman on his Sunday night radio slot. This second series was greenlit even as the later releases of the first popular series were being recorded. Naoko Mori as Tosh becomes the latest of Torchwood's TV stars to join Big Finish's audio version of the series, alongside John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Kai Owen and Gareth David-Lloyd.CAST: Naoko Mori (Toshiko Sato), Krystian Godlewski (Maxim Ivanov), Ella Garland (Anna Volokova), Geoffrey Breton (FSB Agent). Torchwood contains adult material and may not be suitable for younger listeners.

Big Finish picks up events after Miracle Day and Aliens Among Us with Torchwood: God Among Us. When a God comes to Cardiff, the world goes to Hell. Norton Folgate has come from the 1950s to warn Torchwood it's the end of the world. He might have a point - there's an alien god wandering the city, and a sinister force manipulating events behind the scenes. Where are all the homeless people going? And why doesn't it stop raining? 5. Flight 405 by Lou Morgan. 6. Hostile Environment byAsh Darby. 7. Another Man's Shoes by Tim Foley. 8. Eye of the Storm by David Llewellyn. CAST: John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Tracy-Ann Oberman (Yvonne Hartman), Tom Price (Sergeant Andy Davidson), Paul Clayton (Mr Colchester),Alexandria Riley (Ng), Jonny Green (Tyler Steele), Samuel Barnett (Norton Folgate), Jacqueline King (God), David Warner(The Committee), Ramon Tikaram (Colin Colchester-Price), Jessica Hayles (Kirsty), Rhys Isaac-Jones (Aaron), Kyle Lima(Ben), Laura Dalgleish (Phone Shop Manager), Che Francis (Jay), Richard Henderson (Waiter), Rakie Ayola (Andrea Davenport).Other parts played by members of the cast. NOTE: Torchwood contains adult material and is not suitable for younger listeners.

In Cardiff's offices and call centres the twenty-something white collar workers of the new sweatshops email each other with work issues, jokes, arrangements for their social lives, gossip and the products of sheer boredom. As the day passes, would-be author Martin conducts this correspondence and saves in Drafts a variety of emails to himself – a commentary on his life.Martin is tired of customer services, in denial over breaking up with his girlfriend, worried about 'that incident' in London, and baffled by the triviality of his life and those of his drinking, recreational drug-taking friends. What is the plot he's supposed to be following? How has it come to this? When on this day, 11th September, 2001, people fly airliners into buildings, Martin knows he's reached a critical point in his life. He sends his final email…Told entirely through emails, part The Office, part Beckett, Eleven is a striking debut novel: smart, funny, brutally sad, and a genuine response to 21st century society in the UK and beyond."A compulsive read, written entirely in the form of emails sent by the characters over the course of one day. Martin and his friends work in the offices and call centres of Cardiff; and in its hilarious depiction of the grim hypocrisy of modern working life, Eleven is on a par with The Office." Ray French, The Guardian"In offering a dark comedy, Llewellyn shows more taste than do many more earnest seekers of artistic relevance. Llewellyn's novel is a funny, disturbing view of a disaffected age"Nicholas Clee, The Guardian"The rapid-fire volley of email traffic provides the ideal vehicle for Llewellyn's spiky humour... Eleven conveys a longing to reach beyond the frequently alienating experience of modern-day life to something more meaningful and humane"New Welsh ReviewDavid Llewellyn was raised in Pontypool and is a graduate of Dartington College of Arts. He has written scripts for the BBC and several short stories. David now lives and works in Cardiff. This is his first novel.

'Violence is the new language, celebrity is the new currency.'Everything is Sinister is a darkly humorous novel with a biting take on the modern cult of celebrity and its potentially horrific consequences."Destined to become a cult book, Llewellyn offers conspiracies of the media world and scepticism of the future of humanity." Buzz Magazine"This is going to sound horribly sycophantic, but I'm going to say it anyway: David Llewellyn's new book is great. The book is an adroit but powerful take on a society in which sex and violence have been commoditised, and in which the media can wreck or redeem an individual in an instant." Ceri Radford, Telegraph blogEd Raynes is the showbiz correspondent for Britain's most popular tabloid, The Voice of the People. In the sweltering, tinderbox summer of 2010, with the Olympic village construction site on his doorstep, Ed guards a shocking secret known only to himself, and an executive of the all-powerful K-Media group - as well as the winner of the countrys highest rating reality TV show Lockdown.The entire country, and his colleagues, is absorbed in Lockdown - a show where contestants are put in prison and then 'paroled' by the public vote. But are the contestants really what they seem?As Ed's world of parties and red carpets begins to crumble, he becomes a recluse in his Docklands apartment, his only exposure to the outside world being via his balcony, from where he watches the commuters come and go - and his electronic media, TV and the internet, straining his already tenuous relationship with reality.But is Ed a victim of his own paranoia or is there really something wrong with people? And who is Nigel? the man in the apartment below Ed's, and his Princess Diana look-alike friend? As the outside world refuses to let him go, his life transforms into a nightmarish Heart of Darkness mission, played out in the concrete and glass jungle of Canary Wharf!Readers of Ed's blog can follow the twists and turns of an apparently sinister conspiracy which won't end until violence and celebrity join forces, with lethal consequences.Taking in the themes of reality TV, mass communication for the internet generation, sexuality and 21st century city life, 29-year-old Llewellyn has created a superbly enjoyable, disturbing tale of conspiracy, red carpets, paranoia and daytime television.David Llewellyn was raised in Pontypool and is a graduate of Darlington College of Arts. He has written scripts for the BBC and several short stories. David now lives and works in Cardiff.