Blinded by the Sun
Blinded by the Sun
Stephen Poliakoff
When the retiring professor in a Chemistry department of a northern university chooses Al, a mediocre scientist but a brilliant administrator, to succeed him as head of the department, he sets in motion a chain of events that will test the department’s endurance to the limits. Al begins reorganizing the department, but soon finds that Christopher, his peer and rival, and Elinor, his one-time teacher whom he worships, are unwilling to change the mysterious, isolated way in which they work. Then Christopher announces a major breakthrough, which should assure a prosperous future for all – but which ultimately has disastrous results.
Available
1996
0-573-01929-0
Drama
Samuel French Ltd
Stephen Poliakoff
According to his own website (www.stephenpoliakoff.com) Stephen Poliakoff was born in London and educated at Westminster School and King’s College, Cambridge.
He began his career in the theatre, becoming resident playwright at the National Theatre in London aged 22. He won the Evening Standard’s Most Promising Playwright award for his plays “Hitting Town” and “City Sugar”, and has since written over 20 plays, all of which premiered in Britain’s major theatres including four at the Royal National Theatre, four at The Royal Shakespeare Company and three in the West End. Among his plays are “Clever Soldiers”, “Strawberry Fields”, “Shout Across The River”, “American Days”, “Breaking The Silence”, “Playing With Trains”, “Sweet Panic”, “My City”, “Talk Of The City”, and “Blinded By The Sun”, which won the Critics’ Circle Best Play Award.
Alongside his career in the theatre, Stephen began an extremely successful career writing for British television, working with such leading directors as Michael Apted, Stephen Frears and Peter Hall. Stephen later moved into movies and wrote and directed his first film, “Hidden City” which led to him directing nearly all of his subsequent work.
For both his television work and his movies, Stephen has won an extensive list of international awards. His major credits for television and movies include “Caught On A Train” (1980), which won two BAFTA awards, “Bloody Kids” (1980), “She’s Been Away” (1989), winner of five awards at the Venice Film Festival, “Close My Eyes” (1991), which won the Evening Standard’s Best British Film of the Year Award, “Century” (1994), “Shooting The Past” (1999), which won the Prix Italia, “Perfect Strangers” (2001), winner of two BAFTA awards and a Peabody award, “The Lost Prince” (2003), winner of three Emmys; “Friends And Crocodiles” (2006) and “Gideon’s Daughter” (2006), which won two Golden Globes and a Peabody award, “Joe’s Palace” (2007), and “Capturing Mary” (2007), which was Emmy-nominated and won a BAFTA.
More recently, Stephen released the feature film “Glorious ’39” (2010) with BBC Films. Stephen’s BBC television series “Dancing On The Edge” (2013) achieved international acclaim, winning a Golden Globe, and “Close To The Enemy” was transmitted with remarkable success on BBC Two in November/December 2016. His latest show “Summer of Rockets” premiered on BBC Two in May 2019, receiving critical and audience acclaim.
Stephen was awarded a CBE for his contribution to the arts in 2007. He is also an ambassador for the conservation and environmental organisation WWF-UK for whom he has created two short films, “Astonish Me” (2011) and “Virunga” (2013).