Barry Hines

Birth : 1939-06-30, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England, UK

Death : 2016-03-13

History

An English author, playwright, screenwriter and amateur footballer. His novels and screenplays explore the political and economic struggles of working-class Northern England, particularly in his native West Riding/South Yorkshire. He is best known for the novel A Kestrel for a Knave (1968), which he helped adapt for Ken Loach's film Kes (1969). He collaborated with Loach on adaptations of his novels Looks and Smiles and The Gamekeeper, and the 1977 two-part television drama The Price of Coal. He also wrote the television film Threads, which depicts the impact of a nuclear war on Sheffield.

Profile

Movies

Greg Davies: Looking for Kes

Self (Archival Footage)

Comedian, actor and ex-English teacher Greg Davies is a lifelong fan of Barry Hines's classic novel A Kestrel for a Knave, the story of Billy Casper training a kestrel as an escape from his troubled home and school life. In this documentary, Greg goes in search of the book's enduring appeal, travelling to Barnsley, where the book was set and where Ken Loach's famous adaptation, Kes, was filmed.

Born Kicking

Writer

Roxanne (known as Roxy) is a star performer in her local soccer team. Her natural talent is noticed by local team owner Victor Grace who signs her up. However it's not so easy being the only female professional soccer star in the country.

Shooting Stars

Writer

Drama set around the kidnapping of a footballer.

Threads

Writer

Documentary style account of a nuclear holocaust and its effect on the working class city of Sheffield, England; and the eventual long run effects of nuclear war on civilization.

Looks and Smiles

Writer

Thatcherism and the Irish troubles provide the backdrop for this study of Mick, a well-meaning youth in Sheffield, who has, unlike Dickens' Pip, no expectations. Mick lives with his parents, works on his motorbike, looks for work, and every two weeks gets his check from the dole. There are no jobs. His best mate Alan joins the army to fix tanks and is sent to Belfast to quell Catholics. At a disco, Mick meets Karen, who works at a shoe shop and lives with her recently-separated mom. Karen misses her dad. She offers Mick emotional stability and a route to adulthood; Alan pitches the army. Does Mick have a future?

The Gamekeeper

Novel

George Purse is the gamekeeper for the duke's estate, a role he takes seriously. His position gives him a certain status, but he has an uneasy relationship with some of the locals, not least those who turn to poaching

The Price of Coal, Part 2: Back to Reality

Writer

A month after the royal visit, the workers at Milton Colliery are brought crashing back down to earth by an underground explosion.

The Price of Coal, Part 1: Meet the People

Writer

The workers of Milton Colliery prepare for a royal visit from Prince Charles.

Speech Day

Writer

Speech Day is a bit of a laugh if you are not one of nature's prize-winners. But now that they've finished with school and school with them, what comes next for Ronnie, Wally and Rob?

Billy's Last Stand

Writer

Billy is his own boss. But Darkly has plans for him ...

Kes

Writer

A young, English working-class boy finds a kestrel and decides to train it.