Created by Dick Francis
(1920-2010)
DAVID CLEVELAND, the hero of Dick Francis’ Slay Ride, a 1973 standalone, is the chief investigator for the British Jockey Club.
There were a series of TV-movies, possibly Canadian-made, based on Francis’s books, which used the Cleveland character as their continuing hero, substituting Cleveland for whoever actually served as the hero in the Francis book being adapted. If that memory is accurate, Cleveland is, in a sense, not merely a one-off protagonist.
(When Jim’s right, Jim’s right. And his memory is correct. There were three TV movies made back in the eighties, starring Ian McShane as Cleveland. These Irish-Canadian productions were packaged as The Dick Francis Mysteries and were shown all over the place in the 1990’s. Unfortunately, the results were mostly disappointing, with the locations and the story lines substantially changed, and only vaguely recognizable at times, although it’s a hoot seeing Al Swearengen/Lovejoy in a different role. — the editor)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dick Francis is, of course, the British champion jockey-turned-thriller writer famous for his horse-racing themed mysteries. His crippled champion jockey-turned-private eye Sid Halley, who appeared in four novels, and spawned a TV series, is probably his best known character.
NOVELS
- Slay Ride (1973) |Â Buy this book
TELEVISION
- THE DICK FRANCIS MYSTERIES |Â Buy the VHS set |Â Buy this DVD set
(1989, Comedia Entertainment Inc/Raidio Teilifis Eireann)
Based on the novels by Dick Francis
Executive producers: Dennis E. Doty and Jacky Stoller
Starring Ian McShane as DAVID CLEVELAND - BLOODSPORT
(1989, Comedia Entertainment Inc/Raidio Teilifis Eireann)
Based on the novels by Dick Francis
Teleplay byAndrew Payne
Directed by Harvey Hart
Produced byJonathan Hackett
Executive producers: Dennis E. Doty and Jacky Stoller
Starring Ian McShane as DAVID CLEVELAND
Also starringHeath Lamberts, Lloyd Bochner, Kenneth Welsh, Patrick Macnee, Carolyn Dunn, Jennifer Dale, Timothy Webber, Laurie Paton, Cameron Graham, Barbara Franklin, R.D. Reid, Louis Tripp - IN THE FRAME
(1989, Comedia Entertainment Inc/Raidio Teilifis Eireann)
Based on the novel by Dick Francis
Teleplay byAndrew Payne
Directed by Wigbert Wicker
Produced byMathias Wittich
Executive producers: Dennis E. Doty and Jacky Stoller
Starring Ian McShane as DAVID CLEVELAND
Also starringLyman Ward, Amadeus August, Peter Sattmann, Patrick Cauderlier, Rainer Grenkowitz, Cedric Smith, Joseph Ziegler, Laura Dickson, Hans-Peter Korff, Jack Duffy, Liliane Clune, Karin Rasenack, Barbara Rudnik - TWICE SHY
(1989, Comedia Entertainment Inc/Raidio Teilifis Eireann)
Based on the novel by Dick Francis
Teleplay by Miles Henderson
Directed by Deirdre Friel
Produced by W. Paterson Ferns
Executive producers: Dennis E. Doty and Jacky Stoller
Starring Ian McShane as DAVID CLEVELAND
Also starring Kate McKenzie, Karl Hayden, Dearbhla Molloy, Niall Toibin, Conor Mullen, David Herlihy, Stephen Brennan, John Keegan, Oliver Maguire, Pat Leavy, Patrick Macnee, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Jim Reid, Deirdre O’Kane
Respectfully submitted for our consideration by Jim Doherty, King of the Wild Frontier.
