Clive Jermain
Writing
Biography
Clive Jermain was a British playwright, famous for his semi-autobiographical TV play The Best Years of Your Life. Jermain was diagnosed with spinal cancer at 15 and given a year to live. Defying the odds, Jermain's first credit was for writing additional material for the Jim Davidson sitcom Up the Elepehant and Round the Castle in 1985. In 1987, he became a presenter on One in Four, a BBC magazine programme for people with disabilities. His play The Best Years of Your Life was broadcast in 1986 and repeated again in 1987. Jermain died at the age of 22 in 1988.
Known For
Young lovable rogue Jim London becomes a man of property when a relative dies, leaving him a run-down Victorian property at 17 Railway Terrace in the Elephant and Castle area of south London. He gets into various problems with the police and spends most of his time getting drunk and chasing women.
Up the Elephant and Round the Castle
Robert Clark is 17, wheelchair-bound, and he hasn't long to live. But he tries to come to terms with a bleak outlook. So do his father and brother Mark. Out of the situation, the three discover a bond and a certain strength.