The Boy with Two Heads

The incredible story of a boy with two heads, from Andy Mulligan, the acclaimed author of Trash.

[A] simple, funny and very engaging premise . . . Mulligan rewrites tragedy as a triumph, and turns the story into a neat way to explore friendship and tolerance.

Mulligan certainly delivers in this extraordinary examination of grief . . . A highly original, emotionally-charged black comedy/thriller. A worthy successor to Mulligan’s excellent Trash.

I really enjoyed this funny, sad and truthful fable . . . Mulligan makes a great deal of friendship and the huge source of strength and support it can be.

A poignant and heart-warming story about life and all the hardships and troubles that this can bring . . . A fascinating and brilliant read . . . Another blinding story from Andy Mulligan, which delivers the unexpected with superb imaginative  qualities.

Fast-paced and irresistibly readable. Two heads, it appears, really are better than one

[A] simple, funny and very engaging premise...Mulligan rewrites tragedy as a triumph, and turns the story into a neat way to explore friendship and tolerance.

Mulligan certainly delivers in this extraordinary examination of grief....highly original, emotionally-charged black comedy / thriller. A worthy successor to Mulligan’s excellent Trash.

[A] poignant, imaginative take on adolescence

I really enjoyed this funny, sad and truthful fable...Mulligan makes a great deal of friendship and the huge source of strength and support it can be.

A poignant and heart-warming story about life and all the hardships and troubles  that this can bring...A fascinating and brilliant read...Another blinding story  from Andy Mulligan, which delivers the unexpected with superb imaginative  qualities.

A complex and absorbing novel with vivid characters

Gripping dark comedy . . . [A] clever portrayal of a boy on the cusp of adolescence struggling to reconcile opposing impulses within himself

Andy Mulligan was brought up in South London. He worked as a theatre director for ten years, before travels in Asia prompted him to retrain as a teacher. He has taught English and Drama in Britain, India, Brazil and the Philippines. 
 
Andy's novel Trash has been published in twenty-two languages and is now a Bafta-nominated major film directed by Stephen Daldry and scripted by Richard Curtis.

How would you feel if you woke up and found another head growing out of your neck? A living, breathing, TALKING head, with a rude, sharp tongue and an evil sense of humour. It knows all your darkest thoughts and it’s not afraid to say what it thinks . . . to ANYBODY. 
 
That's what happens to eleven-year-old Richard Westlake, and life becomes very, very complicated. 
 
Part thriller, part horror, part comedy – this is one of the most riveting novels about fear and friendship that you will ever read. 
 
 
Andy Mulligan won the 2011 Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, and his international bestseller, Trash, is now a major film – directed by Stephen Daldry and with screenplay by Richard Curtis.

Trash

The tie-in edition of the critically acclaimed novel. Uplifting and heartwarming, TRASH is a story that will touch the world.

One of the most exciting and original novels of the year . . . It's a tight, thrilling story, told from various characters' perspectives and has a Slumdog, feel-good pulse beating through it. A genuine treasure find

One of my favourite novels of 2010, now in paperback with a new cover look. Reminiscent of Slumdog Millionaire, three dumpsite boys take on the world in this gripping and intensely moving story . . . Harrowing, exhilarating, humbling and quite brilliant

Outstanding, hotly anticipated thriller . . . an exceptionally satisfying plot

Great stuff: taut, plausible and thought-provoking

Trash is a thriller with moral weight and a complex structure . . . Without ever moralising, Mulligan raises issues of corruption, poverty, waste and excess in an exciting, but also grimly sad tale

Wonderful - an exciting story with engaging characters told in a clever way with spare but lyrical prose . . . Trash comes highly recommended by me, and I don't have time to say any more about it because I'm off to read it again. And after that, I might read it again. And then again. You read it too

This is a highly entertaining and very satisfying book which should be recommended to all. It needs to be read.

Harrowing, exhilarating, humbling and quite brilliant

Headlong and heart-stopping, this is an adventure you just can't put down

There is danger, and action, and periods of lying low - the tension is well developed and the climax gloriously appropriate. This was a very exciting read, and I certainly recommend it

A cracker of a thriller . . . a zippy and classic briefcase-full-of-money thrill ride

An exciting thriller about justice and courage pitted against ruthless corruption that takes readers into perilous places and prepares them for Oliver Twist

A brilliant book I cannot recommend highly enough

Exciting and fast moving as the story is, it also tugs at your heartstrings and reminds the reader that there are many young people for whom this way of life is reality. Unmissable!

This is a powerful and gripping story that takes us into some painful places, but makes us believe that transformation is possible - that the vulnerable and weak can sometimes triumph against a whole system. I would very highly recommend it

While readers will delight in the excitement and adventure of this story, they will also learn about the poverty and difficulties faced by many children throughout the world and about the consequences of corruption in government

The chase leads them throughout the city, exposing the great disparity between the "haves" and the "have nots," and the huge injustice this represents. They face moral dilemmas throughout and, ultimately, make good decisions. Their intelligence and characters make the condition in which they live seem even more unfair

An exciting read full of suspense. This will appeal to boys and to girls, and could act as a stimulus to classroom discussion of poverty, child workers, recycling in third world countries and the misuse of economic and political power

NOW A MAJOR FILM BY STEPHEN DALDRY AND RICHARD CURTIS 
 
Raphael is a dumpsite boy. He spends his days wading through mountains of steaming trash, sifting it, sorting it, breathing it, sleeping next to it. 
 
Then one unlucky-lucky day, Raphael's world turns upside down. A small leather bag falls into his hands. It's a bag of clues. It's a bag of hope. It's a bag that will change everything. 
 
Soon Raphael and his friends Gardo and Rat are running for their lives. Wanted by the police, it takes all their quick-thinking and fast-talking to stay ahead. As the net tightens, they uncover a dead man's mission to put right a terrible wrong. 
 
And now it's three street boys against the world...

Andy Mulligan

Tom Hollander

Full Cast

Sian Gibson

Tony Gardner

A BBC Radio full-cast comedy drama

Tom Hollander stars as a washed-up TV actor brought in to turn around a failing academy by staging a school play 
 
Newly rebranded Deer Park Academy is struggling to turn itself around after being placed in special measures. Hoping to inspire the students (and tick the 'creative learning' box for the next Ofsted inspection), the headmaster decides to put on a production of Romeo and Juliet. 
 
But inspiration can be dangerous, and when has-been ex-TV star Geoff Cathcart is brought in to direct, he opens a Pandora's box of problems. Geoff is a maverick with little time for rules and regulations, a laissez-faire attitude to health and safety and his own, somewhat unorthodox, ideas about education and creativity. The management doesn't realise what a fire it's lighting and the flames are soon out of control. Then, with opening night looming, a background check reveals that he isn't quite who he appears to be. However, the show must go on, and as the curtain finally rises, the students take to the stage... 
 
Written by Andy Mulligan, whose novel Trash has been translated into 35 languages, this funny, moving 4-part drama stars Tom Hollander (Rev, The Night Manager) and Sian Gibson (Peter Kay's Car Share), performing alongside the staff and students of Portsmouth Grammar School. The final episode comprises an actual, hour-long production of Shakespeare's tragedy of star-crossed lovers, as performed by the pupils of Deer Park Academy with a little help from Tom Hollander as the Friar, Rob Jarvis (Hustle) as Capulet and Suzie Baxter (Suffragette) as the Nurse. 
 
Production credits 
Written by Andy Mulligan 
Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare and adapted by Andy Mulligan 
Produced by Emma Hearn 
Directed by John Dryden 
Music by Jon Ouin 
Sound by Steve Bond 
A Goldhawk Production for BBC Radio 4 
 
Cast 
Geoff/Friar Lawrence - Tom Hollander 
Michelle - Sian Gibson 
Headmaster - Tony Gardner 
Gail - Heather Craney 
Festival Administrator - Vincent Ebrahim 
Tom/Capulet - Rob Jarvis 
Charlie/Romeo - Divian Ladwa 
Naia/Juliet - Rebecca Emerton 
Louie/Mercutio - Rory Greenwood 
Ben/Paris - Rob Merriam 
Ryan/Benvolio - Finn Elliot 
School Secretary/Nurse - Susie Baxter 
Zoe - Floss Willcocks 
Vehicle Manager - Angus Kennedy 
Radio Presenter - Jason King 
Tybalt - Stevie Basaula 
Lady Capulet - Lily-Fleur Bradbury 
Friar John - Caolan McCarthy 
Lady Montague - Abby Moss 
Chorus - Poppy Goad 
Prince - Joe McCue 
 
All other parts played by students and teachers at Portsmouth Grammar School: Abby Moss, Poppy Goad, Thomas Locke, Joe McAuley, Freddie Fenton, Douglas James, Joe Haylock, Jay Pasricha, JM Hopkinson, Caleb Barron, Joe McCue, Floss Willcocks, JM Hopkinson 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 18-21 May 2016 
 
© 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
(p) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Andy Mulligan

Books by Andy Mulligan

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