Jonathan Maitland in May 2012

Jonathan Maitland is a British playwright and former broadcaster.

Early life

He was educated at Epsom College and graduated from King's College London with a degree in law.

Journalism

Maitland started his writing career in the 1980s as a reporter on The Sutton Guardian. He reported for BBC Radio Bristol and BBC Radio 4's Today programme. He was also a general correspondent for BBC News. From 1995–98 he presented and produced factual shows on BBC 1. Many of his reports highlighted hypocrisy and pomposity: one such dispatch, about annoying dress codes at golf clubs, saw him take to the fairways in a black leather mini skirt and a pair of deer antlers. When challenged he pointed out that neither breached the long list of forbidden clothing.

In 1999 he was poached by ITV to present BAFTA winning current affairs show 'Tonight' and the BAFTA nominated 'House Of Horrors', the first show to secretly film and expose rogue traders and builders. During his broadcasting career he exposed companies with questionable practices and his reporting on the psychosis-inducing side effects of the anti-malaria drug Lariam led to a change in medical guidelines. He also interviewed politicians and celebrities, including Henry Kissinger, Tony Blair, Bob Geldof and Madonna.

Writing

Maitland has written five books including How to Make your Million from the Internet (and what to do if you don't), which explored the dot com boom. His memoir How to Survive your Mother described his unconventional childhood in suburban Surrey. Aged three he was sent to boarding school, and at 13 his mother turned the family hotel in Epsom into a retreat for homosexuals. The rights were bought by ITV but no film was made. In 2021, the rights were bought by Captain Dolly, a TV and film production company founded by the actresses Ronni Ancona and Sally Phillips.

Maitland has written two radio plays and seven stage plays. Dead Sheep, about the Geoffrey Howe speech which led to Margaret Thatcher's downfall, was staged at the Park Theatre in London in 2015. It received positive reviews and the Independent called it a "...fine, often very funny debut play."^[1] It became the most successful production in the theatre's history and went on a national tour in 2016.^[2] In June 2023, a BBC Radio 4 adaptation, Wasps in a Jam Jar, starred Dame Penelope Wilton, Dame Harriet Walter and James Fleet.^[3] Maitland's second play at the Park, An Audience With Jimmy Savile, broke the previous records set by Dead Sheep. Quentin Letts, reviewing it for the Daily Mail, called it "a striking, memorable, urgent piece of work." The Observer described the play's central performance by Alistair McGowan as "Uncanny…creepily powerful…shocking."^[4] The show was transferred to the Edinburgh Fringe in August.^[5] Maitland's third play, Deny Deny Deny, about medical and ethical dilemmas, was also staged at the Park. The Daily Telegraph called it "a gripping, Faustian take on Olympic doping."^[6]

Maitland's other radio play, The Remco, about the corrupt machinations of the committees which make huge pay awards to City fat cats, aired in 2018 and started Deborah Findlay and James Purefoy.

In May 2019, The Last Temptation of Boris Johnson opened at the Park Theatre.^[7] Act One centered on the February 2016 dinner party at Johnson's home in Islington with Michael Gove, after which he decided to campaign for Vote Leave. The second act posited that Johnson resigned as Prime Minister in 2022 (this actually happened in real life) and is set in 2029 when he makes another run at the leadership, based on taking the UK back into the EU. The play broke previous box office records and sold out its entire run but received mixed reviews; Ann Treneman in The Times gave the play four stars out of five, calling it 'politics...served deliciously pink'.^[8] In The New European, Martin McQuillan praised Maitland's "remarkable play" with a five-star review,^[9] but Michael Billington in The Guardian gave it two stars, concluding that "Maitland's mind-changing hero is not nearly as interesting as he thinks he is."^[10] The play completed an eight week national tour in March 2020.

Maitland's fifth play, The Interview, about the infamous Martin Bashir/Princess Diana Panorama programme, premiered at Park Theatre on October 27, 2023 and was awarded five stars by the Daily Mail 's Patrick Marmion, who called it "a five star cracker...there's unlikely ever to be a last word on that interview...but (this) scathing and excoriating play has a very good go." The Guardian, calling it "crisp and jarringly satirical" gave it three stars, as did the Daily Telegraph ("thought-provoking"). His play with music about Wilko Johnson, the guitarist and founder of the band Dr Feelgood, premieres at the Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch on February 1, 2024.^[11] Maitland's play How to Survive Your Mother, based on the memoir of the same name, premieres at the King's Head Theatre in London on October 23rd 2024.^[12]

Other appearances

Maitland part funded Chris Morris's debut feature film Four Lions (2010) in which he has a cameo as a newsreader. He also presented 'Profile' and two series of 'Lyrical Journey', both for Radio 4. The latter, which he devised, takes musicians to a place they have written a song about. They then perform it in front of people for whom it has special significance. The series featured songs by the Proclaimers, Squeeze and Billy Bragg.

Personal life

Maitland's mother Berouia was born in Palestine and his father Ivor in Hackney. Maitland played bass in a covers band, "Surf 'n Turf", for several years. He runs a cricket team, the Riverbank Ramblers, which he founded in 1989 with friends from Epsom College. He is a nationally rated Scrabble player and has made the semi-finals of the UK National Championships twice. He lives in west London with his wife Helena and their son Manny. He has two stepsons.

References