A Voyage Round My Father

A Voyage Round My Father is an autobiographical play by John Mortimer, later adapted for television. The first version of the play appeared as a series of three half-hour sketches for BBC radio in 1963. It then became a television play with Ian Richardson playing Mortimer, Tim Good as the young Mortimer while Mark Dignam played his blind barrister father. Mortimer then adapted it for the stage and Alec Guinness was the father and Jeremy Brett the son at the Haymarket Theatre in 1971. Mortimer later (1982) turned the play back into a film for television (produced by Thames Television for ITV) with Laurence Olivier as the father, Alan Bates as the son, Elizabeth Sellars as the mother and Jane Asher as Elizabeth. This production was notable for including the blind actor Esmond Knight in a sighted role, as one judge Mortimer senior faces. It was filmed in Mortimer's own house. In June 2006, the play was revived at the Donmar Warehouse with Derek Jacobi and Dominic Rowan and transferred to the Wyndham's Theatre in September.