News about Frederick Forsyth

The Day of the Jackal author is offering one lucky raffle winner the chance to have their name and likeness featured in his upcoming book. Forsyth, 86, has come out of retirement to write another page-turner after 'getting the buzz'. The unique competition to be in the story closes on Sunday when Forsyth will pick a winner at the Chiltern Kills crime writers' festival in Gerrards Cross, Bucks.

From Wolf Hall's long-awaited final act to a riotous Jilly Cooper romp, these are the upcoming television treats you won't want to miss. Our expert has rounded up the 20 most exciting dramas, thrillers, comedy and true crime shows coming to screens this autumn. So if you're going to be after something new to watch as the nights draw in, look no further...

It was with a hollow groan I learned recently that the mandarins at Sky Atlantic have done a huge, windy, multi-episode remake of The Day of the Jackal. It's to hit us on November 7; it has - needless to say - been 'updated' for a 'contemporary' audience and a glance at the trailer, released a few days ago, suggests it will be expensively awful. A wretched fate for Frederick Forsyth 's trailblazing, 1971 howdunnit - in the tale he pecked out on a manual typewriter in just 35 days, he singlehandedly reinvented the thriller - and a pointless redoing of Fred Zinnemann's classic 1973 film. Indeed, this isn't even the first remake: though The Jackal, starring Bruce Willis and Richard Gere and released in 1997, was justly panned. Why waste time, money and public patience on revisiting perfection?

EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: He was fluent in French and German by the time he was 15, and flew a jet fighter when still only 18, before becoming Reuters correspondent in Paris. He also fitted in occasional missions for 'The Firm' - the British Secret Service - and plotted a groundbreaking blockbuster after undertaking rigorous research. But in the aftermath of Donald Trump 's miraculous escape from death, The Day Of The Jackal author Frederick Forsyth tells me that he despairs of security agencies the world over - in particular, their failure to learn, or remember, a fundamental truth. 'The sniper is still a formidable enemy,' he points out. 'I've lost count of murdered politicians since I tapped 'the day of the Jackal was over' onto the last page.

With the police expected to arrive in the next day for a forensic analysis of the house, they said, my husband and I went through every room, checking for any signs of their presence. It seemed strange to me that the police were actually flagging up their visit, but thank God they did. It was only three days before John put his life in jeopardy after faking his own death just three weeks before by making it seem as though he'd mistakenly drowned at sea while carrying his canoe.

Check out our analysts' picks of the best films and shows to watch On Demand right now, from thrilling thrillers to festive fantasies. This weekend, the experts have chosen their top ten shows to watch as well as ten new launches. We've also included our reviews of the hottest new cinemas debuts in case that wasn't enough. To find out what to watch this weekend, read on.

BRIAN VINER: Fred Zinnemann's gripping interpretation of the novel by Frederick Forsyth has been 50 years since the book was published. So film enthusiasts, or more likely assassin buffs, will find a satisfying symmetry in The Killer, which begins with a hitman preparing for a job in Paris. Edward Fox's title character in the 1973 thriller was where he took his first shot at French President Charles de Gaulle. And it's where Michael Fassbender's title character spends days in The Killer, awaiting in the rented apartment opposite for a clear line of sight to his victim, whether he be a politician, an oligarch, or a master criminal. We'll never find out.

On the A40 near Paddington Green in October last year, Frederick Forsyth, 84 (left), was caught going seven miles per hour over the 30mph speed limit. He reportedly pleaded guilty and paid the fine within the time limit. However, the writer claimed in a letter to the court that the police has now accused him of failing to include his driving license number on the forms, which he describes as 'not true.' The force reportedly said that due to this mistake, his'settlement was nullified,' and he was referred to the magistrate. Mr Forsyth, a former spy, slammed the service, alleging that if the East German secret service had the Met's surveillance abilities, it would have'salive with envy.'

Frederick Forsyth, a best-selling author, slammed the decision to rewrite portions of Roald Dahl and Ian Fleming's book to make them more 'acceptable' to new audiences. "It's all part of this new thing called 'wokeism,' he said on TalkTV, he blasted'sensitive readers' who had stripped the words "fat" and "ugly" from Dahl's books and racial references removed from James Bond's. It's the new draconian state, as it says. "It's a bit of facism," the singer admits. "You will think the way we think, you will think the way we talk, and you will believe what we believe." We'll see you on the roof, and we'll control you'. I don't like that, but I don't like being controlled."

In a beachside cabana next to his posh hotel, the only trace left by the Labour MP for Walsall North was a pile of neatly folded clothing. Theories about the beating father-of-three emerged shortly; it was said he had been assaulted and drowned or eaten by a shark; or, even, been kidnapped by the Mafia. As the rumour mill came to a conclusion, murky information regarding his company ambitions and private life surfaced. But, as it would have become clear when he was discovered alive and well five weeks later, Stonehouse, a high-flying minister in Harold Wilson's government, had faked his own death on November 20, 1974, cruising ashore and changing into clothes he had left earlier in another hotel before heading to Australia under false name.

We had a picnic on the ground and then we had to open the bed. I lay my head on David's arm for the first time as he read me the pages of his latest book that he'd written there that morning. It was thrilling, in fact, to be so close to the man and his process while he wrote what seemed to be his finest book ever. I asked if he had a title.

A striking debut in a Berlin office building sees Seventeen, the eponymous assassination, take a string of lives without hesitation.

On August 22, 1962, French President Charles de Gaulle (pictured left that year) and his wife Yvonne were whisked by car through Paris for a flight back to their country home when a man from the road waved a newspaper. With the warning, a group of right-wing militants sprung into action and raked the presidential Citroen DS with gunshots. More than 150 bullets were fired in just 45 seconds. Three of the bullets penetrated the bodywork (top right, the car with one of the bullet holes), and traveled within inches of De Gaulle's head (left, the police on alert in the aftermath). Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiry, a leader of a far-right paramilitary group protested De Gaulle's decision to grant Algeria independence after a brutal eight-year liberation war, was masterminded. The attempt on De Gaulle's life gave the background to the famous book and film The Day of the Jackal, which made author Frederick Forsyth a household name. The novel (cover depicted inset) opens with an account of De Gaulle's life before a fictional attempt by a professional assassin to murder the French president.