The Damned United is directed by Tom Hooper (John Adams, Longford, Elizabeth I), and adapted for the screen by Peter Morgan (The Queen, The Last King of Scotland, Frost/Nixon) from the bestselling and critically acclaimed novel by David Peace, The Damned United stars Michael Sheen (The Deal, The Queen, Frost/Nixon) as the legendary, opinionated football manager Brian Clough with Timothy Spall (Secrets and Lies, Sweeney Todd, The Last Samurai) as his right-hand man, only friend, and crutch Peter Taylor. Overachieving and eccentric football manager Brian Clough was on his way to take over at the country's most successful, and most reviled football club: Leeds United, home to a generation of fiercely competitive but ageing players. The battle he'd face there would make or break the club - or him. David Peace's extraordinarily inventive novel tells the story of a world characterised by fear of failure and hunger for success set in the bleak heart of the 1970s.
David Peace
David Peace is a British author known for his gritty crime novels that often explore real-life crimes and events. His most notable works include the Red Riding Quartet, which is a series of novels set in Yorkshire during the 1970s and 1980s, and "GB84," a novel about the 1984-85 miners' strike in Britain.
Peace's writing style is characterized by its dark and intense atmosphere, as well as its use of fragmented narrative and stream-of-consciousness techniques. He is known for his meticulous research and attention to detail, which adds a sense of realism to his work.
Peace's contributions to literature include pushing the boundaries of the crime genre and challenging traditional storytelling conventions. His work has been praised for its originality and boldness, and he has been recognized as a leading voice in contemporary British literature.
One of Peace's most famous works is "Nineteen Seventy-Four," the first novel in the Red Riding Quartet. This novel, along with the rest of the series, has been adapted into a successful television series, further solidifying Peace's reputation as a master of crime fiction.