Robert Knox - Knox in Fiction

Knox in Fiction

  • Peter Cushing plays Knox in The Flesh and the Fiends (1960). Written and directed by John Gilling, the film is a reasonably accurate depiction, allowing for some dramatic licence and time constraints, of the Burke and Hare story.
  • The Anatomist (1961), a British film, starred Alastair Sim as Knox. This was based on a 1930 play of the same name by James Bridie, which the BBC broadcast in 1939 with Knox played by Andrew Cruickshank and in 1980 as a Play of the Month by the BBC, starring Patrick Stewart as Knox.
  • John Hoyt played Knox in an episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour based on the Burke and Hare murders.
  • The character Dr. Thomas Rock in the Dylan Thomas play The Doctor and the Devils is based on Knox. The play was filmed in 1985 with Timothy Dalton as Dr. Rock.
  • Knox was the model for the character of Dr. Thomas Potter in Matthew Kneale's epic novel English Passengers, which deals with the perceptions and perspectives of different races, nationalities and stations in society.
  • The Knox scandal forms the background of Robert Louis Stevenson's short story "The Body Snatcher" (1884). Later filmed The Body Snatcher in 1945, starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi; and TV (1966), both mentioning the West Port murders.
  • 1971: Burke & Hare (1971 film), last film of eminent director Vernon Sewell
  • Knox is a major character in Nicola Morgan's 2003 novel "Fleshmarket"
  • Leslie Phillips played a version of Knox in the 2004 Doctor Who audio drama Medicinal Purposes, which pitted the Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) against another time-traveller (Phillips) who had taken the place of the historical Knox, and was manipulating the events of the Burke and Hare murders.
  • The Horrible Histories TV Series (Series 1, Episode 13) includes a sketch about Robert Knox, in which the story of the body-snatching cases is told in a song. Knox is played by Mathew Baynton and Burke and Hare by Simon Farnaby and Jim Howick respectively.
  • Knox was played by Tom Wilkinson in the 2010 black comedy Burke and Hare (2010 film)

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Famous quotes containing the words knox and/or fiction:

    “Death is an incident producing clay. Use it, mold it, learn from it.”
    —John Gilling, British screenwriter. Dr. Knox (Peter Cushing)

    “I write fiction and I’m told it’s autobiography, I write autobiography and I’m told it’s fiction, so since I’m so dim and they’re so smart, let them decide what it is or it isn’t.”
    —Philip Roth (b. 1933)