Terry Deary
Author of Horrible Histories

Horrible Histories books have been phenomenally popular with kids. What do you think is the key to their success?

Terry Deary: Simply, I am a children's author, NOT a historian. The historian's voice is, 'Now sit down and listen to me and I will teach you something!' My voice is, 'Hey! You'll never guess what I found out about this period in history!' I never preach or teach – I simply share my enthusiasm. Also, I am not bound by the National Curriculum to teach the boring bits. I offer an 'alternative' education, and so I can choose the facts that will appeal to my readers – something textbooks cannot do. The facts I choose are not really 'history', they are anecdotes about people – those bizarre and comical hairless apes we call human beings.

Terry Deary

Was history your favourite subject at school?

TD: History was the most mind-numbingly boring, badly taught and pointless subject ever. Notes were dictated endlessly, and at the end of term we had to read and learn the notes so we could be tested on them. We learned one or two dates, one or two names, but nothing of any value to us in the real world. History study should be about people. There is only one question worth seeking an answer to: 'Why do people behave the way they do?' History can help answer that, as can fiction and real-life relationships. We should spend our time at school, and until we die, answering that question. Then we can ask, 'Why do I behave the way I do?'

The cast

What's the difference between reading a Horrible Histories book and listening to one of the new cassettes (The Terrible Tudors and The Vile Victorians?)

TD: What's the difference between a banana and a double-decker bus? These new audios are not straight readings of the books, although they use about 50% of the facts from the books. The cassettes are not literary experiences, they are dramatic experiences. They tell anecdotes through drama, poetry, music, characters and role-play in a way that the books cannot. So the books do things the CDs and tapes can't and vice-versa – just as a banana can feed you but it can't carry you to the shops.

You star in the audios. What do you do, and are you comfortable with performing?

TD: I have been a professional actor for 30 years and am far more comfortable performing than writing. For the past four years I have toured Britain with the Terry Deary History Roadshows, which bring my books to the stage for family audiences. In the Roadshows, I tend to play all the parts, with the help of the audience, whereas on the CDs and cassettes I act as narrator and link the anecdotes with a personal view of history. Other actors play the parts I used to do myself. Not only does this give variety for the listener, but they're so talented it raises the quality by several hundred percent! The Roadshows were a huge help in creating the concept and scripting of the audios. The listener is transported to my old classroom, or to a Tudor tavern ora Victorian music hall where history becomes entertainment and dead people come to life. Comfortable with performing? The problem is stopping me!

This Christmas, Terry Deary returns to the stage to play one of the characters in his 'Crackers Christmas' play (Based on his book 'Horrible Histories – Horrible Christmas').

Are there any periods of history you've yet to cover in the series?

TD: The Horrible Histories have covered pretty well every period from Stone Age to 20th century. However, they've not tackled every geographical area or every theme – probably no series ever could. I've looked at Scotland, Ireland and USA history but still have to write the history of England. I've also been asked to write a Horrible Histories book on Australia. What about Africa and India (just touched on in Barmy British Empire) then China, Russia ... the Moon? In terms of 'themes', I have looked at revolutions, knights and castles and (in Wicked Words) the English language. But I still have to explore wars and battles, and there needs to be a good book on women in history. I'll still be writing these books 100 years after I'm dead at this rate!

Do you listen to audiobooks for pleasure? If yes, what have been some of your favourites?

TD: I find it hard to listen to a straight reading of a book on tape – and that's one of the reasons I was determined that the Horrible Histories would NOT be readings. What I love to listen to are dramas and comedy. My taste is quite predictable, with tapes like Hancock's Half Hour and radio programmes from my childhood such as Round the Horne. But the one that influenced me most in adapting Horrible Histories was Barry Cryer's recording of his live stage act. I wanted to recreate that feeling of the listener being as much a part of the audience as the people who were there at the time. That's why I talk directly to the listener on the Horrible Histories audios, just as I talk direct to my Roadshow audiences or even (in a way) to the readers of my books.

How many books have you written, and what have you just finished working on?

TD: When I was a professional actor in Wales, touring community and children's theatre in the early '70s, I began writing plays for the company and some were very popular. The problem was that, when the tour ended and the costumes were packed away, those characters vanished. I decided to perpetuate them by turning them into a more concrete form – a children's novel. My cowardly cowboy, The Custard Kid was turned into a novel in 1976 and (after 24 rejections) published in 1977. So this year is my 25th anniversary as a published author. The Custard Kid has been re-released this year to celebrate. I've published 130 more books since then and have just finished a new comedy-thriller for 7 – 11 year olds called Footsteps in the Fog. I love writing fiction, though a lot of people seem to think I am simply a non-fiction or history writer. But I am proud of my Horrible Histories, which celebrate their 10th anniversary in 2003 and are now available in more than 30 languages. Where will it end

Interviewed September 2002