The Lizard

A terrific, atmospheric thriller. Taut, compelling, masterfully constructed. Outstanding. William Boyd. I went to Greece to embrace the binary code, to get off the sidelines and become a player. To live in the moment. Or, as Ellie put it, to become my own man. Was I accountable for the horror, that fateful summer? Looking back, it's easy enough to pinpoint the sliding-door moments where I went wrong. But then, what use is hindsight? As Kierkegaard wrote: 'Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards'. Cold comfort when you've taken another man's life.

Actor-turned-novelist Dugald Bruce-Lockhart was born in Fiji in 1968. After reading German at St Andrew's University, he trained as an actor and graduated from RADA in 1994. Since then, he has worked with UK theatre companies including the RSC, The National Theatre, The English Touring Theatre, Bath Theatre Royal, Hampstead Theatre and The Old Vic, among others. As a long-standing member of Edward Hall's internationally-acclaimed Shakespeare ensemble, Propeller, he played roles including Henry V, Petruchio, and Olivia, before becoming an associate director. He toured the UK as Hannay in The 39 Steps; and West End appearances include Freddie in The Deep Blue Sea, Lysander in Propeller's Midsummer Night's Dream, Bill Austin in Mamma Mia, and recently, Victor Prynne, in Private Lives. His TV and film work includes Call the Midwife, The Castaways, Professor T, The Crown, From Time to Time, Hart's War, Alive and Kicking, Deserter, Case Histories, Foyle's War, Midsomer Murders, Trust, and Hotel Babylon. He narrated a landmark documentary series for the Smithsonian Channel, Aerial Britain, which launched in the UK in 2019. He also works as a theatre director and acting coach, and lives in Kent with his wife and two children.