The riverside area near Framwellgate Bridge would have fitted this description in the 1960s. At this point, McVicar swam along the river, in the direction of the current, briefly encountering a rat sitting on an exposed pipe. The pipe and occasional rat can still be seen here today. McVicar is a British drama film released in 1980 by The Who Films, Ltd., starring Roger Daltrey of the Who playing the 1960s armed robber and later writer John McVicar. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Despite receiving a sentence of 26 years, he was paroled in 1978, and published his autobiography, McVicar by Himself. He also began studying for a postgraduate degree at Leicester University, and began a successful career as a journalist. He was seen regularly on TV in the 1980s and 90s. Most of the real-life characters in the film have fictitious names and some events and characters are fictionalised.

Mcvicar by Himself: Books - AbeBooks Mcvicar by Himself: Books - AbeBooks

In October 1961, the Government started to take action against prison escapes and decided Durham would hold some of the country's most difficult prisoners and particularly those prone to escape. Paper Orchid ** (1949, Hugh Williams, Hy Hazell, Sidney James, Garry Marsh) – Classic Movie Review 12,703 31 Oct 2023 As a criminal I have been a lamentable failure,” he wrote in McVicar, By Himself (1974). “Whatever money I gained by crime I could have earned as a labourer in half the time I spent in prison. My character, which is addicted to taking risks, was a guarantee that I could not be a success as a thief or a bandit.” In the middle of the night, his heart pumping and adrenalin racing, McVicar found himself running through the narrow, winding streets of Durham city. The film is set in two halves, the first in Durham prison and the second half while McVicar is on the run in London. The first half of the film focuses on relations between the prison officers and inmates and also McVicar's plotting and eventual prison escape.McVicar is returned to prison and his sentence is increased, but during this time he studies for a BSc in sociology and he is eventually released. Forgotten the title or the author of a book? Our BookSleuth is specially designed for you. Visit BookSleuth

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In 2002, having been divorced when in prison by Sheila, he married Countess Valentina Artsrunik, 17 years his junior, at the Russian Orthodox church in Knightsbridge. Together they ran a small publishing company, Artnik, which had been launched at the Bulgarian embassy and which published Dead on Time.Daltrey’s plan was to make a film that would show that a life of crime is a waste. John McVicar: ‘Being a thief is a terrific life. But the trouble is they put you in jail for it.’

McVicar by Himself by John McVicar | Goodreads

For two years, McVicar remained on the run until he was re-captured in 1970. Read More Related ArticlesThese adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience – the local community. Paradise *** (1991, Melanie Griffith, Don Johnson, Elijah Wood, Thora Birch) – Classic Movie Review 12,702 | Derek Winnert on Le Grand Chemin [The Grand Highway] **** (1987, Anémone, Richard Bohringer, Antoine Hubert, Vanessa Guedj, Christine Pascal, Pascale Roberts) – Classic Movie Review 12,701 Billy Rags is very closely based on the life of the real British criminal John McVicar. Just how closely I’ll get to directly. McVicar was an armed robber, declared ‘public enemy no 1’ by Scotland Yard in the 1960s, until he was apprehended and given a 23-year sentence. He was also a serial escapee and after his final arrest in 1970 received a 26-year sentence but was paroled eight years later. McVicar was also something of a uniquely 1960s/70s phenomena, the self-aware/educated working class career criminal turned author and commentator on prison reform, a major social debate in those two decades. He studied for a university postgraduate, wrote an autobiography, McVicar by Himself, published in 1974, and authored a couple of other true crime books. He balanced his intellectual pursuits with a lingering air of being a former villain, which no doubt contributed to the aura around him. As the violent late Australian criminal turned author Mark ‘Chopper’ Read once reportedly said ‘Posh people love gangsters’.