William Boyd's novel was made into four one and a half hour
episodes for Channel 4 series in 2010, using his
screenplay. The action follows the life of Logan
Mountstuart, from childhood to the grave, from early
promise as a novellist and a writer, through his stint in
New York as a gallery owner, his failed marriage, his time
with Ian Flemming in the Caribean looking after the
well-being of the Duke of Windsor, to living out his life
in a bed-sit in London, and then provincial France. The
films starred Jim Broadbent and Matthew MacFadyen as Logan
Mountstewart, Kim Cattrall as Gloria, Tom Hollander and
Gillian Anderson as the ghastly Duke and Duchess of Winsor,
these four one and a half hour episodes of Will Boyd’s Any
Human Heart first appeared on Channel 4. Don Grant was
commissioned to paint eight large (up to 3m. x 2m.)
Ameriacn abstract expressionist canvases in the manner of
Mark Rothko, Franz Kline and Barnett Newmann, He also
painted two canvases by Nat Tate, Boyd’s fictional painter,
about whom he wrote a spoof biography in 1998, which fooled
a large proportion of the art world. When he saw the
paintings, Boyd remarked, ‘I didn’t really appreciate how
good he really was.’ They featured briefly in two scenes of
the third episode. The series won a BAFTA for Best Drama in
2011.