William Andrew Murray Boyd CBE FRSL (born 7 March 1952) is a Scottish novelist, short story writer and screenwriter. Boyd was born in Accra, Gold Coast, (present-day Ghana), to Scottish parents, both from Fife, and has two younger sisters. His father Alexander, a doctor specialising in tropical medicine, and Boyd's mother, who was a teacher, moved to the Gold Coast in 1950 to run the health clinic at the University College of the Gold Coast, Legon (now the University of Ghana). In the early 1960s the family moved to western Nigeria, where Boyd's father held a similar position at the University of Ibadan. Boyd spent his early life in Ghana and Nigeria and, at the age of nine, went to a preparatory school and then to Gordonstoun school in Scotland, and, after that, to the University of Nice in France, followed by the University of Glasgow, where he gained an M.A. (Hons) in English & Philosophy, and finally Jesus College, Oxford. His father died of a rare disease when Boyd was 26. Between 1980 and 1983 Boyd was a lecturer in English at St Hilda's College, Oxford, and it was while he was there that his first novel, A Good Man in Africa (1981), was published. He was also television critic for the New Statesman between 1981 and 1983. Boyd was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005 for services to literature. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He has been presented with honorary Doctorates in Literature from the universities of St. Andrews, Stirling, Glasgow, and Dundee and is an honorary fellow of Jesus College, Oxford. Boyd is a member of the Chelsea Arts Club. Boyd met his wife Susan, a former editor and now a screenwriter, while they were both at Glasgow University. He has a house in Chelsea, London and a farmhouse and vineyard (with its own appellation Château Pecachard) in Bergerac in the Dordogne in south-west France. In August 2014 Boyd was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue. ... Source: Article "William Boyd (writer)" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
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Biography from TMDB.
- March 7, 1952 (74)
- Accra, Gold Coast [now Ghana]
- Writer and producer, also director
- 11 on MovieCove · 21 credits in all
What are William Boyd's films like?
Across their 11 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Morality.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 1 · Wry 2 · Earnest 7
A split, not a type: Light 4 · Serious 1 · Dark 5
A split, not a type: Grounded 6 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 2
Gentle 4 · Charged 6 · Intense 0
A split, not a type: Steady 5 · Shifting 4 · Whiplash 1
Straight-faced 3 · Some laughs 4 · Funny 3
Slow burn 6 · Even-paced 4 · Relentless 0
Casual 1 · Engaged 8 · Full focus 1
A split, not a type: Easy watch 5 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 3
Resolved 7 · Open-ended 2 · Ambiguous 1
Moods and endings
- Happy2
- Bittersweet5
- Tragic2
- Ambiguous2
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch William Boyd's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 3 of their 11 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for William Boyd's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
21 credits, 11 with a MovieCove page; 6 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Martin Amis: Money and Memories (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)
Spy City(2020)
Midcredits score: 48th percentile of all shows
The Dreams of Bethany Mellmoth (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)
Restless (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
Any Human Heart (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
10 Minute Tales (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
Midcredits score: 57th percentile of all films
Man to Man(2005)
Midcredits score: 58th percentile of all films
Sword of Honour(2001)
Midcredits score: 54th percentile of all films
Sword of Honour (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2001)
The Trench(1999)
Midcredits score: 32nd percentile of all films
A Good Man in Africa(1994)
Midcredits score: 10th percentile of all films
Chaplin(1992)
Midcredits score: 90th percentile of all films
Mister Johnson(1990)
Midcredits score: 56th percentile of all films
Tune in Tomorrow...(1990)
Midcredits score: 46th percentile of all films
Stars and Bars(1988)
Midcredits score: 14th percentile of all films
Scoop (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1987)
Dutch Girls(1985)
Midcredits score: 26th percentile of all filmsGood and Bad at Games (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1983)
Nobody’s Heart (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
The Captain and the Enemy (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 21 titles, 19 of them dated from 1983 to 2023.
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do William Boyd's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 50th percentile, the median of all 10; across their 10 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 45th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up1
- 50th to 74th4
- 25th to 49th4
- Below 25th2
Shape of the crowd
4 of their 11 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved1
- Crowd Pleaser4
- Broadly Agreed3
- Mixed3
Reviewers score the dialogue 52/100 and the plot and story 43/100 in their films, across 10 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a writer.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does William Boyd work with?
People who share at least 2 of William Boyd's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Adrian Lukis shares the most, 3.
Directors
- Bruce BeresfordShared titles: A Good Man in Africa (1994), Mister Johnson (1990)See all 2 shared titles with Bruce Beresford
Actors
- Adrian LukisShared titles: Spy City (2020), The Trench (1999), Dutch Girls (1985)See all 3 shared titles with Adrian Lukis
- Daniel CraigShared titles: Sword of Honour (2001), The Trench (1999)See all 2 shared titles with Daniel Craig
- Maynard EziashiShared titles: A Good Man in Africa (1994), Mister Johnson (1990)See all 2 shared titles with Maynard Eziashi
Editors
- Jim ClarkShared titles: The Trench (1999), A Good Man in Africa (1994)See all 2 shared titles with Jim Clark
Producers
- Steve Clark-HallShared titles: Man to Man (2005), The Trench (1999)See all 2 shared titles with Steve Clark-Hall
- John FiedlerShared titles: A Good Man in Africa (1994), Tune in Tomorrow... (1990)See all 2 shared titles with John Fiedler
- Joseph M. Caracciolo Jr.Shared titles: A Good Man in Africa (1994), Tune in Tomorrow... (1990)See all 2 shared titles with Joseph M. Caracciolo Jr.
- Mark TarlovShared titles: A Good Man in Africa (1994), Tune in Tomorrow... (1990)See all 2 shared titles with Mark Tarlov