About Brian

Wanderer, truck driver, dishwasher, deckhand, advertising executive, television producer, lecturer, author. 

In 1960 he sailed for England where he worked in London as a copywriter. He travelled in Europe and journeyed overland alone for twelve months back to Australia through Afghanistan, Kashmir, India and South-east Asia. He worked in the Outback as a driller and truck driver and then returned to London to study for three years at The London School of Film Technique, under famous British film directors Charles Frend, (The Cruel Sea) and Alexander Mackendrick (The Ladykillers starring Alec Guinness).

He became a film editor concentrating mainly on BBC productions and then returned to Australia and worked for twenty-two years as an editor, writer, producer and director for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He worked on numerous iconic television series including In the Wild with Harry Butler, Torque, A Big Country, Bill Peach’s Holiday, Peach’s Australia, the religious series Encounters, arts programmes, social history documentaries, travel and adventure series such as The Flying Vet, The Blue Revolution and the acclaimed science series Quantum.

During these years he travelled overseas to the USA, the Pacific and extensively throughout Australia.

Brian Nicholls is married to Johanna Nicholls, well-known author of Australian historical novels. They live in Sydney.

What readers say

This is the first time in my long life that I have felt IMPELLED to convey to a writer my opinion of his/her work. I began reading A Saucepan in the Sky at 6 am and finished it at 11.30 am. Couldn’t put it down. Haven’t been able to do anything else since then except think about it and read extracts to my husband over tea and lunch breaks.

J.W. Tumbarumba, NSW.
A Saucepan in the Sky

Had me in fits of laughter in the train en route to work.

R.H. Wavell Heights, Qld.
A Saucepan in the Sky

I’m definitely going to be reading your book over and over because as well as the history behind it there are the constant stories of mischief and humour.

G.P. Healesville, Vic.
A Saucepan in the Sky

I reluctantly read the last page and immediately wished for more.

J. D. Paddington, NSW.
A Saucepan in the Sky

An absolutely delightful read from beginning to end. Funny, moving, insightful – and your authorial voice instantly appealed to me.

K.P. St. Leonards, NSW.
A Saucepan in the Sky

The world that Nicholls evokes is vivid, full of laughter, triumph and tears.

Authortalk, Berkelouw Bookshop
A Saucepan in the Sky

I laughed the whole afternoon as I read it. How delightful in this grim world to find such humour.

P.W. Berwick, Vic.
A Saucepan in the Sky

Brian Nicholls creates an array of memorable characters. A lack of sentimentality is a strength of both McCourt’s (Angela’s Ashes) and Nicholls' memoir, but the national humour and idioms of A Saucepan in the Sky stand out as unmistakably Australian.

Independent Scholars Association of Australia Review
A Saucepan in the Sky

Simple experiences imbued with charm… dilemmas presented clearly in a way that should strike chords of recognition…this is worth reading.

Canberra Times
A Saucepan in the Sky

Wanderlust talks about things that people think but do not say.

M.B. Coogee, NSW
Wanderlust

Your book is an affirmation of something or other that is probably too big to put a label on.

P.J. Paddington, NSW.
A Saucepan in the Sky

I really did enjoy it and – the mark of a good book – I definitely did not want it to end.

D.R. Melbourne.
A Saucepan in the Sky
Wanderlust
A Saucepan in the Sky
A Suitcase in the Desert
Darkling