Christopher Wood
Writer · Died May 9, 2015, aged 79 · Lambeth, London, England, UK
Christopher Hovelle Wood (5 November 1935 – 9 May 2015) was an English screenwriter and novelist, best known for the Confessions series of novels and films which he wrote as Timothy Lea. Under his own name, he adapted two James Bond novels for the screen: The Spy Who Loved Me (1977, with Richard Maibaum) and Moonraker (1979). Wood's many novels divide into four groups: semi-autobiographical literary fiction, historical fiction, adventure novels, and pseudonymous humorous erotica. Christopher Wood was the son of Walter Leonard Wood and Audrey Maud (Hovell) Wood (born 1906). They were married in 1935. He was born in London borough of Lambeth. Wood had three children, one of whom is film producer and literary agent Caroline Wood. Wood died at his apartment in southwest France on 9 May 2015, and was survived by his son and daughter. However, his death was not widely known until Sir Roger Moore paid tribute to him later that year on Twitter on 17 October. Wood's parents sent their son to board at Edward VI Grammar School in Norwich to protect him from The Blitz. The Baedeker Blitz of April 1942 saw the adjacent medieval school bombed into rubble. Wood continued his education at King's College Junior School in London where he found himself at risk from "drunken, mentally disturbed, sexual predators" among the staff. Wood graduated from Peterhouse at Cambridge University in 1960 with degrees in economics and law. He did his mandatory military service in Cyprus, which inspired his second novel Terrible Hard, Says Alice. Novelist and fellow future Bond writer William Boyd praised the book, citing it as one of the few convincing examples of accounts of war alongside Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms and Joseph Heller's Catch-22. Wood's African experiences inspired two novels: his first, Make it Happen to Me and his adventure novel A Dove Against Death (1983). Of A Dove Against Death, he recalled, "I was helping to conduct a plebiscite in the Southern Cameroons under UN supervision in 1960. An old man came out of a hut wearing what at first glance I thought was a brass coal scuttle. Then I realized that it was German helmet with a spike on it. My interest began then. Many years later came the story." After considerable research, Wood discovered records of a Dove that was sent to south-west Africa and a wireless station in Togoland that the Germans built and the British destroyed, all of which he wove together to create the novel. Wood became an account executive at the advertising agency Masius Wynne-Williams where he managed national brands. Like his Masius colleague Desmond Skirrow,] Wood used the daily train commutes between his Royston home and London to write his first several books. After unsuccessful attempts submitting scripts for television, Wood wrote his first novel which he entitled Nobody Here But Us Pickens. The publishers retitled it Make it Happen to Me. Sales were poor and the book was subsequently withdrawn after a threatened defamation lawsuit. Wood pitched the idea of a series of erotic comic novels to his publishers at Sphere paperbacks. The first of these books, Confessions of a Window Cleaner, went through multiple editions. ... Source: Article "Christopher Wood (writer)" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
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Biography from TMDB.
- November 5, 1935
- May 9, 2015 (aged 79)
- Lambeth, London, England, UK
- Writer
- 8 on MovieCove · 15 credits in all
Known for
What are Christopher Wood's films like?
Across their 8 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Power and Self.
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
A split, not a type: Ironic 1 · Wry 3 · Earnest 4
Light 7 · Serious 0 · Dark 1
A split, not a type: Grounded 3 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 3
A split, not a type: Gentle 5 · Charged 1 · Intense 2
Steady 5 · Shifting 3 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 1 · Some laughs 3 · Funny 4
Slow burn 1 · Even-paced 5 · Relentless 2
Casual 7 · Engaged 1 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 7 · Affecting 1 · Heavy 0
Resolved 8 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy7
- Bittersweet1
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 Christopher Wood's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 3 of their 8 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (2).
Subscription and free streaming for Christopher Wood'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
15 credits, 8 with a MovieCove page; 4 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Dangerous Curves (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2000)
Eruption(1997)
Midcredits score: 4th percentile of all films
The Unspeakable (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1996)
Erotique (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1994)
Steal the Sky (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1988)
Midcredits score: 56th percentile of all films
Moonraker(1979)
Midcredits score: 49th percentile of all films
Lovely Couple (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1979)
Rosie Dixon - Night Nurse (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1978)
Midcredits score: 11th percentile of all films
The Spy Who Loved Me(1977)
Midcredits score: 81st percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 11th percentile of all films
Seven Nights in Japan (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1976)
Midcredits score: 10th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 16th percentile of all films
Career shape
A full career of 14 titles from 1974 to 2000.
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 Christopher Wood's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 14th percentile, the median of all 8; across their 8 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 20th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up1
- 50th to 74th1
- 25th to 49th1
- Below 25th5
Shape of the crowd
5 of their 8 titles are Mixed.
- Crowd Pleaser2
- Broadly Agreed1
- Mixed5
Reviewers score the dialogue 41/100 and the plot and story 31/100 in their films, across 8 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.
Is Christopher Wood's work okay for kids?
Across up to 7 MovieCove titles with content scores, sex & nudity runs heavier than most films.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.
Who does Christopher Wood work with?
People who share at least 2 of Christopher Wood's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Norman Cohen shares the most, 4.
Directors
- Norman CohenShared titles: Confessions from a Holiday Camp (1977), Confessions of a Driving Instructor (1976), Confessions of a Pop Performer (1975), Confessions of a Window Cleaner (1974)See all 4 shared titles with Norman Cohen
- Lewis GilbertShared titles: Moonraker (1979), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)See all 2 shared titles with Lewis Gilbert
Actors
- Anthony BoothShared titles: Confessions from a Holiday Camp (1977), Confessions of a Driving Instructor (1976), Confessions of a Pop Performer (1975), Confessions of a Window Cleaner (1974)See all 4 shared titles with Anthony Booth
- Bill MaynardShared titles: Confessions from a Holiday Camp (1977), Confessions of a Driving Instructor (1976), Confessions of a Pop Performer (1975), Confessions of a Window Cleaner (1974)See all 4 shared titles with Bill Maynard
- Robin AskwithShared titles: Confessions from a Holiday Camp (1977), Confessions of a Driving Instructor (1976), Confessions of a Pop Performer (1975), Confessions of a Window Cleaner (1974)See all 4 shared titles with Robin Askwith
- Sheila WhiteShared titles: Confessions from a Holiday Camp (1977), Confessions of a Driving Instructor (1976), Confessions of a Pop Performer (1975), Confessions of a Window Cleaner (1974)See all 4 shared titles with Sheila White
Composers, cinematographers and editors
- Geoffrey FootShared titles: Confessions from a Holiday Camp (1977), Confessions of a Driving Instructor (1976), Confessions of a Pop Performer (1975)See all 3 shared titles with Geoffrey Foot
- Ed WelchShared titles: Confessions from a Holiday Camp (1977), Confessions of a Driving Instructor (1976)See all 2 shared titles with Ed Welch
- Ken HodgesShared titles: Confessions from a Holiday Camp (1977), Confessions of a Driving Instructor (1976)See all 2 shared titles with Ken Hodges
Producers
- Greg SmithShared titles: Confessions from a Holiday Camp (1977), Confessions of a Driving Instructor (1976), Confessions of a Pop Performer (1975), Confessions of a Window Cleaner (1974)See all 4 shared titles with Greg Smith
- Michael KlingerShared titles: Confessions from a Holiday Camp (1977), Confessions of a Driving Instructor (1976), Confessions of a Pop Performer (1975), Confessions of a Window Cleaner (1974)See all 4 shared titles with Michael Klinger