Roald Dahl wrote Charlie & the Chocolate Factory and The BFT in a sleeping bag, with six sharpened pencils in a hut with goat poop—and kept his own hip bone in a jar..
This BBC interview is like Inside the Actor’s Studio but at the creator’s home. And for one of the weirdest, wildest, most disciplined imaginations of the 20th century.
Thx to The Memory Hole on Substack for the tip.
Watch “1982: Roald Dahl’s Writing Shed”
Ratings
- My Rating: 91/100
- IMDB Rating: na
- Rotten Tomatoes: na
Director/Interviewers Note — This short interview was produced by the BBC and hosted by Frank Delaney—an Irish journalist and literary broadcaster known for his warm but incisive interviews.
He was also a best-selling author himself, most notably of Ireland (2005), and later created the long-running podcast Re:Joyce, breaking down James Joyce’s Ulysses line by line.
Release Date: Originally broadcast October 18, 1982, as part of BBC’s Pebble Mill series.
My Review of “1982: Roald Dahl’s Writing Shed”
The Setup
Frank Delaney visits Roald Dahl (then 66) at his rural home in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire. Dahl invites him into his private writing hut — a small, cluttered space he’s used every day for four decades.
He talks about how a wartime lunch with C.S. Forester led to his writing career, how he transitioned from adult short stories to children’s books, and why writing for kids is harder than most people think.
You Can’t Make This Sh*t Up
- Roald Dahl wrote in a sleeping bag — pulled up to his chest — while sitting in a weathered armchair with no legs. His feet rested on a wooden plank tied to the chair with rope, so it wouldn’t slide away while he braced against it.
- The shed floor hadn’t been swept in 5 years. At one point, his goat got in and left droppings everywhere — the only time Dahl actually cleaned the place.
More Highlights from the Doc
- Dahl first became a writer thanks to author C.S. Forester (of Horatio Hornblower fame). While stationed in Washington after WWII, Dahl was asked to share RAF stories. Over roast duck at lunch, Forester couldn’t keep up with note-taking — so Dahl wrote the story himself. Forester sent it straight to the Saturday Evening Post, who published it untouched and paid Dahl $1,000. That was his first byline.
- He switched to children’s books when he started making up bedtime stories for his own kids. One night he told a tale about a peach that kept growing. That became James and the Giant Peach.
- For 25 years, Dahl wrote only short stories for adults — many of which were adapted into the TV series Tales of the Unexpected.
More on His Writing Routine
- Dahl’s writing routine was sacred: he worked for 4 to 4.5 hours every single day, in absolute silence. He called it entering a “dotty world of fantasy.”
- He kept six yellow Ticonderoga pencils sharpened to a perfect point before every writing session. If even one was dull, he stopped to sharpen all six again.
- His lap desk was a slanted board covered in green baize (felt) and stained yellow from decades of use. He had it custom-fitted to sit just above his legs inside the sleeping bag.
- In his writing hut, he kept his surgically removed hip bone in a jar, a model of his spine, and fan gifts like a ball of foil made entirely of candy wrappers.
- He always worked in pencil and longhand. He felt typing created too much distance between his mind and the story. Most of the time, he sat quietly, “musing and staring” before making a single mark on the page.
- He never wrote in the main house — too noisy, even without kids. He said vacuum cleaners alone could break his concentration.
Lesser-Known Details from the Doc
- Dahl spent around £200 per month replying to fan mail — most of it from children. He read and answered hundreds of letters by hand.
- He had a deep love of wine (thousands of bottles in his cellar), orchids (which he bred), and 18th-century English furniture. He also collected artwork long before he could afford it.
- He was a regular snooker player — his home had a table, and he played with local friends three nights a week. They played from 6:30 PM until 11 PM with sausage breaks halfway through.
- One of his five children, Olivia, died from measles at age 7. The tragedy later led him to publicly campaign for vaccinations.
- His wife, actress Patricia Neal, suffered three debilitating strokes in 1965. Dahl refused to give up — and built an intense rehab program that helped her re-learn how to walk and speak.
- He said most adult writers lose their ability to be silly or giggly — which is why they fail at writing for children. “Unless you’re a kind of undeveloped adult… you can’t do it,” he said.
Wrap Up
Dahl’s hut isn’t just where the magic happened — it is the magic. Everything about his method was odd, private, and ritualized. Watching this interview feels like a personal tour of his imagination’s engine room.
Thanks for reading!
Rob Kelly, Chief Maniac, Daily Doc