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

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

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

Some of the book was comfortably close to home for me: some uncomfortably so.

Bookchat
A Saucepan in the Sky

Dry, witty, sad, funny and amazingly frank.

E.M. Rozelle, NSW
Wanderlust

Comic and loving…the reader is hooked from the beginning. You’ll want to raise your glass to Brian and his gang of relatives.

Geelong Advertiser
A Saucepan in the Sky

A wonderful story beautifully told.

D. B. Campbelltown, NSW.
A Saucepan in the Sky

It has everything: humour, pathos, history, laughter, tears.

C. McG. Perth, WA.
A Saucepan in the Sky

Many of us have memories of our own innocence abroad.

E.B. Roseville, NSW
Wanderlust

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

Philosophical but not academic. A good read. A tribute to women.

S.A Glebe, NSW
Wanderlust

Nostalgic as well as immediate… and thoroughly engrossing.

A.T. Glebe, NSW.
A Saucepan in the Sky

Paints a vivid picture of a colourful extended family. A compelling tale.

Sunday Age
A Saucepan in the Sky
Wanderlust
A Saucepan in the Sky
A Suitcase in the Desert
Darkling