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

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

Sunday Age
A Saucepan in the Sky

I really liked the subtext as well as the story.

K.S. Annandale, NSW
Wanderlust

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

M.B. Coogee, NSW
Wanderlust

Dry, witty, sad, funny and amazingly frank.

E.M. Rozelle, NSW
Wanderlust

I enjoyed A Saucepan in the Sky immensely – it stirred filed-away memories and refreshed the affection held for early relationships.

M. H. Tathra, NSW.
A Saucepan in the Sky

A wonderful story beautifully told.

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

A Saucepan in the Sky has a lot more going for it than just a great title. Nicholls gets the child’s voice just right, no mean feat without getting mawkish

Marrickville Heritage Society Newsletter
A Saucepan in the Sky

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

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

Thank you for your story and your style.

J.A. Greenwich, NSW.
A Saucepan in the Sky

What a mixture! An awkward Aussie, a few screwball mates and four fascinating women. I don't think I've ever read a book before that so revealingly describes the influence a woman can have on a man - for better and for worse!

J.P Murrumbeena, Vic
Wanderlust

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

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

S.A Glebe, NSW
Wanderlust
Wanderlust
A Saucepan in the Sky
A Suitcase in the Desert
Darkling