Roderick Gordon was born and grew up in London. He also went to university in London where he was supposed to be reading biology but instead spent far too much time the various student bars with his future writing partner, Brian Williams. He went on to do corporate finance in the City until 2001 when he was thrown out for excessive daydreaming. He counts a number of writers and poets among his ancestors such RD Blackmore, Philip Doddridge and Matthew Arnold, and, not least, the two paleontologists and celebrated eccentrics, William and Frank Buckland (which probably explains much). Having recently moved with his family from London to north Norfolk, he is frequently to be found on the M11 as he commutes back and forth to his garret in Islington.

Brian Williams spent his childhood in Zambia and moved with his family to Liverpool in the seventies. After indulging in his three main passions during his teenage years - amateur boxing, experimental art and high-speed car chases - he attended The Slade School of Fine Art in the early eighties where he bizarrely earned the distinction of being referred to as “A dynamic group of performance artists”. In one instance, the fire brigade had to be called, bringing an early conclusion to one of his more inflammatory installations, and he was advised by the then Professor, Sir Laurence Gowing, to view the intervention “as part of the piece”. Since graduating, he has continued with his painting, writing and film-making, which has encompassed both his own films and also working as art director and acting in a number of UK productions, including projects by Alex Cox and Charlie Higson. He currently lives with his invisible dog in deepest Hackney.