Jack Thorne first read Lord of the Flies as a child. He didn't study it in school but received a copy from his mum who was a substitute English teacher.
The novel was stamped on the inside: Portway English Department.
"I quite like the fact that my Lord of the Flies copy was a stolen copy," he notes with a touch of laughter.
The story by William Golding, about young boys stranded on an island who descend into bloody chaos, left a "profound scar" on Thorne and, years later, he's adapting it into a four-part BBC series.
While Thorne notes that the title of the book has become a shorthand for the "evilness of boys," the story and its characters are far more complex, he says.
