In a follow up to the feature film, a new documentary is due to be released questioning whether the death in 1935 in Bovington, Dorset, of T.E Lawrence – better known as Lawrence of Arabia – was an accident or an assassination?
Special screenings of the documentary, written and directed by Mark J.T. Griffin, will take place from Friday 1st November 2024, including dates at The Rex in Wareham and the village hall at Moreton near to T. E. Lawrence’s grave.
Lawrence of Arabia’s home at Clouds Hill near Bovington is now owned by the National Trust and open to the public by appointment
Brough Superior motorcycle veered off the road
Thomas Edward Lawrence was a British Army officer who fought alongside Arab guerrilla forces in the Middle East during World War One.
He later lived at Clouds Hill, near Bovington, and it was close by that his life was cut short at the age of 46 when his Brough Superior motorcycle veered off the road and crashed.
Filming underway with writer and director Mark J.T Griffin (second from right)
Lifelong obsession
Mark J.T. Griffin, who has been visiting Wareham and the surrounding area since he was a child, has had a lifelong obsession about Lawrence of Arabia, which culminated in a feature length film, Lawrence: After Arabia, which he wrote and directed.
It was filmed in Purbeck and released in October 2021. The film won 32 awards at 20 festivals including Best Picture, Audience Award, Special Jury Prize, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Song and Best Soundtrack.
Mark also published a book called Who Killed Lawrence of Arabia? in August 2022.
Mark said:
“I became interested in T.E. Lawrence when I was very young – I read about him and visited the places he was connected to around Dorset.
“Of course I saw David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia with Peter O’Toole and some years later the film Dangerous Man with Ralph Fiennes. I always felt the mystery of his death had never been explored.”
The mystery black car is reimagined for the documentary
Mystery black car
During Mark’s research of Lawrence of Arabia, he discovered that there were a number of missing documents including accident records, post mortem examination results and hospital records.
There was also the mystery of the black car at the scene of the crash. At the inquest a witness described seeing a black car just before T.E. Lawrence lost control of his bike which then careered into two
boys on bikes.
Mark said:
“The more I researched this incident it seemed to me there had been a cover up – a conspiracy to get rid of Lawrence.
“He had been involved in infiltrating Moseley and the black-hirts, was in contact with King Abdullah of Trans-Jordan about an Arab uprising and was possibly being groomed for a job to reinvigorate the Secret Service.”
Now the same team who created the film has produced a documentary along the same theme also called, Who Killed Lawrence of Arabia?
T.E. Lawrence’s grave at Moreton
UK autumn tour – November 2024
Special screenings of documentary including director’s introduction and Q and A
- Friday 1st at 7.30 pm: London, Hammersmith Academy, Lecture Theatre
- Saturday 2nd at 4.15 pm: Monmouth, Savoy
- Sunday 3rd at 2.15 pm: Wareham, The Rex
- Tuesday 5th at 7.30 pm: Oxford, Jesus College, Ship Street CC, Lecture Theatre
- Thursday 7th at 7.30 pm: Wimborne, Allendale Centre
- Friday 8th at 7.30 pm: Moreton, Village Hall
- Tuesday 12th at 7.30 pm: Poole, Lighthouse
- Friday 15th at 5 pm: Brighton, East Sussex University
- Saturday 16th at 7.30 pm: Rowington, Warwickshire, Village Hall. In aid of the Rescue Ranch animal sanctuary
- Tuesday 19th at 7.15 pm: Lymington, Malt Centre
The scene of the crash near Bovington is marked with a memorial stone
Expert input
Mark added:
“Inevitably the film could only spend a few minutes on the crash and could not fully explore who would benefit and who had the means, motive and opportunity to remove Lawrence. However the documentary, which is more than 100 minutes long, is easily able to do this.
“Expert input has been provided by historians and investigators, Andrew Gough, Rev. Lionel Fanthorpe, Niall Cooper, motorcycle expert Julian Amos, probability expert Paul Swift, writer Jan Woolf and senior lecturer in Arab studies Feras Alkabani from East Sussex University.”
The documentary has already won Best Feature Documentary at five festivals and has been released in time for the 90th anniversary of T.E. Lawrence’s death in 2025.
Watch the documentary trailer
Further information
- More about the documentary
- Book tickets for the documentary screenings
- Visit the home of T.E. Lawrence at Clouds Hill
