Gormenghast (series) for the rest of their life and that he felt it should be required reading in secondary schools. "The Daily Telegraph" has described Steerpike as one of the all-time greatest villains in western literature. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation produced a dramatization of all three Gormenghast novels. It was first broadcast in 1983 as eight one-hour episodes, and repeated in 1986 in four two-hour parts. This is the first adaptation that includes "Titus Alone" in addition to "Titus Groan" and "Gormenghast". In 1984, BBC Radio 4 broadcast two 90-minute plays based on "Titus Groan" and "Gormenghast", adapted by Brian Sibley and
Mervyn Peake had written some 15 years earlier. "Titus Alone" was published in 1959 and was revised by Langdon Jones in 1970 to remove apparent inconsistencies introduced by the publisher's careless editing. A 1995 edition of all three completed Gormenghast novels includes a very short fragment of the beginning of what would have been the fourth Gormenghast novel, "Titus Awakes", as well as a listing of events and themes he wanted to address in that and later Gormenghast novels. Throughout the 1960s, Peake's health declined into physical and mental incapacitation, and he died on 17 November 1968 at a care home run