Julian Fellowes is a writer, actor, director, producer and TV presenter. His acting credits include the role of Lord Kilwillie in MONARCH OF THE GLEN, as well as film roles in SHADOWLANDS, DAMAGE and TOMORROW NEVER DIES. His TV writing credits include the Emmy winning LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY and the BAFTA nominated THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER, which he also produced. His first cinema screenplay, GOSFORD PARK, won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. He also wrote the screenplay for the recent version of VANITY FAIR and THE YOUNG VICTORIA. His debut as a director, SEPARATE LIES, was released to acclaim in 2006. Julian is married to Emma, nee Kitchener, and they have one son, Peregrine.

Damian Baxter is very, very rich - and he's dying. He lives alone in a big house in Surrey, looked after by a chauffeur, butler, cook and housemaid. He has but one concern: who should inherit his fortune... PAST IMPERFECT is the story of a quest. Damian Barker wishes to know if he has a living heir. By the time he married in his late thirties he was sterile (the result of adult mumps), but what about before that unfortunate illness? He was not a virgin. Had he sired a child? A letter from a girlfriend from these times suggests he did. But the letter is anonymous. Damian contacts someone he knew from their days at university. He gives him a list of girls he slept with and sets him a task: find his heir...